Florida Asset Protection & Estate Planning Blog
Helping You Protect What's Yours for You and Your Loved Ones
C. Randolph Coleman
C. Randolph Coleman, is a Florida attorney since 1978. His practice is limited to estate planning, tax and asset protection planning, small business planning, probate and trust administration. Mr. Coleman is a frequent author and speaker regarding estate planning and asset protection planning matters. He is a graduate of the University of Florida (BSBA ‘72, JD, with honors ‘78). Mr. Coleman and The Coleman Law Firm are listed in the Martindale-Hubbell® Bar Register of Pre-Eminent Lawyers, which lists only those select lawyers who have earned the A-V® Rating in the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory and have therefore been designated by their colleagues as pre-eminent in their field.Feed List
Florida Asset Protection & Estate Planning Blog
The Retirement Income Challenge
A signifciant part of estate and retirement planning is ensuring there is adequate income during retirement to live comfortably - as defined by each of us for ourselves. Given the economic perfect storm that we have encountered as a country over the past year or so that goal is much more difficult now for many of us to reach. Over the past year home prices have fallen, the stock market is off more than 50% from its highs, unemployment is up more than 2% over its position at this time last year, the financial system is experiencing difficulties of a lifetime, interest rates are down, and generally the consuming public has stopped buying or even shopping.
What all of this means for many folks is the need to keep working past what previously was considered "normal" retirement. The question many will face is not whether to work longer, but whether to work for someone else or work for yourself in your own business. While I don't have the answers to those questions, there are a couple of new books recently published that people who are examining those questions might want to review. The first is "Working Longer: The Solution to the Retirement Income Challenge," by Alicia H. Munnell and Steven A. Sass (Brookings Institution Press). The other one is "Retire — And Start Your Own Business" (Nolo Press), by Dennis and Martha Sargent.
According to Munnell and Sass, the typical head of household who is approaching retirement has a nest egg of only $60,000, which probably is less than will be needed to maintain lifestyles, health care needs and longevity predictions. They suggest that rather than retiring at 62, most people should continue working until they are around 66, or later. There are many charts and graphs contained in the book to help understand the demographics involved. The pair advocate that individuals, employers, and government, must work together to accomplish the fundamental changes that will be required to provide work and financial support for those who will need or want to continue working. One suggestion they make is for Congress to modify the Social Security law to allow employees who have 35 to 40 years of Social Security covered earnings to opt out of paying Social Security taxes while still on the job. That would lower employer payroll taxes, which would create an incentive for both the workers and the employers.
"Retire — And Start Your Own Business" takes a different approach. It provides an extensive how-to workbook that helps the prospective entrepreneur determine what kind of business is best suited for the new business owner. it begins with a detailed self-appraisal that provides a personal motivation and financial profile for the individual. Then, the reader is guided through a plethora of business possibilities that either guides one to the "perfect" business opportunity for themselves, or sufficiently convinces them that going into business for oneself is not such a good idea (in which case go back to "Working Longer!"). The book is sprinkled with examples of real individuals' successes and failures. It contains many "reality checks" to keep you from being led astray by unbridled ambition, such as a reminder that there are only 168 hours in a week to get things done. The book comes with a CD-ROM that contains questionnaires, worksheets and forms that can be filled in and printed out for review and follow up.
For those who will find it necessary or desirous to engage in some kind of economic activity for a period of time extending beyond the traditional 62 or 65, these books are a good read. Personally, I plan to keep working for a long time.
What all of this means for many folks is the need to keep working past what previously was considered "normal" retirement. The question many will face is not whether to work longer, but whether to work for someone else or work for yourself in your own business. While I don't have the answers to those questions, there are a couple of new books recently published that people who are examining those questions might want to review. The first is "Working Longer: The Solution to the Retirement Income Challenge," by Alicia H. Munnell and Steven A. Sass (Brookings Institution Press). The other one is "Retire — And Start Your Own Business" (Nolo Press), by Dennis and Martha Sargent.
According to Munnell and Sass, the typical head of household who is approaching retirement has a nest egg of only $60,000, which probably is less than will be needed to maintain lifestyles, health care needs and longevity predictions. They suggest that rather than retiring at 62, most people should continue working until they are around 66, or later. There are many charts and graphs contained in the book to help understand the demographics involved. The pair advocate that individuals, employers, and government, must work together to accomplish the fundamental changes that will be required to provide work and financial support for those who will need or want to continue working. One suggestion they make is for Congress to modify the Social Security law to allow employees who have 35 to 40 years of Social Security covered earnings to opt out of paying Social Security taxes while still on the job. That would lower employer payroll taxes, which would create an incentive for both the workers and the employers.
