Category Archives: Business Reports

By Eric Scaringe

Recently, the office of the Illinois state treasurer was tasked with handling one of the most bizarre and complicated unclaimed estate cases ever recorded in U.S. history. 

Chicago resident Joseph Stancak passed away in 2016, secretly leaving behind $11 million in his estate. Fast forward to October 2022, 119 of Stancak’s relatives have now received a portion of his wealth more than five years later.

With no siblings, children of his own, or nephews and nieces, his lineage had to be traced by going all the way back to his parents before coming back to these relatives who are located in multiple states and even countries. That is a life-changing amount of money, and there is not much information on how he accumulated the wealth, but there is an important lesson to be learned here.

The best time to begin estate planning is as soon as possible. It basically starts with going through “what if” scenarios, some financial housekeeping and then bringing in professionals to finalize the process. 

The biggest error you can make is thinking that estate planning is only for those worth tens of millions of dollars and doesn’t apply to your family.  Anyone with assets owned in their own names may be subjecting their heirs to a long and expensive probate court process to simply inherit their assets.

Here are steps you can take to start the process:

By Bill Canty

Charitable giving is a great thing to do regardless of whether or not you are able to realize a tax benefit. 

However, if you can help others and realize a tax benefit this is a good thing and might even allow you to give a little bit more. Here are some things to know in trying to maximize the tax benefits of charitable giving. 

The standard deduction is a reduction in taxable income available to all taxpayers regardless of whether or not they can itemize deductions or have any tax credits. For 2022, the standard deduction is: Single and married filing separately,  $12,950; married filing joint, $25,900; and head of household, $19,400. 

If you have itemized deductions in excess of the standard deduction, you can deduct that amount from your taxes. Examples of itemized deductions include: property taxes, state income taxes, mortgage interest, medical expenses and charitable contributions.

Charitable contributions can be made in a number of ways that can qualify as an itemized deduction. These include direct gifts of cash, gifts of securities like stocks, mutual funds, and ETFs, and gifts of property such as real estate, art, and collectibles.

 The amount that can be deducted as an itemized deduction is as high as 60 percent of adjusted gross income for some cash donations, dropping to 50 percent or as low as 20 percent for other types. This percentage can also vary by the type of organization. 

By Rob Snell

One of the rewards for working over several decades is the ability to contribute to tax-advantaged retirement accounts, which can help provide needed income for you when you do retire. 

As the years went by, you may well have accumulated several retirement accounts, such as IRAs and 401(k)s or similar employer-sponsored plans. But you might find it advantageous to consolidate these accounts with a single provider.

Consolidating them can provide you with several potential benefits, including these:

• Less confusion and clutter. If you have multiple accounts in different locations, it may be difficult to keep track of tax documents, statements, fees, disclosures and other important information. Consolidating accounts could help provide clear, simplified account maintenance.

• Less likelihood of “lost accounts.” It may be hard to believe, but many people abandon their retirement accounts, leaving thousands of dollars behind and unclaimed. In fact, at the end of 2021, there were nearly 25 million forgotten 401(k) accounts, worth about 20 percent of all 401(k) assets, according to an estimate by Capitalize, a financial services company that helps individuals roll over retirement plan assets into new accounts. 

By Rose Miller

There is a term floating around the TikTok work circles. I like to follow TikTok’s workplace trends discussions because I get to hear what employees are talking about. Similar to the way restaurateurs follow Yelp, some employers follow social media such as TikTok, Reddit, and Twitter to hear what the work force is saying about their employers and their work environments. 

There is a phrase called “quietly quitting” and it is catching on quickly. 

What I found as a surprising discovery was that the term doesn’t mean they are actually leaving their jobs. Instead, they have decided not to take their jobs too seriously. Young professionals are stating they reject the idea of going above and beyond in their careers. The idea is to stay at the company but focus time on things they do outside of work. They have decided to pass on promotions, pay and titles.

They are setting some firm boundaries like refusing to work overtime. They insist on leaving right at five. Others advertise the fact that they will only do enough to get by. Unlike their senior managers, they don’t want their careers to be confused with personal identifies. 

Remember these are young professionals and it’s not uncommon for younger employees to, at first, refuse to climb the corporate ladder, only to end up changing their minds later. Gaining a mortgage, spouse and children can change perspectives and priorities in a drastic way. 

By Sabastian Piedmont, Esq.

