My mother has $70,000 in assets held in a certificate of deposit. She is 75 and was just diagnosed with lung cancer. She is a widow whose income is my father’s pension and the interest from the CD. She has Medicare and an AARP [American Association of Retired Persons] supplemental health policy. […]
Is it true that if you pay a car loan or a credit card in two equal payments a month rather than paying the total once a month that you decrease the time of payoff? If so, please explain the rationale. Read More…
What is the impact on the tax burden of my child if I add his name to the deed [of my home]? Read More…
I have stock options currently worth $1.6 million before taxes. I have four more years before some expire; the remainder will expire periodically over the next 10 years. I have a mortgage with a balance of $209,000 and a remodeling loan with a balance of $100,000. My effective tax rate is […]
My mother’s will created a trust intended to finance half of my son’s college education, with any balance a gift to him upon graduation. I am co-trustee and manage the brokerage account in which it is invested. Well, the market has been friendlier than college bursars lately and the graduate is in line […]
I am 57 and have a net worth of approximately $350,000. About $180,000 of that is in a traditional IRA and the rest in a stock portfolio. Does it make sense to switch to a Roth IRA given the fact that I am generating less than $10,000 per year in (freelance) income? […]
My father remarried 19 years ago. Fifteen years ago, he used the money from the sale of the home he and my mother bought to purchase his new home with his new wife. He is not in the best of health and is always telling us he wants to make “sure” […]
I have an uncle who now reports he has a will and clearly names his wishes — with a total of 20% going to two different charities, 20% going to three different relatives and 10% going to two other relatives. He is now 92 and cancer has come into the picture. On top of […]
Does your organization have any opinion on the elimination or further reduction on federal estate taxes? After the fall elections, what will be the impact of the makeup of Congress, and whether we have Bush or Gore? I am assuming that nothing will come out this year. Read More…
Can the unified marital deduction be given to the children before the death of the parent? If so, how is this done? This is in reference to a family business in terms of gaining equity for the children. Read More…