Financial planning for your family

Asset Protection For The Business Owner

As a business owner, you probably realize that operating and owning a business can be fraught with pitfalls and risks. Turning a profit isn't enough; you must also protect your business from claims and lawsuits. Debts and mortgage obligations to third parties and vendors, claims for damages caused by your employees, product or professional liability and consumer-protection issues are just some of the risks you must deal with. If handled improperly, these risks could result in the disastrous loss of both business and personal assets. Knowing what risks you face and how to minimize or avoid the loss they can cause can give you the chance to run your business successfully. Read on to find out what they are.

Read more @ Investopedia.com

Digital Assets: Why They Need to Be Part of Your Estate Plan

What’s going to happen to your Facebook account when you die? Or all the songs you’ve downloaded from iTunes?

As digital assets become more common for all of us, it’s important to incorporate them into estate plans. Unfortunately, as was recently explored in a Denver Business Journal article featuring WealthCounsel, that’s not always easy to do. 

According to a 2013 McAfee study, the average person has roughly $35,000 worth of assets stored on digital devices. That value includes purchased movies, books, music and games as well as personal memories, communications, personal records, hobbies and career information. Of those surveyed by the study, 55 percent said they store assets that would be impossible to recreate, re-download or repurchase.

Read more @ EstatePlannin.com

 

5 Estate Planning Strategies to Keep Your Money in the Family

The inheritance you leave could still be eaten away by taxes and expenses. Here are five strategies to avoid that.

If you’re single, you can have up to $5.45 million in assets before your heirs have to worry about paying a penny in estate taxes.

Knowing that, you might assume only the super wealthy need to worry about estate planning. However, financial planners say you’d be wrong to think planning is only necessary for the 1 percent.

Read more @ USNews.com