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​Happy Spring! In the midst of all the turmoil we find ourselves faced with of late we can still depend on Mother Nature to put on her usual stupendous display, reminding us that hope always springs anew after even the grimmest of winters.
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Business owners want to hire, motivate and retain good people. Even if they succeed in finding a "perfect" hire, they are not always successful in motivating them, much less keeping them around. We asked our trusted friend, Ken Jacobs, a seasoned executive and a business consultant, to share his wisdom on how to boost employee morale. Ken has held senior management positions at both public companies and private companies. His last position was President of ACE USA, a Private Equity-owned company.  He co-authored a book, Managing is Everybody’s Business, and now helps business owners increase enterprise values through his consulting company, Work/Life Tools, LLC.  
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When small business owners want to step away from their business and retire, many may worry about the tax burden they’ll face from all their potential gains. Our professional colleague, Steve Parrish, Co-Director of the American College Center for Retirement Income, graciously gave us permission to post his article in Forbes that describes a tool called a deferred sales trust that may help to spread out gains over time and lower their tax burden. 
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A variety of conflicts involving major world powers have tended to historically raise short-term volatility in global financial assets. However, market damage has tended to be short-lived, as in the magnitude of a typical market correction (-10% or a bit more). 
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To our friends who are tax and estate planning professionals, I hope you're off to a great start in 2022. Well, 2022 tax season is upon us, so I thought I'd share a few (hopefully) relevant and timely tax-related articles. 
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I just read that a 30-year-old took her own life. Is it me or am I hearing about it more often these days? My heart aches that young people are choosing to cut their lives short.
 
Enough already! Please stop. No more. 
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Happy New Year!
 
It’s always an interesting endeavor at this time of the year to stroll back along memory lane to see just how we got to where we find ourselves. The passage of time tells us the story, punctuated by the passing of things held dear and the emergence of new challenges, opportunities and technologies.
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If you have children, you may be familiar with the 529 savings plan.
 
This is how it works in a nutshell.

  • You pick a plan (sponsored by states)
  • You contribute money
  • You invest the money 
  • Your money grows tax-free
  • You use the money to pay for qualified higher education expenses
  • You don’t pay income on distributions if the money is spent on qualified higher education expenses
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The question of how much life insurance you need can stir up an emotional as well as economic bees’ nest. We've heard sentiments ranging from, “I want my family to have everything in abundance,” to “I don’t want my spouse to get rich from my death.”
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