Court Overturns Obama Rule Protecting Investors Saving for Retirement

Posted by Dan Steven on Jul 2, 2018

A U.S. court of appeal has struck down a Department of Labor (DOL) rule that was intended to prevent financial advisers from steering their clients to bad retirement investments, but the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed new regulations to at least partially address the same problem. Prompted by concern that many financial advisors have a sales incentive to recommend to their...

How Will the New Tax Law Affect You?

Posted by Dan Steven on Feb 24, 2018

While most of the new tax law – the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – has to do with reducing the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, some provisions relate to individual taxpayers. Before we get into the details, be aware that almost everything listed below sunsets after 2025, with the tax structure reverting to its current form in 2026 unless Congress acts between now and then. The...

Take These Three Steps When Your Child Turns 18

Posted by Dan Steven on Jul 24, 2017

If your child has reached the teenage years, you may already feel as though you are losing control of her life. This is legally true once your child reaches the age of 18 because the state considers her to be an adult with the legal right to govern her own life. Up until your child reaches 18, you are absolutely entitled to access your child’s medical records and to make decisions regarding the...

DOL Announces That Fiduciary Rule Goes Into Effect June 9

Posted by Dan Steven on Jun 16, 2017

After initially delaying a rule intended to prevent financial advisers from steering their clients to bad retirement investments, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced that the rule goes into effect on June 9, 2017, but its future is still unclear. Earlier this year, President Trump signed an executive order delaying the so-called fiduciary rule, the first part of which was scheduled to go...

Is It Better to Use Joint Ownership or a Trust to Pass Down a Home?

Posted by Dan Steven on May 17, 2017

When leaving a home to your children, you can avoid probate by using either joint ownership or a revocable trust, but which is the better method? If you add your child as a joint tenant on your house, you will each have an equal ownership interest in the property. If one joint tenant dies, his or her interest immediately ceases to exist and the other joint tenant owns the entire property. This...

Preventing a Will Contest

Posted by Dan Steven on Feb 22, 2017

 Emotions can run high at the death of a family member. If a family member is unhappy with the amount they received (or didn’t receive) under a will, he or she may contest the will. Will contests can drag out for years, keeping all the heirs from getting what they are entitled to. It may be impossible to prevent relatives from fighting over your will entirely, but there are steps you can...