Have you ever seen the most successful sales person fail at being successful as a sales manager? According to the July 2012 issue of the Harvard Business Review, often times when a super sales person is promoted to sales manager, one of the following happens: He/she avoids administrative responsibilities and becomes frustrated in the role […]

I recently returned from Atlanta and the Carter Center. I am pleased to serve on the National Planned Giving Advisory Board of the Carter Center with many nationally recognized leaders in the fields of Estate Planning and Philanthropy. In our recent meetings, we explored the intricacies of charitable gifts of tangible property, including both real […]

What do marketing emails have in common with Halloween candy? Both will be immediately trashed if they are remotely suspicious, messy or creepy, or offered by strangers. You carefully inspect your children’s trick-or-treat goodies, throwing out anything that is the least bit questionable. Your subscribers will do exactly the same thing to your emails. But your […]

As the cost of nursing homes continues to rise, it becomes increasingly difficult for many families to provide their loved ones with the nursing home care they need. In many cases, paying out of pocket can exceed $7,000 per month, which makes it nearly impossible for most families to keep up with expenses for an […]

I’ve blogged before on the topic of same-sex marriage. Now that: i) a majority of states allow same-sex marriage, and ii) a majority of people live in a state which allows same-sex marriage, I thought it would be interesting to take a step back and look at some of the lesser-known financial aspects of marriage […]

Halloween, also known as All Hallows’ Eve, precedes the yearly celebration on November 1 of All Hallows’ (or Saints’) Day. Appropriately, Create a Great Funeral Day (CAGFD) falls on October 30, the day before Halloween. Unfortunately, maybe 25-30% of adults do any end-of-life planning – wills, funerals or advance medical directives. It’s a recipe for […]

October is the best month of the year! I love the crispness of the air, the changing color of the leaves, the beginning of football season, pumpkin carving, celebrating my birthday, and of course, watching the best Halloween movie of all time— Hocus Pocus. As a Practice Building Consultant at the Academy, I also look […]

This blog will focus on the importance of considering intellectual property in estate planning. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal reminded me that intellectual property may be a very important part of an estate plan. The article focused on the settlement of a lawsuit between the heirs of Jack Kirby and Marvel Entertainment. […]

No doubt, you explain to your clients the role of the Health Care Power of Attorney when preparing their estate-planning documents with them. But here’s a news flash: most of your clients probably don’t understand the difference between their Emergency Contact and their Health Care Power of Attorney. Such is the finding of a recent […]

Hey there to my favorite blogging community! Happy Friday to each of you from your Girl Friday. I’m so excited to tell you that we are kicking off our second annual educational series here at the Academy today. For the first time ever, we’ve also included a few extra goodies to sweeten the pot in […]