Financial planning

Insurance policies with rising or re-appearing premiums can often cause their owners problems, especially when those owners' financial needs or obligations change.Is it a better investment to continue paying a policy that you have already paid into in hopes of a gain at maturation, or to recoup some of the investment by trading the policy for its cash surrender value? Corporate policyholders often face additional dilemmas when dealing with departing executives with key-man or split-dollar policies, or insurance purchased as part of a buy-sell agreement.

PWC SURVEY FINDS BOARD MEMBERS CONCERNED ABOUT FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS: Nearly 75 percent of board members at U.S. financial services firms said that the increasing use of sophisticated financial instruments such as derivatives will be the next big area of regulatory focus for the financial industry, according to a survey conducted by Big Four firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.Meanwhile, a near-unanimous 97 percent of board members polled said that the level of due diligence and understanding of sophisticated financial instruments being used in the market should be a major concern for board members.

Depending upon the practice, financial planners can be very directed, specializing in one form of investment vehicle, or more broadly based, either recommending or with access to multiple types of investments.

If an individual taxpayer receives a distribution from an IRA, and then contributes all or part of the amount distributed to a charity, that individual must include the taxable part of that distribution in her gross income.While the distributee is entitled to a charitable deduction for the amount contributed, this will reduce taxable income only if she itemizes deductions, instead of claiming the standard deduction. Even if an individual itemizes, the amount deductible may be less than the amount contributed because:

LBMC Investment Advisors LLC said that it recently surpassed the $200 million mark of assets under advisement. Formed in 1998 as an affiliate of Lattimore Black Morgan & Cain PC - Tennessee's largest regional accounting and business consulting firm - LBMC Investment Advisors has offices in Brentwood and Knoxville, Tenn.

FIDELITY LOWERS MINIMUM GIFT FUND CONTRIBUTION: In an effort to make the benefits of donor-advised funds more accessible, the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund announced that it would lower its initial contribution and grant recommendation minimums.

The American College, a financial services educator based here, has launched an expedited learning program designed to prepare financial advisors for the Certified Financial Planner certification examination in roughly seven months.Developed in conjunction with the JR Financial Group, a financial services trainer, the program, titled Financial Planning Express, combines self-study with a series of live, four-day classroom sessions held every six weeks. The six modules that comprise the Express program conclude three weeks prior to the CFP certification examination with a live, five-day comprehensive review of all 89 CFP topics covered on the test.

NASD FINES METLIFE UNITS $5M: The National Association of Securities Dealers imposed a $5 million fine against three MetLife Inc. units - MetLife Securities Inc. of New York, New England Securities Inc. of Boston, and Walnut Street Securities Inc. of St. Louis.In response to an inquiry that it sent in September 2003 centering on the late trading of mutual funds, the NASD said that the MetLife trio provided inaccurate and misleading responses. The MetLife firms neither admitted nor denied the charges, but consented to the entry of the NASD's findings.

Planning to pass a business to the next generation, or to non-family members, involves a combination of complex issues requiring legal, tax, financial and management planning.Too often, a business owner devotes her entire career to building the enterprise, but fails to plan for the future of the business. When a thorough succession plan is in place, however, the business owner can anticipate and effectively manage change. The process must involve family members, professional advisors, shareholders, partners and key employees. A successful plan will address many issues, the more common of which are: the decision to pass the business to family, or sell the business to outsiders; the death, disability or retirement of the owner or co-owner; tax and estate planning; and the retention of key employees.

For contributions, bequests, and gifts made after Aug. 17, 2006, the Pension Protection Act of 2006 limits deductions for charitable contributions of fractional interests in tangible personal property. It also provides rules for valuing the donor's additional fractional interest contributions, and provides for recapture of the charitable deduction.In calculating deductions, the PPA requires consistent valuation of all the fractional interests in the same item (or collection of items) of property that has appreciated in value since the initial contribution.

AMERITAS DIRECT ROLLS OUT NO-LOAD ANNUITY: Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. has unveiled its Genesis No-Load Variable Annuity, distributed via its Ameritas Direct unit, which markets the No-Load series of insurance and annuity products to self-directed consumers.Ameritas Direct designed the Genesis Variable Annuity, which features no commission, no sales charge, no withdrawal charge and no policy fee. (Gains are taxed as ordinary income and additional penalties may apply to withdrawals made prior to age 59-1/2.)

