October 2011

What is Portability?

by Jamie Held October 31, 2011 Estate Planning 101

2010 Tax Relief Act The 2010 Tax Relief Act (a.k.a. The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010) provided us with a $5 million federal estate tax exemption and a federal [...]

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Duane Allman

by Jen Santini October 29, 2011 Obits

November 20, 1946 – October 29, 1971 Born Howard Duane Allman, Duane was a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. He died 40 years ago today, just shy of his 25th birthday. For the [...]

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Selecting Trustees

by Jayne Sykora October 26, 2011 Estate Planning 101

We’ve written on Epilawg before about the importance of choosing the right individuals for the various roles that need to be filled in your estate plan. In this post, I will focus specifically on choosing [...]

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Another Way To Give

by Jen Santini October 23, 2011 Estate Planning 101

Maggie Green recently wrote about instilling charitable values in children in her post Raising Young Philanthropists. While this post is a little off topic from most of our estate planning articles, in honor of the [...]

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World Alzheimer’s Month Extended?

by Maggie Green October 17, 2011 Estate Planning 101

As reported on Forbes.com, September was World Alzheimer’s Month. It hasn’t been officially extended to October but the topic is so relevant that we should continue to consider the impact of the disease on our [...]

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U.S. Savings Bonds

by Jayne Sykora October 15, 2011 Investments & Insurance

Personally, I have never been one to purchase U.S. Savings Bonds. Nor have I received any as gifts. However, I have worked with many clients that one way or the other, have many Savings Bonds. [...]

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Lessons from the Rich & Famous

by Jen Santini October 11, 2011 Estate Planning 101

With the recent deaths of Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder, and Al Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders, we are reminded how important it is to properly plan for the transfer of assets upon death. While [...]

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Edgar Allan Poe

by Jen Santini October 9, 2011 Obits

January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849 Today is the 162nd anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s death at age 40. Poe led a difficult life, which started when both of his parents died within three years [...]

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Maximize Social Security Benefits as a Married Couple — Part 3

by Chris Hiestand October 7, 2011 Guest Articles

Minimizing and Managing Social Security Benefit Taxes This is the third and final article of a three-part series to help married couples maximize the total amount of Social Security benefits they will receive in their [...]

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Maximize Social Security Benefits as a Married Couple – Part 2

by Chris Hiestand October 5, 2011 Guest Articles

Maximizing Spousal and Survival Benefits This is the second article of a three-part series to help married couples maximize the total amount of Social Security benefits they will receive in their lifetimes. The Basics of [...]

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Maximize Social Security Benefits as a Married Couple – Part 1

by Chris Hiestand October 3, 2011 Guest Articles

Calculating Your Benefits and Deciding When to Apply This is the first article of a three-part series to help married couples maximize the total amount of Social Security benefits they will receive in their lifetimes. [...]

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