7/10/2008 7:06 AM   Paint Your Own House!

Paint Your Own House
Once upon a time in a small town there lived a house painter who was sought after by anyone who needed homes or business painted. He was that good!  As the story goes, there was this couple that purchased an old historic home. It needed a serious paint job. So the couple called this well sought out painter. They became impatience with getting his voice mail so they decided to call on him in person…at his home.

After entering the street, the painter lived on…they circle the block twice as they could not find his house. So they stop, knocked on a resident door and the neighbor confirmed the address is correct. The couple then walked across the street and rang the doorbell. The painter answered and welcomed them in.

As the painter was preparing the couple a hot beverage, the couple informed him that they passed his house twice. This was because it looked so terrible on the outside. The wife said: Why don’t you paint your house?. The painter simply smiled and replied: “And when do I have time to do this when I have customer like you that need my help?”

Stop The Nonsense… Protect Your Credit First!
Financial Services Professionals must first protect their credit and monitor their credit as best practice. Only then can they help Clients build and protect their wealth.  Also bad credit or a bad credit report could cause a Financial Service Professional to be fired. A bad credit history could prevent you from being promoted as you are perceived as a bad risk. Upper management may be hesitant to move you into leadership roles. Here’s help for you and your clients:

PROTECT CLIENT DATA      ID Theft...WHO WILL YOU CALL?       

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6/8/2008 7:32 PM   Cyber-Terrorism: Protect Ourselves First!

We Must Protect Ourselves First
There is a need for Financial Service Practitioners to control the cyberspace in which they share and collaborate highly sensitive information. Breaches of confidentiality could attract lawsuits, loss of professional designations as well as the business practice. Currently online collaboration sessions are engaged without very much regard to Internet security. In fact, the pervasive attitude is that Internet security is not a problem to contend with until it becomes an issue. September 11, 2001 has made it an ongoing issue. The Financial Planning Community need to control security in their CyberSpace. We cannot expect product providers come to task in this area. Product providers may not wish to take on this task unselfishly and without profit. So give us your thoughts in the forums. You might want to read the article Cyber-Terrorism: Protect Ourselves First!. The article is In the “Protect Client Data & Credit” section first.

This article explores the collaboration processes, tools and opportunities available on the Internet for the estate planning and wealth management professionals. This article also takes an in-depth look at the potential threats to client and peer confidentiality that Cyber-Terrorism brings. The discussion also explores ways to protect privileged conversations and transmissions across the vast reaches of the global Internet. This article also suggest ways the Financial Planning Community can become proactive in controlling the CyberSpace that one million plus Financial Service Practitioners (including Estate Planning and Wealth Planning Professionals) use daily to grow and manage their practices.

Note: This article appeared in Trusts & Estates March 2002. Trusts & Estates is The Journal Of Wealth Management for advisors to high-net-worth individuals, families, and foundations.

READ Cyber-Terrorism: Protect Ourselves First!  

DISCUSS this topic and share your ideas at FORUMS

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6/8/2008 2:50 PM   When is a Gift a Gift for Tax Purposes?

An uncle makes a loan to a nephew and then forgives the loan. Is this a gift? A parent sells assets to a child at a greatly reduced value. Is this a gift? Also you placed your children’s name on your home. Is this a gift? Example: Assume Amari has a home worth $300,000. He executes a deed deeding the home to himself, and to his daughters Jasmin and Sara. Amari can no longer sell the house without the approval of Jasmin and Sara. Is this a gift? Answers and Helpful Information

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1/3/2008 9:56 PM   Protecting Client Data and Credit

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