Stephen Canakes, www.stephencanakes.com

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Estates & Trusts

What Key Estate Planning Tools Should I Know About?

Wills and trusts allow you to spell out how you would like your property distributed, but they also go beyond that.
How Can a Living Trust Help Me Control My Estate?

A living trust can help control the distribution of your estate upon death.
What Are the Pitfalls of Probate?

The probate process can be lengthy and complex. There are strategies you can use to help avoid the probate process.
How Can My Gift Benefit Me and the Charity?

To retain the tax advantages associated with charitable giving, your gift must be made to a qualified organization.
How Can I Control the Distribution of My Estate?

If you haven't taken steps already, consider planning now for the distribution of the assets of your estate.
How Will I Pay Estate Taxes?

If you believe your estate will be subject to estate taxes, consider how your heirs will pay the bill.
What Gifting Strategies Are Available to Me?

Compare the advantages and disadvantages of different gifting strategies available for planned giving.
How Can I Benefit from a Charitable Remainder Trust?

A designated income beneficiary could receive payment of a specified amount from a charitable remainder trust.
How Can I Benefit from a Wealth Replacement Trust?

A wealth replacement trust could be used to gift appreciated assets to a charity as well as provide for heirs.
Could My Family Benefit from a Family Limited Partnership?

One estate planning strategy that families with closely held businesses could consider is the family limited partnership.
What Is the Best Form of Property Ownership for Me?

Sole ownership, joint tenancy, tenancy in common, and community property have special benefits for property owners.
What Is the History of the Federal Estate Tax?

Careful estate planning is still one of the most important ways to manage and protect your assets for your heirs.

Retirement

What Is a SIMPLE?

The SIMPLE plan may appeal to small business owners as it is easy to set up, administer, and allows for a tax deduction.
What Is an IRA Rollover?

If you leave a job or retire, you should consider your options regarding your employer retirement plan assets.
What Is a Roth 401(k)?

A Roth 401(k) is funded with after-tax money, and allows for tax- and penalty-free withdrawal of earnings if requirements are met.
What Is a Profit-Sharing Plan?

Profit-sharing plans give employees a share in the profits of a company and can help to fund their retirements.
What Is a Money Purchase Pension Plan?

A money purchase plan is a retirement plan where employer contributions are based on a fixed percentage of compensation.
What Is a 403(b) Plan?

A 403(b) plan is a tax-deferred retirement savings plan that can only be offered by a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt entity.
Why Do People Buy Annuities?

Annuities, an insurance-based financial vehicle, can provide many benefits that retirement investors might want.
What Is a Split-Annuity Strategy?

A split-annuity strategy can generate immediate income while potentially stretching some retirement savings.
What Are Annuity Living Benefits?

Living benefits can help protect variable annuity owners from running out of money in retirement.
How Much Do I Need to Save?

Many realize it’s important to save for retirement, but knowing exactly how much to save is another issue altogether.
A New Chapter for Retirement

With the changing pension landscape, it is important to take charge of your own retirement security.
What Is a 1035 Exchange?

A Section 1035 exchange is a tax-free exchange of an existing annuity contract or life insurance policy for a new one.
Unforgettable Birthdays

There are key dates after you turn 59½ that can impact your taxes, Medicare eligibility, and retirement benefits.
Should You Bank Your Retirement on Your Business?

Allocating too much of your retirement investments to one company, even your own, can be a risky proposition.
What Is a Self-Employed Retirement Plan?

Tax-deferred retirement plans for self-employed individuals have higher contribution limits than IRAs.
What Is a 401(k) Plan?

401(k) employer-sponsored retirement plans have many benefits, including that the funds accumulate tax-deferred.

Tax Planning

What Is the Estate Tax?

Everything you own, whatever the form of ownership, is subject to federal, and possibly state, estate taxes.
What Is the Gift Tax?

The federal gift tax applies to gifts of property or money while the donor is living.
How Much Money Can I Put Into My IRA or Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan?

IRAs and employer-sponsored retirement plans are subject to annual contribution limits set by the federal government.
What Is a Required Minimum Distribution?

