Estate-planning

As an attorney, I've read many books on estate planning and asset protection. Protecting Your Financial Future is the best treatment of the subject I've seen. It's got powerful info that even financial and legal professionals will learn from, but it's easily understood by the layperson too.

One of the best aspects of the book is its writing style. It was actually enjoyable to read; intermingling strategies with anecdotes that illustrate principles.

Living trusts and other asset protection tools are often used incorrectly. The authors of Protecting Your Financial Future help readers avoid common pitfalls and build wealth with strategies all my clients should use. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has a trust or thinks they will benefit from a trust. This book will give you the answers you need for the best possible plan.

Despite its somewhat misleading title, this is an excellent book for all kinds of people, gay, lesbian, or straight, who are involved in estate planning and settlement. The examples are useful and the information is presented clearly. Excellent resource for a difficult task.

This is a very methodical, thorough step by step manual for investing your IRA or retirement funds in real estate. This book was very helpful to me for a number of reasons. A year ago or so I asked three different advisers at Fidelity Mutual Funds whether I could use my IRA money there to purchase and renovate a piece of real estate. They each said no. But this book says the answer should have been yes. That I can set up my own IRA, even a rollover IRA or Keough, and purchase and improve real estate with the money from the IRA. And the book is very methodical about how to do it, including forms and steps in the procedure. I would think the book would also be helpful to estate planners and lawyers who are helping people plan their estates. One thing I wish the authors would address is why should you put your retirement funds in real estate rather in the stock market or mutual funds. Are there tax advantages? Is the income sheltered? Is it easier (ie fewer estate taxes on heirs) to pass real estate on to heirs--is the value of real estate discounted somehow? I wish I had had this book when I was talking to Fidelity so I could have rolled over those IRA funds into this building I bought rather than borrowing money from a bank.

I purchased this book several years ago after I purchased a 10-unit apartment building which I subsequently managed myself. I also do my own taxes. I found the book to be in invaluable resource guide. The ONLY book of it's kind (I probably have 20 on my shelf). Holmes shares his experience with IRS audits of property owners. He knows the tax code inside and out and the best ways a property owner can utilize it to their advantage (legally and above board, no slick marketing, just examples of what works).

Holmes skips the hype that almost every real estate investing book seems to love pitching. He has invested in real estate himself and has done taxes for hundreds of customers. He shares specific information about each form, how the IRS views the information (ie tips on avoiding an audit) and gives very detailed examples of Schedule E, Depreciation calculation, vacation homes and other topics.

There's an excellent section on 1031 exchange which I'm re-reading. He answers questions about state taxation issues and gives a detailed example of how California's aggressive tax stance on property sold within it's borders can be avoided by using a 1031 exchange into another state. This chapter gives a step by step calculation of how to calculate the deferred capital gain in an exchange, something I looked for on the web to no avail. It's also not in the IRC.

This book continues to provide me with answers I can't seem to locate anywhere else. A must purchase for small rental real estate property owners.

Reverse mortgages allow senior citizens to continue living in their home, while generating a significant amount of cash for living expenses. Author Ken Scholen has put his considerable expertise on reverse mortgages into this basic guide. Whether you're thinking about a reverse mortgage for yourself or for a parent, learn about your options from this objective source, before you hear a banker's sales pitch.

I reccomend this book for anyone; New Yorker or not, who is interested in the current trends in this economy, including the selling of our nation's great art and humanity to pave the way for malls. A thrilling story with wonderful research, not to mention well-written by an intelligent person who I admire most for telling the truth.

Peace Be With You, Brett Somers

Unquestionably the definitive book on this topic. An updated version should be done by these masterful authors.

Len Lye, like many artists I imagine, wrote in a broken style without necessarily carrying chains of thought through to their (natural) conclusion. He was careful to stay away from what he believed was a commercially dictated style of writing - as a result, themes would be appear scattered about his great mass of written material. Curnow and Horrocks have painstakingly gone through Lye's writings, letters and musings to present the reader with a flowing account of the many aspects to Lye's painting, sculpture, film and genetic theory in his own words.

Many estate planners fail to adequately understand a client's personal values and priorities and merely plug into a standardized will and trust setup. This book provides a systematic method for analyzing and implementing needs for personal financial security, gifts to family, and charitable giving. The audience for the book is clearly professional financial planners, but wealthy individuals will find the author's approach helpful.

I liked this book when I was in law school. It "cut to the chase" and made the concepts of wills and trusts understandable. Although wills and trusts are separate courses in law school, I found the book has value for both courses by making difficult concepts understandable. Now that I am an instructor teaching wills and trusts for paralegals at a local college, I find the book valuable. I must admit that I made the mistake of lending it to a student. She won't give it back! She likes it better than the textbook we are using. That in and of itself is a strong statement of endorsement for this "Nutshell" title.