When we think of asset protection planning, we think of many things….like heading South to Florida or Texas, for example. But most estate planning attorneys do not think of QPRTs for asset protection. Rather, we think of them as a way of getting value out of the estate and down to the children or other […]

I recently attended the first annual meeting of the national Coalition to Transform Advanced Illness Care (C-TAC). Most striking was this: amidst the high-level discussion about healthcare systems changes, public engagement and policy improvements, the over-riding theme was stories. The personal stories from the speakers and panelists about the death of a loved one. Even […]

Congrats to Academy Associate Director of Education, Stephen Hartnett! Forbes just printed an article entitled, “More Estate Tax Changes Could Follow Fiscal Cliff Deal” and our very own Steve was quoted a couple of times in the article. (https://www.forbes.com/sites/hanisarji/2013/01/06/more-estate-tax-changes-could-follow-fiscal-cliff-deal/) When Members asked why we didn’t alert them to the publicity (which helps with their credibility), […]

I understand that I’m not the only attorney out there who writes blogs from time to time. Blogging can be a very useful tool to inform your audience about your services and build credibility. Most importantly, it allows your readers to become comfortable with you and view you as a resource and less of a […]

ATTORNEY WEBINAR, Wednesday, February 13th at 2pm PT / 5pm ETLaw Practice Blueprint: 11 Core Systems for Total Estate Planning Success* *Attorneys on this Webinar will focus on the practice management and growth opportunities they have, following the Webinar we will send the participants a link to the training call conducted by the Academy’s Legal […]

You’d have to be living under a rock to not notice how rapidly social media has grown. Over the past several years, many financial professionals thought that by diverting their marketing dollars to creating a social media strategy – including company pages on Facebook, blogging, eblasting, and banner ads – in the hopes of saving […]

Clients are unfamiliar with “Obamacare,” otherwise known as the “Affordable Care Act.” They may know about the impact on health insurance, but they probably do not know about the impact on their taxes. In prior tax years, there was no Medicare surtax on capital, dividend, or taxable interest. However, beginning January 1, 2013, under the […]

The title on this blog post was originally “Four Stories That Will Help You Sell More Services”. Do attorneys sell services? It sounds so tawdry. Ask any of your peers if they sell services and their unfiltered, off-the-cuff response will likely be “no” – until they think about it, and then grudgingly concede that yes, […]

Implementing an effective SEO strategy and achieving top ranking results is generally a long term investment. It may take months before businesses see an improvement in rankings and traffic, so it’s important to commit to a solid long-term strategy. However, there are some effective techniques that don’t take a lot of time to implement, but […]

As mentioned in my previous posts, 2013 also brings new taxes for high-income earners under the Affordable Care Act. Effective January 1, 2013, one of the significant taxes under the Affordable Care Act is the increase in Medicare taxes on W-2 or self-employment earnings for high-income earners (those earning more than $200,000 for unmarried taxpayers, […]