New legislation in the form of an amendment to the New York Civil Rights Law became effective on May 7, requiring private employers to inform current and newly hired employees that the employer electronically monitors their work telephone, email, and internet access and usage. 

With the increased reliance on technology in the workplace—and for that matter, the increased amount of remote work being done throughout New York state—many employees and employers are curious as to how this will impact their normal operating procedures, if at all. 

While the law does not radically modify the terms of an employee’s use of technology in the workplace (and remotely), there are several changes that both employees and employers should be aware of with regard to the consent/notice given of this surveillance, as well as how it will impact those currently employed versus those who will be newly hired.

Now that the amendment is in effect, all private employers of all sizes must disclose that they are electronically monitoring employee internet usage, emails, and/or telephone communication in the form of:

by Rose Miller

In my roles as an HR professional, a critical requirement is to keep up with the ever-changing landscape of employment laws, HR best practices and workforce stressors. 

It’s a lot. But us HR folks are a resilient bunch. The successful ones are always ready for change. Reinvention should be embraced to prepare for change.

I was speaking with a peer group of women leaders the other day. I love this group of “power-women”, who come from all walks of life and various careers. They are smart, fun, and empowered. We support each other in many ways, both personally and professionally. We understand how these things are deeply tied together.

The group’s facilitator often presents topics that are thought provoking and it challenges us learn about ourselves so we can lead with more self-awareness. If you have ever worked with someone who was not at all self-aware, you would fully understand the importance of this exercise.

This month, we were asked the question, “if you could reinvent yourself or change something at this point, how or what would it be?”

By Steven Luttman

Few things warm my heart more than a trip to the Lake George outlets. 

Some might say cheap, others prefer “financially thoughtful,” but no matter what you call it I like finding a good deal. No doubt many of you feel the same way. Think for a moment about a purchase you’ve been considering recently. 

If this item were to become available for 79 percent less than its historical price how excited would that make you? That’s an amazing value. People line up hours in advance for Black Friday deals less great than this. But before you take out your wallet, what if at this exact same time last month the item could be had for 85 percent off. Given that the discount has shrunk, is it still attractive today? Of course, it’s a no brainer.   

Freddie Mac’s weekly lender survey found the average 30 year fixed rate mortgage  closed out the month of March at 4.67 percent, a sizable jump from the sub 3 percent we were seeing as recently as November. 

For anyone that’s been eyeing a home purchase or refinance it’s easy to think “I’ve dropped the ball here, rates are just way too high now”. With a short term perspective you wouldn’t be wrong. However if you were to line up the average rate for every single week over the past 50 years, rates are lower today than they’ve been for almost 80 percent of those data points since 1971. 

The rise in borrowing costs we’ve seen in 2022 can be attributed primarily to the Federal Reserve, who in an effort to combat inflation recently announced their first increase to the target Fed Funds rate since 2018. While Chairman Powell can influence short term yields via monetary policy, longer dated maturities are dictated more so by the buying and selling of Treasuries done by investors. It’s the latter that drives mortgage rates. 

By Brian M. Johnson, MBA, CLTC

Many clients have qualified assets they intend to use for retirement income. However, there is one risk that could potentially jeopardize even the most well thought out plan—the need for long-term care or extended healthcare. 

Long-term care is defined as needing assistance or supervision with everyday activities of daily living or ADL’s. A long-term care event is generally not cure oriented and the need for services, whether in home or a facility, is expected to last longer than 100 days. This type of care of referred to as custodial care, and a reason why traditional health insurance, Medicare and/or Medicare Advantage plans don’t cover it. Our default plan includes trying to qualify for Medicaid, which is a financially means tested program, which typically covers a nursing home, zero assisted living and limited home care or to use our own assets and income. 

A hybrid long-term care policy is another popular way to address the risk. It’s a type of permanent life insurance policy which offers three core benefits: An income tax-free life insurance death benefit long-term care services aren’t needed, cash indemnity benefits to pay for home care, assisted living and/or skilled nursing and a return of premium rider, which allows the insured to surrender the policy and receive either all or a portion of their premiums back with no penalty or charges.

Unlike a traditional long-term care policy, policy premiums are guaranteed and can never increase and benefits for are paid in cash to the insured, meaning the insured can use the funds however he/she sees fit, whether it’s to offset other bills, pay a family member or licensed providers. It’s an asset allocation approach to financing long-term care needs.