Do you have clients who complain that their life insurance was supposed to be paid up by now, but it isn't? Notices from their insurance companies may even indicate that their suggested premium payment has increased, or that their policies are about to lapse.Do you have clients whose investment-type life insurance policy is not performing as projected? Ever have clients cancel their life insurance and get a taxable statement of gain? This can even happen if their policy lapses and they get nothing back (they had a paper gain).

"The individual investor should act consistently as an investor and not as a speculator. This means that he should be able to justify every purchase he makes and each price he pays by impersonal, objective reasoning that satisfies him that he is getting more than his money's worth for his purchase."These are the words of Benjamin Graham, a stock market investor and economist who was famous for remarkable returns from investing in stocks, value investing and influencing Warren Buffet.

LAW EXPANDS IRA OPTIONS FOR MILITARY: Members of the military serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and other combat zones can now put money into individual retirement accounts, even if they received tax-free combat pay, according to the Internal Revenue Service.Under the Heroes Earned Retirement Opportunities Act, signed into law on Memorial Day, taxpayers can now count tax-free combat pay when determining whether they qualify to contribute to either a Roth or a traditional IRA. Before this change, members of the military whose earnings came entirely from tax-free combat pay were generally barred from using IRAs to save for retirement.

I speak at numerous conventions and conferences, and attendees sometimes contact me for additional information about abusive tax shelters and Circular 230.Among other things, Circular 230 sets forth the requirements for disclosure of certain tax shelter transactions by tax professionals. Regulations also impose new obligations on tax professionals, and on taxpayers engaged in any kind of tax-avoidance transaction.

A surviving spouse who is the sole beneficiary of the balance remaining in their deceased spouse's traditional IRA may leave the account as it is, or roll over the decedent's IRA into their own IRA, or elect to treat the IRA as their own for all purposes, including the rules of IRC §72(t) as to the imposition of a 10 percent penalty tax if the amount in the IRA is withdrawn before age 59-1/2.Whether a rollover to the surviving spouse's own IRA or an election to treat the deceased spouse's IRA as their own should be made depends mainly on the surviving spouse's age.

ADP TO SPIN OFF BROKERAGE ARM: Payroll and benefits outsourcing concern Automatic Data Processing Inc. will spin off its massive brokerage-services unit, an arm that observers project would have a market cap of more than $3 billion. ADP said that as a result of the spinoff - which should be completed by the end of fiscal 2007 - it expects to receive a distribution of $500 million to $700 million from the business in the form of a tax-free dividend.ADP said that the decision to spin off the unit came after a year-long strategic review. In that process, the company mulled an initial public offering, as well as an outright sale of the business. Although ADP is better known for its signature payroll unit, its brokerage-services business both processes and clears trades of securities, along with handling the distribution of related materials such as proxy reports. It generated roughly $2 billion in revenue for its most recent fiscal year, accounting for about 20 percent of the company's overall revenue figure.

With as much as 75 percent of CPAs performing some type of financial planning services for their clients, there are many financial planning business models available for accountants who are thinking about wading into that growing arena.One such model is an affiliation with a broker/dealer who has an understanding of CPAs and their client relationships. What follows is a basic overview of four major broker/dealers and their programs.

If an individual delays claiming Social Security benefits until after she reaches full Social Security retirement age, her benefits may be increased for two reasons.First, there is a delayed retirement credit that increases the benefits for each month that retirement is delayed beyond full Social Security retirement age. Second, additional earnings (wages or self-employment income) may also increase the benefits that will be received after retirement.

DELOITTE SURVEY FINDS GOVERNMENTS NEED TO CLOSE LOOPHOLES ON UNDERFUNDED PENSIONS: As the number of underfunded public pension funds has risen dramatically over the past five years, state and local governments need to close loopholes, adjust the level of employee contributions and rethink overall fund management, or risk a crisis, according to a Deloitte Research study.The report, titled "Paying for Tomorrow,"' also warned that the pending crisis could be aggravated by the coming wave of Baby Boomer retirees tapping into their pension accounts, unless fund managers move quickly to adopt a solution. Among the areas of greatest concern cited are: