Do you meet the following criteria?
*Age 65 or older
*Have a Life Insurance Policy with a face amount of 250K or more
*There has been a change in insurability since the policy was issued
*Life expectancy of 15 years or less
If so, a life settlement may be something to consider. A life settlement is the sale of a life insurance policy for more than the surrender value while living.
Here are some circumstances that may lend themselves to a life settlement.
*You have a policy that is underperforming and you can no longer afford the premiums to keep it in force.
*You had the policy to protect a spouse who has passed away.
*You have a key employee life policy and that employee no longer is in your employ.
*You have the ability to replace this policy for a policy with the same death benefit and lower premiums.
*The policy was to cover estate tax which is no longer an issue.
*You are considering surrendering the policy or letting a convertible term policy lapse for any reason.
Before you let a policy lapse or surrender it, let over 50 companies compete to offer you significant cash for your policy. Here are a couple of examples of real policy sales.
Male, Age 79, Universal Life Policy with 3.4 million face value and 180K cash surrender value. Policy was purchased for 640K dollars.
Female, age 76, joint survivorship policy, 2 million face value, surrender value of 290K. Policy was purchased for 390K dollars.
Since some of the profits are taxed as capital gain, additional tax strategies can be applied to minimize taxes due.
Contact me if you have a policy that may qualify. We can get an estimate of what fair market value you might expect at no cost to you.
A life settlement may also be effective for exiting a poorly performing variable annuity product.
I’ll be devoting an episode of my radio show “Simply Wealth” to this topic in the near future.
Paula Straub
www.savegainstax.com
savegainstax@gmail.com
760-917-0858
Fill out a Qualification Questionnaire and see if you qualify to save capital gains tax. Go to
http://www.savegainstax.com/qq.html
Find the “Definitive Beginner’s Guide to Potentially Saving Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars in Capital Gains Tax” at
http://www.savegainstax.com/sales.php
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Life Settlements and Capital Gains
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Having Trouble Selling Your Property? How About Auction?
The biggest thing affecting my clients over the last year or so is that real estate is simply not selling the way it used to.
I can’t even count the number of times that a sale is all wrapped up after months of waiting, and at the last minute it falls out of escrow.
Most times it is due to the financing of the buyer not coming through as planned. In today’s market even “preapprovals” don’t seem to hold a lot of weight.
So although the buyer may lose a deposit, the sale doesn’t happen and the property goes back on the market. It may sit there for any number of months and sometimes the seller is forced to rent it out again just to keep afloat.
If your property is just sitting there with no bites, or you need to sell it sooner rather than later, you might consider putting it up for sale through auction.
I recently devoted a weekly radio show to this topic, and if the idea appeals to you take a listen.
An archive of all of the episodes of “Simply Wealth” is now available on the following website.
http://www.savegains.com
Go to the link above and click on the “Listen to My Radio Show- Simply Wealth” link located in the right hand selection menu.
Alternately, listen to the most current show at www.webtalkradio.net and even download it as a podcast.
Paula Straub
www.savegainstax.com
savegainstax@gmail.com
760-917-0858
Fill out a Qualification Questionnaire and see if you qualify to save capital gains tax. Go to
http://www.savegainstax.com/qq.html
Find the “Definitive Beginner’s Guide to Potentially Saving Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars in Capital Gains Tax” at
http://www.savegainstax.com/sales.php
I can’t even count the number of times that a sale is all wrapped up after months of waiting, and at the last minute it falls out of escrow.
Most times it is due to the financing of the buyer not coming through as planned. In today’s market even “preapprovals” don’t seem to hold a lot of weight.
So although the buyer may lose a deposit, the sale doesn’t happen and the property goes back on the market. It may sit there for any number of months and sometimes the seller is forced to rent it out again just to keep afloat.
If your property is just sitting there with no bites, or you need to sell it sooner rather than later, you might consider putting it up for sale through auction.