Required minimum distribution is the annual amount that must be withdrawn from a qualified retirement plan/account.
What Are the Tax Benefits of Charitable Trusts?

For the grantor, there are a few potential tax benefits that can come with setting up a charitable trust.
When Must Taxes Be Paid on IRA and Employer-Sponsored Retirement Funds?

With traditional IRAs and most employer-sponsored retirement plans, taxes are not payable until funds are withdrawn.
How Can I Benefit from Tax-Advantaged Investments?

Many traditional tax-advantaged investment strategies have gone away, but there are still some alternatives.
What Tax Deductions Are Still Available to Me?

Changes to the tax code have left a few key deductions for itemizers, like medical, dental and some business expenses.
What Tax-Advantaged Alternatives Are Available?

While stable, CDs can create an income tax bill. Fixed annuities and municipal bonds can offer tax advantages.
What Is the Most Tax-Efficient Way to Take a Distribution From a Retirement Plan

Consider a trustee-to-trustee transfer to an IRA versus a lump-sum distribution from a workplace retirement plan.
Is There Such a Thing as a Tax-Free Investment?

It's important to understand tax-exempt vehicles when establishing a comprehensive tax planning strategy.
How Can I Keep More of My Mutual Fund Profits?

Want to keep more of your mutual fund profits? You may be interested in strategies to help lower your tax liability.
How Can I Upgrade My Insurance — Tax-Free?

A 1035 exchange allows you to exchange your life insurance policy for one from another company without tax liability.

Investing

What Are Dividends?

It is important to understand how dividends (taxable payments to shareholders) fit with your long-term goals.
What Is an Exchange-Traded Fund?

ETFs have unique attributes and attempt to track all types of indexes, industries, or commodities.
How Are Growth and Value Stocks Different?

The labels growth and value reflect different approaches that can be used when making investment decisions.
How Are Mutual Funds Taxed?

Mutual fund taxes can be cumbersome, but there are ways to help mitigate the amount of taxes you may owe.
What Is Stock?

Before investing in stocks, it is important to understand some of the basics and the risks involved in owning stocks.
What Are Zero-Coupon Bonds?

Zero-coupon bonds represent a type of bond that does not pay interest during the life of the bond.
What Is Diversification?

An important element to successful investing is to manage investment risk while maintaining the potential for growth.
What Is a Stock Index?

Stock market indexes can be useful benchmarks for gauging the performance of an investment portfolio over time.
How Do Mutual Funds and Stocks Differ?

The difference between purchasing an individual stock versus shares in a mutual fund to potentially earn dividends.
What Is a Mutual Fund?

A mutual fund is a collection of stocks, bonds, and other securities with certain benefits and risks.
What Is an Annuity?

An annuity is a flexible financial vehicle that can help protect against the risk of living a long time because it provides an option for a lifetime income.
What Is the Difference Between a Fixed Annuity and a Variable Annuity?

Both fixed and variable annuities could be appropriate options for an individual interested in purchasing an annuity.
What Stock and Bond Investing Alternatives Do I Have?

There are other ways to invest in stocks and bonds besides owning individual shares or bonds.

Risk Management

Why Purchase Life Insurance?

If you have a family who relies on your income, it is important to have life insurance protection.
Why Are Annuities Considered an Insurance Product?

An annuity is a contract between you and an insurance company to pay you future income in exchange for premiums you pay.
What Is Property and Casualty Insurance?

Property and casualty insurance can help protect a variety of assets. Find out what it does and doesn’t cover.
Do I Need a Business Owner Policy?

A business owner policy is an insurance package that assembles the basic coverages required by a business owner in one bundle.
What Is Life Insurance for Business Owners?

Company-owned life insurance is one way to help protect a business from financial problems caused by the death of a key employee.
What Is Split-Dollar Life Insurance?

Split-dollar life insurance is an arrangement to purchase and fund life insurance between two parties.
What Is Last-Survivor Life Insurance?

Couples who want to help protect their legacy from estate taxes could consider last-survivor life insurance.
What Is Variable Life Insurance?

Variable life insurance gives you the control to allocate your account value among a variety of investment options.

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Quarterly Recap

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Estates & Trusts

Retirement

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