Thomas Campaniello had apartments in New York City and in Florida. He also had a sizeable income. In 2006 Campaniello decided to change his domicile to Florida but still spend time in both states. That is easier said than done, as far as the taxing authorities are concerned. You can’t just declare where you want…
Category: Newsletter
SECRET CLAUSES IN TRUSTS
When Dmitri remarried in 1989, he created a revocable trust for his wife and his two sons from his first marriage, his only descendants. The sons were to receive a distribution from the trust at Dmitri’s death, but most of the assets were to remain in trust for the life of the surviving spouse. At…
Bell tolls for long-term-care insurance
Perhaps the product was doomed from the start. As critics pointed out, people who needed long-term-care insurance couldn’t afford it; people rich enough to afford it didn’t need it. And those were the good old days. Most holders of LTC policies have seen their premiums soar; in an era of low interest rates, insurance companies have…
When is a transfer a gift?
Cohen got along famously with his son-in-law Raymond, who went to work in his father-in-law’s scrap metal company. Raymond became one of Cohen’s most valuable assistants. In 2006 Cohen sold the company. He and Raymond each received three-year employment contracts. However, they were not very happy working for the successor, and began to seek other…
Fear of identity theft
A recent survey of high-net-worth investors, reported on wealthmanagement.com, probed for respondents’ greatest fears. Major illness came in third, at 56%. Terrorism concerned 65%. The top worry, for 72% of respondents, was identity theft. The concern is not misplaced. Reportedly, in 2015 alone there were 13.1 million victims of identity theft, at a cost of…
529 Plans: Advanced Questions
During the presidential primary campaigns, the cost of higher education and the burden of education loans upon recent graduates was been a recurring theme. Families with higher incomes have addressed these costs by contributing to tax-preferred savings vehicles, such as the 529 plan (named for a section of the tax code). In his 2015 State…
Variable Medicare Premiums
Beginning in 2007, the amount a retiree must pay for Medicare Part B had a new component put into the mix: adjusted gross income (AGI). Higher income retirees began paying more, and the highest income retirees had to pay more than double for the same coverage. Similar rules began to apply to Medicare Part D…