"Retire — And Start Your Own Business" takes a different approach. It provides an extensive how-to workbook that helps the prospective entrepreneur determine what kind of business is best suited for the new business owner. it begins with a detailed self-appraisal that provides a personal motivation and financial profile for the individual. Then, the reader is guided through a plethora of business possibilities that either guides one to the "perfect" business opportunity for themselves, or sufficiently convinces them that going into business for oneself is not such a good idea (in which case go back to "Working Longer!"). The book is sprinkled with examples of real individuals' successes and failures. It contains many "reality checks" to keep you from being led astray by unbridled ambition, such as a reminder that there are only 168 hours in a week to get things done. The book comes with a CD-ROM that contains questionnaires, worksheets and forms that can be filled in and printed out for review and follow up.
For those who will find it necessary or desirous to engage in some kind of economic activity for a period of time extending beyond the traditional 62 or 65, these books are a good read. Personally, I plan to keep working for a long time.
Unusual Social Security Claiming Strategies
Estate and asset protection planning, especially in the current challenging economic environment, often involves taking advantage of every available opportunity to increase our asset base and our income. Most all of our clients at one time or another have questions about Social Security and how to maximize the recovery of their investment in the Social Security system. I recently ran across a report from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College that provides some unusual claiming strategies for Social Security benefits. Even though the amounts involved may not be huge, these strategies should not be ignored. ...<< MORE >>
Automobile Liability and Asset Protection
All of these car crashes reminded me of an event involving one of my clients earlier this year, and is a good example of the overlap between estate planning and asset protection. After her accident, she and her husband called to thank me for discussing during our estate planning conferences the proper titling of their automobiles to minimize potential exposure of their assets to lawsuits that might be brought against them for accidents. As a result of the re-titling of their automobiles, when she caused the accident, the limit of their liability insurance coverage was also the limit of their exposure, so none of their assets were at risk. Had they not changed the titling of their automobiles, it is highly probable that substantial assets would have been at risk to a lawsuit by the injured party. The moral of this story is that proper titling of assets can be a very important asset protection technique, that doesn't involve spending a lot of time or money.
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FDIC Deposit Insurance Limits - What's Insured and What's Not!
The rules governing deposit insurance coverage for bank accounts and certificates of deposit owned by revocable and irrevocable trusts can be complex. Given the environment for the overall economy, and the financial industry in particular, it may be important for you to know how much of your deposits are actually insured. You can find all of the detailed rules and regulations << MORE >>
Estate Planning and Asset Protection - A New Blawg On The Scene
This is a new endeavor by me, Randy Coleman, to accomplish a number of objectives. First, I see this blawg as a way to provide additional information, on a regular basis, to my existing clients. Second, it will offer the opportunity for my clients and others to let me know what is of interest to them, and where I need to be providing my focus so that I can respond to their evolving needs. It's also a way for me to communicate ideas to not only to clients, but to those in allied professions with whom I am constantly working to provide solutions to the estate planning and asset protection needs that they and their clients have.
Let me take a few sentences to let you know who I am. I have been in the private practice of law for 30 years, after working in Atlanta and Florida as a certified public accountant for six years. In my law practice, initially, as an associate attorney and then a partner, with large law firms (one over 650 lawyers), I handled commercial litigation matters for my clients, including a substantial amount of securities litigation. I eventually reached a point where I felt that helping clients avoid problems was more rewarding than helping them recover from problems after they occurred. So I shifted the focus of my practice to planning rather than litigating. Since 1991 my practice has been primarily focused on estate planning, asset protection, small business planning, tax planning, and related areas of the law.
Over the years, I have been intimately involved with the financial services industry, the life insurance industry, and the real estate industry, as well as the legal systems in various parts of the United States and portions of the Caribbean, Central and South America and Europe. During my tenure with the large law firms, I was a department chairperson requiring my participation with various litigation matters in many states, including California, New York and Texas, as well as throughout Florida. I have participated in matters where my objective was to seek out assets from defendants to recover as much as I could for my clients, and to defend my clients from claims, some spurious and others not, and to protect the assets of those defendants from recovery by the plaintiffs and their counsel as zealously as the law allows. So, I have seen asset protection from both perspectives. I have been counsel for plaintiffs as well as defendants, in commercial litigation matters, and have served as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and FINRA (formerly the National Association of Securities Dealers -NASD) in commercial and securities matters. I have served on the board of directors of publicly held companies, non-profit organizations, community based organizations and chambers of commerce. I have seen liability arise out of all kinds of circumstances, with all kinds of consequences.
