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October 25, 2010 |
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Greetings!
Happy Halloween everyone from all of us at Alliant Wealth Advisors.
Much has happened since our last newsletter. We saw the mortgage rates hit an historic all-time low. On September 29, I was a featured contributer to Reuter's journalist, Linda Stern, personal finance article on how to help a grieving friend. The article was featured on CNBC, Fox Business News and an assortment of other places. Please take a moment to read the article below.
As always, we enjoy hearing from you. If you find our newsletter helpful, please share with your family and friends by clicking on the "Forward Email" at the bottom of this newsletter. To provide feedback, simply email us.
Best,
John A. Frisch, CPA/PFS, CFP
President & Founder |
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How to Help a Grieving Friend |
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This article originally appeared on Fox Business News and CNBC's Web site and featured quotes from John Frisch.
by Linda Stern
(Reuters) - Losing a spouse is one of the most stressful and sad ordeals a person can go through, but often it's not just the personal grief that brings widows and widowers to despair -- it is the paperwork.
The surviving spouse is often left with a mountain of medical bills and is pressured to make immediate decisions about important items including retirement plan assets and insurance policy distributions. The bankers, brokers and agents who are pushing for those decisions may not even have the correct information about how to proceed, and those snap decisions often end up being money losers.
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Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 |
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On September 27, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. The legislation contains provisions designed to ensure adequate access to credit, and contains targeted tax relief for small businesses. Click on the picture to the right to view the presentation.
There are a number of significant changes. Specific tax changes include:
* Increased IRC Section 179 expense limits
* First-year "bonus" depreciation extended
* Small business stock exclusion increased
* Small businesses get enhanced general business credit
* Health insurance costs will reduce self-employment tax
* Cell phones no longer listed property
* New reporting requirements for rental property expenses
* Portion of nonqualified annuity can be annuitized
To read the full article, click on "read more" below.
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Questions About Long-Term Care |
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Ten Things to Know—and Ask—About Long-Term Care Insurance
For Americans over the age of 50, the time to consider long-term care coverage is now. Whether to buy it is a separate question that is as individual as you are.
Long-term care insurance (LTC) is generally recommended to anyone who has suitable income to pay premiums, significant assets (i.e. a home and assets valued at $70-100K minimum to multi-millions) to protect in the event of a chronic illness, a desire to maintain independence and personal choices of care in their senior years, as well as the peace of mind that might come from owning such a policy that fits their needs.
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Renovating Smart in 2010 |
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Though the housing market has yet to stabilize in many communities, homeowners can’t ignore property maintenance and other critical spending that will add to their home value in the future. Yet for most of us, the days of spending multiple thousands of dollars on a kitchen, bath or room addition expecting our market value will grow exponentially is much like the U.S. housing boom – over.
Simply put, as Americans have been forced to get more realistic about using their homes as piggy banks, it is time for similar realism about what improvements and renovations will pay off in a housing market with years of inventory to sell. Here are some steps to consider when improving your property in today's market.
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| About Us: Located in Woodbridge, VA, Alliant Wealth Advisors was founded to help a select group of families achieve all that is important to them financially. To achieve our mission we use a consultative wealth management process, which includes both investment consulting and advanced planning. Our approach assumes that every client is unique; every client has varying needs and objectives; and no two clients share the same risk tolerances, time horizons and dreams. In addition to providing our expertise we work with clients' existing advisors and, where there is a gap to fill, we use our own outside experts in the fields of tax, legal and high-end Insurance. |
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