In Brief As the number of senior citizens in the United States continues to rise, CPAs and financial planners will be increasingly called upon to…
In Brief In an attempt to alleviate the burden of student debt on U.S. borrowers, the federal government offers a Public Service Loan Forgiveness program,…
With stocks at or near record levels, prudent financial planning might call for taking defensive measures. One strategy could be to focus on dividend-paying stocks.…
Financial planning services can be a separate service or an add-on to tax or other services. With the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's (TCJA) simplification…
ICYMI—Financial Planning Using Qualified Opportunity Zones
The Integration of Estate Tax and Income Tax Planning Is Now Complete
In Brief The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 expanded the federal estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax exemption amounts, dramatically changing the landscape…
Financial Planning Using Qualified Opportunity Zones
The Integration of Estate Tax and Income Tax Planning Is Now Complete
In Brief The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 expanded the federal estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax exemption amounts, dramatically changing the landscape…
ICYMI | Medicaid Qualifying Strategies When There Is No Time to Plan
How a Financial Planner Can Intervene in a Crisis
In Brief As people age, disability can strike with little to no warning, leaving scant time for individuals and families to craft a financial plan.…
Financial Planning Challenges Facing Older Americans
How CPAs Can Help
In Brief As the number of senior citizens in the United States continues to rise, CPAs and financial planners will be increasingly called upon to…
Evaluating the Financial Planning Services Business Model
Is It the Right Time to Start a Planning Practice?
Financial planning is a generic term for all of the services that CPAs perform that deal with a client's individual wealth. It is also a…
The gig economy is a sector of the workforce in which people do not have long-term employment. Those in the gig economy are contingent workers—freelancers,…
Many CPAs and most tax specialists perform personal financial planning (PFP) services; the AICPA estimates that more than 100,000 of its members perform some form…
Planning and Tax Considerations for Collectibles
Assisting Hobbyists, Dealers, and Investors
Many individuals have substantial investments in collectibles, such as art, stamps, coins, autographs, books, maps, baseball cards, glassware, antiques, gems, jewelry, or wine. The category…
In contemplating the nuances of why financial planning makes sense for CPAs, I thought of the old story about the ship with the stubborn captain.…
For most students, the price of higher education is steep and getting steeper. Annual increases in the cost of higher education have consistently outpaced the…
Annual Review Meetings
How to Get Individuals to Act
Annual reviews are crucial to all estate and financial plans; it is important for individuals to keep their trusted advisors abreast of any life event…
Financial Reporting Issues for Preparers
Highlights from the 16th Annual Baruch College Financial Reporting Conference
The panel began with Thuener discussing the complexity of reporting standards from a preparer's point of view. Thuener attributed this complexity, in part, to the…
Birthdays can be important milestones for legal, financial, and tax purposes. For tax purposes, some rules apply on the date of a birthday, some apply…
The panel began with a discussion of the new standard for revenue recognition and the process for implementing it. Siegel highlighted some of the more…
This article orginally appeared in our July 2016 issue. This issue features our annual coverage of Baruch College's Financial Reporting Conference. Each year, leading regulators,…
I started my career with Lybrand, Ross Bros. & Montgomery (LRB&M) in 1952. Back then, life was simpler for CPAs. If you had the credentials,…
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, almost 15% of the U.S. population was 65 or older in 2015 (http://bit.ly/2oEqoBk). The Federal Reserve reports that 20%…
In Brief While most individuals probably think their insurance covers them for every conceivable occurrence, many policies have numerous gaps in coverage. Excess liability coverage…
Historically, bankruptcy of governmental units has been rare, but in recent years large municipal units such as Detroit, Mich., Jefferson County, Ala., San Bernardino, Calif.,…
In contemplating the nuances of why financial planning makes sense for CPAs, I thought of the old story about the ship with the stubborn captain.…
Humans versus Robots
Who to Turn to for Investment Advice?
There is much discussion in the financial planning world about the disruptive impact of technological advances on the industry, particularly the possibility of the “robo-advisor”…
In their article, “Have Audits Become Too Inefficient and Expensive?” (The CPA Journal, February 2016, pp. 18-23), Arthur Radin and Miriam Katowitz have explored an…
Estate planning continues to evolve in ways that enhance the importance of the CPA's role relative to other advisors and to what it has been…
Instead of looking at Social Security as a government entitlement that one should start receiving as soon as eligible, one should consider it an investment…
Helping Individuals Determine Their Investment Goals
Drafting an Investment Policy Statement
Many individuals are vague or unrealistic about their goals and how to achieve them. CPAs can use their “database” of knowledge of their clients and…