My personal philosophy is that asset protection and estate planning are essentially the same thing - just a slightly different focus. Estate planning involves making sure that you have put your affairs in order so that you can control and protect your assets for the benefit of you and your loved ones during your lifetime, in the event of incapacity and at death. It involves the transfer of your assets at death, to the people you want, in the manner you want, at the time you want, and at the least possible cost in taxes, administrative expenses and professional feels. Asset protection is essentially the same thing. It involves, primarily, structuring your affairs so that you and your family can control and benefit from your assets, while protecting them from being lost to taxes, unnecessary professional fees, fraudulent actions by others, or undeserving creditors.
Good estate planning and good asset protection planning both require teamwork. In most cases, the client, the client's CPA, financial advisor, a knowledgeable life insurance professional, and sometimes others, along with an experienced and knowledgeable estate planning and asset protection attorney, are all needed to make the estate plan and the asset protection plan work right for the client.
In the coming days, weeks, months, and years, it is my objective to provide the readers of this blawg some of the benefit, and the insight, from my 36 years experience as an attorney and CPA. I will endeavor to provide not only the technical legal discussion appropriate for the topics covered, but will also include commentary regarding the practical issues and consequences involved in a particular situation. I hope you will enjoy and benefit from the time you spend as a reader of this blawg.
Let me take a few sentences to let you know who I am. I have been in the private practice of law for 30 years, after working in Atlanta and Florida as a certified public accountant for six years. In my law practice, initially, as an associate attorney and then a partner, with large law firms (one over 650 lawyers), I handled commercial litigation matters for my clients, including a substantial amount of securities litigation. I eventually reached a point where I felt that helping clients avoid problems was more rewarding than helping them recover from problems after they occurred. So I shifted the focus of my practice to planning rather than litigating. Since 1991 my practice has been primarily focused on estate planning, asset protection, small business planning, tax planning, and related areas of the law.
Over the years, I have been intimately involved with the financial services industry, the life insurance industry, and the real estate industry, as well as the legal systems in various parts of the United States and portions of the Caribbean, Central and South America and Europe. During my tenure with the large law firms, I was a department chairperson requiring my participation with various litigation matters in many states, including California, New York and Texas, as well as throughout Florida. I have participated in matters where my objective was to seek out assets from defendants to recover as much as I could for my clients, and to defend my clients from claims, some spurious and others not, and to protect the assets of those defendants from recovery by the plaintiffs and their counsel as zealously as the law allows. So, I have seen asset protection from both perspectives. I have been counsel for plaintiffs as well as defendants, in commercial litigation matters, and have served as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and FINRA (formerly the National Association of Securities Dealers -NASD) in commercial and securities matters. I have served on the board of directors of publicly held companies, non-profit organizations, community based organizations and chambers of commerce. I have seen liability arise out of all kinds of circumstances, with all kinds of consequences.
My personal philosophy is that asset protection and estate planning are essentially the same thing - just a slightly different focus. Estate planning involves making sure that you have put your affairs in order so that you can control and protect your assets for the benefit of you and your loved ones during your lifetime, in the event of incapacity and at death. It involves the transfer of your assets at death, to the people you want, in the manner you want, at the time you want, and at the least possible cost in taxes, administrative expenses and professional feels. Asset protection is essentially the same thing. It involves, primarily, structuring your affairs so that you and your family can control and benefit from your assets, while protecting them from being lost to taxes, unnecessary professional fees, fraudulent actions by others, or undeserving creditors.
Good estate planning and good asset protection planning both require teamwork. In most cases, the client, the client's CPA, financial advisor, a knowledgeable life insurance professional, and sometimes others, along with an experienced and knowledgeable estate planning and asset protection attorney, are all needed to make the estate plan and the asset protection plan work right for the client.
In the coming days, weeks, months, and years, it is my objective to provide the readers of this blawg some of the benefit, and the insight, from my 36 years experience as an attorney and CPA. I will endeavor to provide not only the technical legal discussion appropriate for the topics covered, but will also include commentary regarding the practical issues and consequences involved in a particular situation. I hope you will enjoy and benefit from the time you spend as a reader of this blawg.