I recently devoted a weekly radio show to this topic, and if the idea appeals to you take a listen.
An archive of all of the episodes of “Simply Wealth” is now available on the following website.
http://www.savegains.com
Go to the link above and click on the “Listen to My Radio Show- Simply Wealth” link located in the right hand selection menu.
Alternately, listen to the most current show at www.webtalkradio.net and even download it as a podcast.
Paula Straub
www.savegainstax.com
savegainstax@gmail.com
760-917-0858
Fill out a Qualification Questionnaire and see if you qualify to save capital gains tax. Go to
http://www.savegainstax.com/qq.html
Find the “Definitive Beginner’s Guide to Potentially Saving Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars in Capital Gains Tax” at
http://www.savegainstax.com/sales.php
Friday, February 29, 2008
When Is a Year and a Day not a Long Term Gain?
I read an interesting article today and had to share.
It’s one of those quirky things that you would probably not ever think about until you got caught in a really awful situation.
By now you know that long term capital gain is taxed at a lower rate than ordinary income, so if you hold an asset for longer than one year you receive a tax advantage when you sell.You actually must hold the asset for at least a year and a day to qualify.
So, something purchased on March 10 of one year could be sold on March 11 of the following tax year and receive long term capital gains treatment.
So when does this rule of thumb not apply?
Leap year, of course.
If you buy shares on February 28 in a year preceding a leap year, and sell them on the following February 29, your gain or loss is short-term, not long-term.
This surprising outcome is the result of a technicality. Your holding period for an asset is deemed to begin on the day after the date of purchase. That's why you can't get a long-term gain when selling on the anniversary of the date of purchase.
If you buy on April 10, your holding period technically begins on April 11. That's why you have to wait until April 11 of the following year to sell for a long-term gain.A purchase on February 28 in a year that isn't a leap year gives you a holding period starting on March 1.
Selling on February 29 the following year may seem good enough because it's a year and a day after the date of purchase. In reality though, you have a holding period that began March 1 and ended February 29 of the following year.
The way these rules work, that's a holding period of exactly one year: not good enough, because you need to hold more than a year to have a long-term capital gain.
I learn something new every day. Hope you did too.
Paula Straub
www.savegainstax.com
savegainstax@gmail.com
760-917-0858
Fill out a Qualification Questionnaire and see if you qualify to save capital gains tax. Go to
http://www.savegainstax.com/qq.html
It’s one of those quirky things that you would probably not ever think about until you got caught in a really awful situation.
By now you know that long term capital gain is taxed at a lower rate than ordinary income, so if you hold an asset for longer than one year you receive a tax advantage when you sell.You actually must hold the asset for at least a year and a day to qualify.
So, something purchased on March 10 of one year could be sold on March 11 of the following tax year and receive long term capital gains treatment.
So when does this rule of thumb not apply?
Leap year, of course.
If you buy shares on February 28 in a year preceding a leap year, and sell them on the following February 29, your gain or loss is short-term, not long-term.
This surprising outcome is the result of a technicality. Your holding period for an asset is deemed to begin on the day after the date of purchase. That's why you can't get a long-term gain when selling on the anniversary of the date of purchase.
If you buy on April 10, your holding period technically begins on April 11. That's why you have to wait until April 11 of the following year to sell for a long-term gain.A purchase on February 28 in a year that isn't a leap year gives you a holding period starting on March 1.
Selling on February 29 the following year may seem good enough because it's a year and a day after the date of purchase. In reality though, you have a holding period that began March 1 and ended February 29 of the following year.
The way these rules work, that's a holding period of exactly one year: not good enough, because you need to hold more than a year to have a long-term capital gain.
I learn something new every day. Hope you did too.
Paula Straub
www.savegainstax.com
savegainstax@gmail.com
760-917-0858
Fill out a Qualification Questionnaire and see if you qualify to save capital gains tax. Go to
http://www.savegainstax.com/qq.html
Friday, February 15, 2008
What About Investing in Real Estate Outside of the US?
