Uncategorized

There's an irony central to family life that is highlighted in the parent/child dynamic. And it is underscored in the role reversal that often takes place among family members. When children are young, their parents lovingly protect them, teaching important things,...

Here's a clear message for ultra-wealthy Americans who have been having bad dreams for years now that center on IRS and DOJ agents combing through the files of European financial institution for evidence of tax evasion: blissful nights of uninterrupted sleep are not...

Author John Steinbeck's novels are so highly regarded and widely loved that they were virtually destined from inception to undergo successive reincarnations as plays and films spanning decades. East of Eden is an obvious case in point, with James Dean rocketing to...

Since 2010, FATCA -- that is, the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act -- has been deemed a nemesis rather than a savior by legions of Americans living overseas.Although federal legislators undoubtedly anticipated a bit of blowback against a law they have always...

Trustees are central and authoritative figures regarding trust accounts, commanding a number of powers while they exercise close oversight and control over a trust's administration.Indeed, a trustee has discretion to act in a wide universe of matters, ranging from the...

Investment News editor and financial planner Mary Beth Franklin ended up with a key take away from her husband's recent 65th birthday that she didn't remotely suspect would materialize amidst the festivities.And that was this: that figurative and literal coming-of-age...

"Follow the money."Those were the words uttered recently by a top IRS official within the agency's Criminal Investigation division (CI) concerning government attempts to track down alleged tax evaders with money secreted away in foreign accounts. The CI's targeting of...

In a recent article published for Rolling Stone magazine, actress Billie Lourd revealed that she always lived in her mother’s and grandmother’s shadows. For the unititiated, Lourd’s famous mother and grandmother are Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds,...

We stressed in our immediately preceding blog post the logical need for individuals and families in California and across the country to periodically revisit the estate plans they carefully crafted in the past. We noted in our July 27 entry that the financial...

Estate plans are not static. Everyone wishes that they were -- that we could just create them and forget about them, and that the plans themselves would adapt to life changes and legal changes over time. But that Utopian world doesn't exist. We have to change our...