Key Ingredients: Time, Health, and Money
June 8, 2021
What factors have made your retirement so successful? This is the very question I asked Doug and Debbie over dinner in their Florida condo overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. I have been fortunate to know Doug and Debbie for over a decade, and they have truly mastered the art of retirement. Deb, as usual, cut […]
Counselor Cobbler, Do Your Children Have Shoes?
May 18, 2021
There is an old (very old, I think) saying that goes something like this… “the cobbler’s children have no shoes.” The idea, of course, is that the cobbler is so busy making shoes for other people that he doesn’t take time to make sure his children have shoes. In my experience, lawyers can quite often […]
Working Wealthy – It’s Not Easy Waiting
April 20, 2021
This past winter, I built an ice rink in our backyard. It was a labor of love—for every hour of work that went into it, we probably enjoyed about 10 minutes of equivalent ice time. Even with that trade-off, it was entirely worth the effort. Attempting to be a good neighbor in our new home, […]
Gifting of Carried Interest – A Strategy To Save Estate Taxes
March 30, 2021
One of the common pain points for financial professionals (private equity professionals, investment bankers, and asset managers) that we hear is “I pay too much in taxes.” Most professionals typically are talking about income taxes; however, estate taxes often get overlooked. If you are a private equity professional, one of the great tactics unique to […]
Selling the Agency on Your Timeline
March 16, 2021
Last fall, I received a phone call from Mark, an owner of a successful multi-generational insurance agency. Mark is in his late 50s and has been running the family agency for the past two decades. Mark was stressed out over the thought of selling his agency. He had multiple offers from competing agencies that were […]
Cash Balance Plans – What’s in It for Me?
February 23, 2021
Now that the political picture has come into sharper focus, many investors wonder what they should be thinking about in terms of tax planning. While the Biden administration has yet to roll out specific tax-related priorities, most observers believe that some tax reform is forthcoming. With that in mind, what should attorneys be thinking about […]
The Future is Gray, Delayed, Small, and Female
At our annual client event, Dr. Joe Coughlin, founder of the MIT Age Lab, shares how drastically retirement has changed over time, the technologies MIT is researching and building to help people age, and how demographics are driving a longevity economy we should all be aware of.
Working Wealthy – Fish Brain
January 26, 2021
Let’s be honest—2020 was a bit of a dumpster fire for many of us. Between the pandemic, a contentious election, separation from family and friends and a myriad of other pitfalls, 2020 is something many of us would like to soon forget. The symbolic act of turning the calendar page from December 2020 to January […]
Top 3 Year-End Planning Tips for Lawyers
December 29, 2020
As I’ve spoken with many lawyers throughout 2020, I’ve been impressed by how resilient most law firms have been. Most lawyers have seen their firms hold steady, and some have even seen growth in 2020. I consider that an amazing testament to the long-established truth that nothing of any importance gets done without the input […]
Watching the Sunset – Current Estate Tax Laws vs New Proposals
December 8, 2020
With the presidential election behind us and Joe Biden entering the Oval Office in January, questions and uncertainties still exist regarding his proposed tax package. With the “Blue Wave” of Democratic control over the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives seemingly less likely, major tax reform that was a pillar of Biden’s presidential platform […]
Post Election 2020 – Where Do Taxes Go From Here?
On November 17th, we hosted a virtual conversation with BDF’s income and estate tax planning experts during which we shared our insights on what the results of the election mean for estate and income tax changes in the future as well as what you need to consider before year-end given the potentially changing landscape. We […]
Working Wealthy – Time Passing, Fast and Slow
November 24, 2020
I’m guessing Daniel Kahneman will never read this blog, so he won’t be offended by my riff on his Thinking, Slow and Fast book title. Pardon the term, but in these days of COVID-19, time seems to have taken on a very different meaning and reality. And, being a relatively new parent, I’m acutely aware […]