The US market is pretty shaky right now in real estate. So, what about investing outside the USA?
It may be worth looking into once you know how to do your due diligence and ask the right questions.
This is the topic of the week for my radio show "Simply Wealth". My guests are two experienced overseas investors, Mynette Boykin and Glen Fulton.
The are currently investing in Peru, Mexico, and Viet Nam amongst other countries where the markets are hot.
You can listen over the web at http://www.webtalkradio.net . Click on my name or the show Simply Wealth. You can also download it to your IPOD or mp3 player and take it with you on the road.
Paula Straub
760-917-0858
savegainstax@gmail.com
www.savegainstax.com
It may be worth looking into once you know how to do your due diligence and ask the right questions.
This is the topic of the week for my radio show "Simply Wealth". My guests are two experienced overseas investors, Mynette Boykin and Glen Fulton.
The are currently investing in Peru, Mexico, and Viet Nam amongst other countries where the markets are hot.
You can listen over the web at http://www.webtalkradio.net . Click on my name or the show Simply Wealth. You can also download it to your IPOD or mp3 player and take it with you on the road.
Paula Straub
760-917-0858
savegainstax@gmail.com
www.savegainstax.com
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
The Dish on Finding the Right CPA
This week's guest on my radio show "Simply Wealth" is Diane Kennedy of http://www.taxloopholes.com/.
Diane is a very well known CPA and tax strategist and author of several books and courses.
An ongoing challenge for a lot of my capital gains clients is finding the right CPA. Even with a tax strategy for a particular asset sale, it is important to know how all the different taxes you may be subject to can affect your bottom line.
Diane uses a statistic from a study that 80% of CPAs don't understand actual tax planning. It is not their focus. Once you own a business or real estate investment, it is very important to have it structured properly and take advantage of all the deductions you are allowed.
It is important to have someone who understands that keeping as much money working for you as possible for as long as possible will increase your wealth.
Never assume because someone took a CPA exam (perhaps many years ago) that they are aware of current rules on more complex tax subjects. A good CPA will know how to research a strategy and be willing to be brought up to speed. A CPA, or other tax professional who is not willing or able to research can do you great disservice.
If you have an internet connection and speakers you can listen to the program on line. Just go to http://www.webtalkradio.net/ and click on my name or Simply Wealth and you can click on "listen now" or download a podcast if you have an IPOD or mp3 player.
Paula Straub
http://www.savegainstax.com/
760-917-0858
savegainstax@gmail.com
Diane is a very well known CPA and tax strategist and author of several books and courses.
An ongoing challenge for a lot of my capital gains clients is finding the right CPA. Even with a tax strategy for a particular asset sale, it is important to know how all the different taxes you may be subject to can affect your bottom line.
Diane uses a statistic from a study that 80% of CPAs don't understand actual tax planning. It is not their focus. Once you own a business or real estate investment, it is very important to have it structured properly and take advantage of all the deductions you are allowed.
It is important to have someone who understands that keeping as much money working for you as possible for as long as possible will increase your wealth.
Never assume because someone took a CPA exam (perhaps many years ago) that they are aware of current rules on more complex tax subjects. A good CPA will know how to research a strategy and be willing to be brought up to speed. A CPA, or other tax professional who is not willing or able to research can do you great disservice.
If you have an internet connection and speakers you can listen to the program on line. Just go to http://www.webtalkradio.net/ and click on my name or Simply Wealth and you can click on "listen now" or download a podcast if you have an IPOD or mp3 player.
Paula Straub
http://www.savegainstax.com/
760-917-0858
savegainstax@gmail.com
Monday, January 21, 2008
Simply Wealth Radio Program Debuts Today
My radio program "Simply Wealth" is debuting today, January 21, 2008.
