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…
Marijuana Laws: They’re Real and They’re Here All of 58 California counties are currently updating and establishing local policies on Cannabis retailing, manufacturing, and cultivating laws frequently as well as tax laws. Now that California is implementing new Medical Marijuana laws and viability of Recreational Cannabis, it is recommended to be aware of how these…
Alter-Ego and Why That Is an Ego You Need to Understand It’s a common assumption that a corporation and its shareholders are generally treated as separate legal entities. Acts through a corporation are performed by its officers, and the corporation enters into its own contracts. Another assumption is the corporation’s assets, and not those of…
NerdWallet reports that the S&P 1500 companies have more CEOs named John than female CEOs. The company recently compiled an analysis of statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Small Business Administration related to female business success. Its conclusion: Seven of the best locations for women to start small businesses were in California and…
Welcome back to our third and final article in our series on how you can save big money on your taxes this year. Just a little time and effort focused on strategically reducing your taxes can pay big dividends. In part 1, we discussed the first step in saving big on taxes: strategize with your…
Welcome back to our series on how you can save big money on your taxes this year. Just a little time and effort focused on strategically reducing your taxes can pay big dividends. Last week, in part 1, we discussed the first step in saving big on taxes: strategize with your tax advisor at key…
It can be shocking to realize that our biggest personal and business expense, bar none, is taxes. The good news is that just a little time and effort focused on strategically reducing your taxes can pay big dividends. The first thing to know about taxes is that it is not illegal to strategize to save…
Welcome back to the fourth and final article in our series on How to Raise Responsible Kids. You can read part 1, where we defined what responsibility means, and part 2, where we shared the first step to raising kids who are responsible with money, and part 3 where we shared how to raise kids…
Welcome back to the third article in our series on How to Raise Responsible Kids. You can read part 1, where we defined what responsibility means [Part 1], and part 2, where we shared the first step to raising kids who are responsible with money [Part 2]. Guide to Raising Responsible Kids Part 3 Today,…
Welcome back to the second article in our series on How to Raise Responsible Kids. You can read part 1, where we defined what responsibility means Part 1. Guide to Raising Responsible Kids In short, responsibility means your children are “able to be trusted to do what is right.” So let’s look at what that…
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