Financial planning

Lyle Benson of L.K. Benson & Co., who chairs the AICPA's PFP section, discusses the main personal financial planning issues identified by the AICPA's PFP section of concern to CPAs, in an interview with Accounting Today editor-in-chief Dan Hood.

The experts at HD Vest lay out the financial details that every couple should take care of before the big day.

“In every country I’ve been in, real estate is the best tax shelter,” said Tom Wheelwright, CPA, an advisor and speaker at Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad seminars, and a contributor to Donald Trump’s Wealth Builders Program.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced a settlement Monday with a Brooklyn man who entered into a cooperation agreement to help the agency mount evidence in an insider trading scheme in which illegal tips were passed via napkins or Post-It notes at Grand Central Terminal that the tipster would then consume to destroy the evidence.

Our weekly roundup of tax-related investment strategies and news your clients may be thinking about.

The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department plan to amend the required minimum distribution regulations under Section 401(a)(9) of the tax code to address the use of lump sum payments to replace annuity payments being paid by a qualified defined benefit pension plan.

Wealthy people have lots of ways to avoid the estate tax. But a federal judge says one family got a little too creative in dodging its tax bill.

As your clients’ most trusted adviser, how can you protect them from the financial threat and high costs of long-term care?

Accountants are often selected as trustees of trusts for their clients. But before agreeing to act as trustee, the accountant should understand the time constraints and obligations of a trustee, along with other potential pitfalls, including trust scams.

Accountants get unusual views of human frailty and baseness of character. Most of our interactions are stimulating and propel us to growth, but some expose others’ weaknesses and extremely poor personal judgment.

Singer-songwriter Robyn Rihanna Fenty may be sending a chilling message to her former accountant in her new music video B*tch Better Have My Money. Rih-Rih kidnaped, tortured, and had a marijuana love fest with a high net-worth woman, who turns out to be the wife of Rihanna’s former accountant, aka “The B*tch.” …

Americans donated an estimated $358.8 billion to charities last year, according to the annual Giving USA report, the highest total ever in the 60-year history of the report.

Taking the lead among your clients’ many advisors

Our weekly roundup of tax-related investment strategies and news that your clients may be thinking about.

More than half of Americans admitted to postponing a major life decision, such as enrolling in higher education, retiring or starting a family, because of financial reasons, according to a new poll from the American Institute of CPAs.

Financial fraud perpetrated against the elderly is on the rise, according to a new survey of CPA financial planners.

Businesses and certain individuals with foreign investments need to file a new form with the government by June 30 or else face stiff penalties.

Professional advisors need to be more protective -- of both their practices and their clients, according to HD Vest president and CEO Roger Ochs.

Our weekly roundup of tax-related investment strategies and news your clients may be thinking about.

The U.S. Department of Labor proposed new fiduciary rules in April that significantly affect IRA advisors, including accountants who render advice to holders of individual retirement accounts.