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When we think of shopping online, we generally think of ourselves as consumers. We lay back on the couch or get comfortable in our ergonomic desk chair and wander through website after website. If we need something, we are confident we will find it; the Internet is...

The death of actor/comedian Robin Williams got a lot of people thinking about a lot of things. The connection for us was the question of suicide and life insurance benefits.Years ago, a friend of ours took his own life, as Williams did, and the family quickly found...

When George Bailey is standing on the bridge, despairing that he has let his family down, he thinks of Mr. Potter's taunt: "You're worth more dead than alive." Potter, of course, has set the scene for the rest of the movie, as George learns his life lesson. "It's a...

If your estate plan were a movie, who would you cast in the supporting roles? First, there should be an attorney, the skilled estate planning professional who knows California probate and tax law and who can come up with all kinds of strategies to maximize what your...

When we left off in our last post, we were discussing the Taxpayer Advocate Service's first annual report to Congress. This report, one of two prepared by TAS every year, outlines the office's priorities for the 2015 federal fiscal year.Perhaps the most important item...

It may feel as if the IRS and the federal government are in league against American taxpayers at times. The rules change, new taxes appear and old taxes expire -- when taxpayers expire, in fact, they still have to pay taxes. There is an agency that watches out for...

As we said in our last post, we do have a point, and it is this: Women earn less than men, and that has a direct impact on their retirement and estate planning. Nationwide, women earn about $16,000 a year after age 65. Men? Men earn almost $27,000. While working,...

Change is slow, says the Institute for Women's Policy Research, especially when it comes to closing the gender wage gap. Considering how much progress the country has made since the Equal Pay Act was passed 50 years ago, the IWPR figures we will finally reach our goal...

We have been talking about offshore assets and some changes the IRS has made to reporting procedures. The best idea is always to report any foreign assets you hold with your annual tax return. The IRS has not been doing such a great job of enforcing that, though, so...

Some people have an ear for languages. They can visit a foreign country and be conversant in a matter of days. For others, foreign languages remain a mystery, if not a misery. Those French, as a friend of ours used to say, have a different word for everything. Tax law...