| QUOTES from
the
Masters... |
| On Perseverance/Persistence |
On Success |
| "Some
people plant in the spring and leave in the summer. If you've
signed
up for a season, see it through. You don't have to stay forever,
but at least stay until you see it through." -- Jim
Rohn
"What
this power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it becomes
available only when a man is in that state of mind in which he knows
exactly
what he wants and is fully determined not to quit until he finds it."
-- Alexander
Graham Bell
"Most
of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people
who
have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all." – Dale
Carnegie
|
"Success
is not to be pursued; it is to be attracted by the person you become."
-- Jim Rohn
"When
you identify something that you do well, that you enjoy doing, and that
supports the values that are important to you, you have defined success
in your terms." -– Nido
Qubein
"The
measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal
with,
but whether it's the same problem you had last year." -- John
Foster Dulles
"Success
is not the result of making money, making money is the result of
success."
-– James A. Ray
|
|
The Economic
Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA 2001) made
numerous
changes to the three federal taxes on transfers of assets from one
person
to another – the gift tax, the estate tax and the
generation-skipping transfer
tax. These changes are phased in from 2001 to 2010. The
complicating factor for estate planning purposes is that the entire Act
will automatically terminate, or "sunset," at the end of 2010 unless a
future Congress extends its provisions.
If the Act sunsets, 2001 tax rules will then apply in 2011, as if the
EGTRRA
2001 had never become law.
|
Gift
Tax
|
A tax on the
right to transfer property by gift during life:
- While
the Act did not
repeal the gift tax, the top gift tax rate is gradually reduced from
55%
to 35% between 2002 and 2010. In 2011, the top gift tax rate
reverts
back to 55% plus the additional 5% surcharge in effect in 2001.
- The
Act increased the
exemption equivalent of the gift tax unified credit from $675,000 in
2001
to $1,000,000 for 2002 through 2010. In 2011, the unified credit
equivalent remains at $1,000,000 (as scheduled to increase prior to the
Act).
- Any
transfer to a trust
in 2010 will be treated as a taxable gift unless the trust is treated
as
wholly owned by the donor or donor's spouse under the grantor trust
rules.
|
|
|
|
Estate
Tax
|
A tax on the
right to transfer property at death:
- The
Act gradually reduces
the top estate tax rates and increases the exemption equivalent of the
estate tax unified credit from 2002 through 2009.
- The
qualified family-owned
business deduction is repealed for 2004 through 2009.
- The
state death tax
credit is reduced by 25% per year from 2002 through 2004 and then
replaced
by a deduction for 2005 through 2009.
- The
deferral of estate
tax attributable to a closely held business is expanded for 2002
through
2009.
- The
estate tax is repealed
in 2010.
- The
estate tax resumes
in 2011, with 2001 tax rules generally applying as if the EGTRRA 2001
had
never become law.
|
|
|
Generation-
Skipping
Transfer
(GST) Tax
|
A tax on the
right to transfer property during lifetime or at death to a member of a
generation more than one generation younger than the person making the
transfer:
- The
Act gradually reduces
the GST tax rate from 55% to 45% between 2002 and 2009, and gradually
increases
the GST exemption to $3,500,000 between 2004 and 2009.
- The
GST tax is repealed
in 2010.
- The
GST tax resumes
in 2011, with 2001 tax rules generally applying as if the EGTRRA 2001
had
never become law.
|
If you would like
additional information on specific provisions of the 2001 Tax Act or to
discuss how it might impact your planning, please call my office.
|
|
| MESSAGES
from
the Masters... |
WHAT
MAKES PEOPLE TICK?? by Paul J. Meyer
First
of all, I am not a psychologist. HOWEVER, I am something
BETTER...
I
have
over 50 years experience from:
- Watching,
- Asking
questions,
- Taking
risks,
- Facing
obstacles...
- Plus
the most important thing:
- Praying
and asking God for WISDOM & UNDERSTANDING!!
From this
lifetime accumulation, I have learned the following to be ABSOLUTES
concerning
people:
1.
People act in their own self-interests! I have never
perceived
this as bad. I believe we are inherently made that way.
2.
There are only TWO REASONS that ninety-nine percent of the time anyone
does anything: 1) Either to gain a benefit, or 2) To avoid a loss.
3.
There is no Santa Claus! (He ain't comin'!) And yet, it's sad to
say,
so many people are sitting around in their offices procrastinating,
making
excuses, thinking that something magical is going to appear.
4.
There ain't no free lunch! Too many young people have developed a
"lottery
mentality"...If they could just hit the BIG one! The truth is, we are
only
going to get what we go after...inch by inch...step by step...day by
day.
5.
Everybody has a hot button! The only way we know
where it is and what it is, is to ask questions, listen, and be
empathetic,
seeing things from their point of view. What is your hot button?
6.
You must be sensitive and empathetic. Empathy is the imaginative
projection
of yourself in the other person's shoes.
People
respond to those who have loving attitudes. This means thinking
more
highly of others than yourself...putting other people first.
ACHIEVE
SUCCESS BY USING
THE
GOLDEN RULE PHILOSOPHY!!
If
you can master the above, and go out of your way to articulate and
communicate
it, with a golden-rule philosophy...doing unto others as you would have
them do to you...then I promise you that the world will become your
cornucopia
and you will set records you didn't try to set! You will achieve
goals beyond your wildest expectations, and the LAW OF COMPENSATION
will
pass your office when you least expect it!
|
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|
