For those of us who have pets that would be left behind after we die, there may be a desire to make arrangements for their well-being. Making provisions for pets in your will can only be done through the establishment of a trust. Pets are considered property and, as such, cannot be left money or…
Could This Happen to You or Your Loved One? Town Demolishes House While Owner Is in Hospital Imagine this: your elderly uncle with no family near his home travels South to Florida for surgery and has to stay there unexpectedly for a number of months. While he is away, his home is demolished by the…
With the advanced connectivity options available through the internet and associated devices and applications, more and more people are earning a living by working from home. Many of us, however, may be so ingrained in the notion of being employed and reporting to work at a fixed location that we may not be able to…
How to Succeed in Business Taxes for the Self-Employed Going into business for yourself means learning about a lot of things, and not all of them are necessarily fun. Take taxes, for example. Unless you’re an accountant, dealing with the tax issues that come with your business is probably not your favorite task. But once…
Completing a Succesful Year-End Review There’s been a lot of hullabaloo in recent years over the “after-action review.” The general concept is that after you’ve weathered a major event, you reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of how your company performed. The goal is to improve your performance in similar events in the future. Some…
Keeping Up Good Communication When you engage the services of a lawyer, an important thing to keep in mind is confidentiality. If you are a business owner in need of advice or representation, confidentiality of your business information can be critical. To understand the confidentiality present in your relationship with a lawyer, you need to…
How Can I Avoid Business Identity Theft? It seems like major retailers report breaches of their customer’s private data almost weekly. But businesses themselves are also subject to identity theft, and unfortunately, they are more apt to not discover the theft until much later in the game, after significant damage has been done. Businesses identities…
According to Merriam-Webster, an entrepreneur is a person who “starts a business and is willing to risk loss in order to make money.” But being willing to take risks isn’t the whole equation, at least when it comes to succeeding in business. After all, the majority of businesses started by entrepreneurs, ultimately fail. So what…
Working at Home Successfully: What Does It Take? Many people fantasize about working from home. Just imagine: How amazing would it be to roll out of bed, get to work, and have time to enjoy the things that really matter in life? Working at home isn’t for everyone. To be successful, you must set boundaries…
One facet of the Affordable Care Act is specific benefit requirements that have to be offered by small businesses (those with 50 or fewer employees). These requirements were scheduled to begin applying to employers with up to 100 employees on January 1, 2016. Business leaders were concerned, however, this change would result in substantially increased…
As senior citizens continue to age, the likelihood increases that they will become physically or mentally incapacitated. Hopefully, people in such a situation have family members who step in and help keep their affairs in order. That is not always the case, however. If no one steps in to help, courts may be petitioned to…
To some degree or another, we are all a function of the social environments in which we were raised. Of course, that encompasses both positives and negatives. When it comes to money, the first exposure we have to its management is in our families. That makes good money management practices a real gift that parents…
How to Get Max Return Out of Your Taxes Did you get a holiday bonus from your employer? Or maybe you have a tax refund coming. If so, do you have any of it left, have you already got it spent in your mind, or are you thoughtfully considering how you can best utilize this…
Predatory Tax Liens To Be Aware Of As our parents and other loved ones age, they may need a little more attention from us. Parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles, or even neighbors who are aging may want to be seen as strong and independent. Often, however, their abilities to take care of household and financial…
Estate Planning for a Charitable Giving January 1 wipes the slate clean for your tax-deductible charitable contributions. That might be a good time to reassess your approach to donating to charities. Most of us respond to some of the appeals which come through various avenues such as unsolicited phone calls, campaigns at work, or church-related…
The Best Gift You Can Leave to Your Loved Ones A Wisconsin woman, whose story was widely reported in media nationwide, has died. Heather McManamy, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2013, was told her condition was terminal in 2014. She began reflecting on what the future lives of her friends and family would be…
The National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) states that American workers have not set aside nearly enough for retirement planning to the tune of trillions of dollars. Why? Well as the old adage goes, “Failing to plan is as good as planning to fail.” One of the first pitfalls in retirement planning is giving up…
There are so many people in our midst who are considered indigent. We see them on street corners, in parks, and where homeless people congregate. We may wonder how they get by from day to day. But do you ever wonder what happens when an indigent person dies? Cities, counties, and states have processes in…
Class action lawsuits are common in our court systems. Most everyone has received a notice in the mail of a class action suit involving consumer products, from cars to jewelry. Even if the recipient has a valid claim, the information being provided is lengthy, in small print, and very legalistic. As a result, a lot…
Mark Zuckerberg Did Not Pledge 99% of His Facebook Stock to Charity — Here’s What He Did Instead Recently, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, announced that they were donating 99 percent of their Facebook shares — currently worth more than $45 billion — to charity. Most immediately assumed they had been the beneficiaries…
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