If you have a computer with speakers and an internet connection you can access it by going to http://www.webtalkradio.net and either clicking on "Simply Wealth" from the schedule page or going to hosts, and Paula Straub, and clicking on the link there.
My first guest is Monte Lee-Wen of the PPA Group and InvestorTours.com and the subject is whether commercial real estate is suffering the same rocky road as residential properties.
The show is also available in podcast form, so if you have an MP3 player, you can download to it and listen while on the road or at your leisure from anywhere.
Be sure to check it out. Next week I talk with guest Jack Guttentag about the mortgage meltdown and what to do if you need a loan or are in one that you can no longer afford.
Paula Straub
760-917-0858
www.savegainstax.com
If you have a computer with speakers and an internet connection you can access it by going to http://www.webtalkradio.net and either clicking on "Simply Wealth" from the schedule page or going to hosts, and Paula Straub, and clicking on the link there.
My first guest is Monte Lee-Wen of the PPA Group and InvestorTours.com and the subject is whether commercial real estate is suffering the same rocky road as residential properties.
The show is also available in podcast form, so if you have an MP3 player, you can download to it and listen while on the road or at your leisure from anywhere.
Be sure to check it out. Next week I talk with guest Jack Guttentag about the mortgage meltdown and what to do if you need a loan or are in one that you can no longer afford.
Paula Straub
760-917-0858
www.savegainstax.com
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Your Input Would Be Appreciated
I have been asked to host a new weekly talk radio show which will be debuting January 21, 2008 on www.webtalkradio.net.
It will be called “Simply Wealth” and will be available on-demand from the website, in podcast form, and soon at many national public libraries in subscription form.
I’m very excited and can use your help to make it the best radio program online.
The show will be focusing on timely topics which will educate and inform listeners on ways to increase, maintain, protect and pass on their personal wealth.
Each week I will interview guests who are experts in their respective fields and I would love you to write and tell me what subjects you would like more information on and that would personally benefit you.
As my subscribers, your needs are very important to me.
Currently, shows will include managing the mortgage meltdown, how commercial real estate is holding up compared to residential, selling your home through auction, how to choose the right CPA, Long Term care for family members and more.
Send any suggestions for topics, any guest speaker recommendations, and any names of potential show sponsors to me at savegainstax@gmail.com or to my assistant Jessica at savegainstax@hotmail.com.
I want this program to help as many people as possible.
Paula Straub
www.savegainstax.com
savegainstax@gmail.com
760-917-0858
Fill out a Qualification Questionnaire and see if you qualify to save capital gains tax. Go to
http://www.savegainstax.com/qq.html
Find the “Definitive Beginner’s Guide to Potentially Saving Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars in Capital Gains Tax” at
http://www.savegainstax.com/sales.php
It will be called “Simply Wealth” and will be available on-demand from the website, in podcast form, and soon at many national public libraries in subscription form.
I’m very excited and can use your help to make it the best radio program online.
The show will be focusing on timely topics which will educate and inform listeners on ways to increase, maintain, protect and pass on their personal wealth.
Each week I will interview guests who are experts in their respective fields and I would love you to write and tell me what subjects you would like more information on and that would personally benefit you.
As my subscribers, your needs are very important to me.
Currently, shows will include managing the mortgage meltdown, how commercial real estate is holding up compared to residential, selling your home through auction, how to choose the right CPA, Long Term care for family members and more.
Send any suggestions for topics, any guest speaker recommendations, and any names of potential show sponsors to me at savegainstax@gmail.com or to my assistant Jessica at savegainstax@hotmail.com.
I want this program to help as many people as possible.
Paula Straub
www.savegainstax.com
savegainstax@gmail.com
760-917-0858
Fill out a Qualification Questionnaire and see if you qualify to save capital gains tax. Go to
http://www.savegainstax.com/qq.html
Find the “Definitive Beginner’s Guide to Potentially Saving Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars in Capital Gains Tax” at
http://www.savegainstax.com/sales.php
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