One in Six Americans Is Now on Medicaid – DailyFinance
A record one in six Americans is on Medicaid, the government’s health program for the poor, according to USA Today. And Medicaid is just one of several government anti-poverty programs that have seen large increases in caseloads and in costs.
Millions of Americans lost their jobs during the recession, and large numbers of those have lost their employee-sponsored health insurance, too. COBRA subsidies notwithstanding, those job losses have cost most the ability to pay for private health insurance as well.
One in Six Americans Is Now on Medicaid – DailyFinance
BusinessWest
Certain ideas with respect to estate planning are widely accepted, yet unfortunately, inaccurate. This article will reveal and explain the most commonly stated estate planning myths.
BusinessWest
New Life for Charitable Lids
One common estate planning technique the IRS has opposed or blocked for years is “charitable lid planning.” This technique relies on “defined value” and “value adjustment” clauses or similar provisions in wills, deeds or other transfer documents to cap the transfer taxes on estates, gifts or generation-skipping trusts at some predetermined amount. The IRS has consistently argued against defined-value clauses on the basis of the Fourth Circuit’s holding in Commissioner v. Procter (142 F.2d 824 (1944)) that such clauses are void because they remove the IRS’ incentive to audit returns and thus are against public policy.
Comparing GRATs, Sales to Grantor Trusts and Private Annuities | structuredsettlementnews.net
All three techniques also provide the transferor with an income stream for a fixed period. Finally, all three techniques take advantage of the actual rate of return on the transferred assets as compared to the assumed rate of return utilized by the IRS to value the transferred asset. Yet each technique has its advantages and disadvantages when compared to the others.
Comparing GRATs, Sales to Grantor Trusts and Private Annuities | structuredsettlementnews.net
Wealth Matters – A Year to Give Gifts to Your Heirs, and Save on Taxes – NYTimes.com
A bigger issue as 2010 winds down, however, has become the gift tax, which is linked to the estate tax to prevent people from giving away their fortune in life to avoid taxes at death. It now stands at 35 percent, the lowest rate since the 1930s. And since a retroactive reinstatement of the estate and gift taxes appears unlikely — or will be contested in the courts for years — the wealthy are starting to look at making large gifts this year to reduce their estates later.
Wealth Matters – A Year to Give Gifts to Your Heirs, and Save on Taxes – NYTimes.com
Lawyer’s Lover Loses His Corvettes, 1936 Mercedes: Ann Woolner – Bloomberg
If it’s not in writing…..
What the twice-divorced lawyer didn’t leave behind was a single sheet of paper that would have bequeathed to his longtime companion the 28 cars she says he meant her to have.
Lawyer’s Lover Loses His Corvettes, 1936 Mercedes: Ann Woolner – Bloomberg