A board of directors is more than just a legal formality that meets four times a year. When used to its full potential, a well-designed board can help you grow your business, serve your shareholders, and maximize the effectiveness of your management.
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The most problematic challenge wealthy families face is not how to make more money, but how to ensure that it lasts. This requires focusing on something other than money. Successful families, whose wealth lasts for many generations, follow five key practices.
Market research reveals that nearly 70% of intergenerational wealth transfers fail by the third generation and almost 90% by the fourth. These are compelling statistics which have become top of mind concerns for many families as they plan their wealth transition to the next generation. For Australian families, there are three key challenges they face when transitioning wealth. A closer look shows what they are doing to beat the statistics and ultimately succeed.
In May 2014, FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), changing the way revenue is recognized. As of January 25, 2017, the FASB has issued ASUs to revise and clarify the guidance on the original Topic 606. In accordance with the core principle of Topic 606, there are five key steps to consider. Virtually all entities will be affected to some extent by the new guidance.
A family constitution—the rule book that defines the vision and principles of a family’s wealth strategy and acts as an operating model—should be as unique as the family itself. The key to developing an appropriate family constitution is not in the ultimate output, but in the collaborative process of developing it. In working together, families often uncover factors which bind them together. However, the process can also elicit confronting discussions about what really matters to individual members.
Families are often overwhelmed by the complexity and sense of burden that comes with managing wealth across generations. Whether they have taken on the responsibility for self-managing all of their affairs directly, or coordinating a virtual team of outsourced advisors, families spend an extraordinary amount of time juggling all the component parts of their wealth. But owning and managing significant wealth does not have to be difficult, and learning from the ten most common mistakes that a family office investor makes can help the process become easier.
Everything is more complicated for families with a loved one with a disability. From finding the right doctors, the right schools and obtaining necessary therapies and services. Nothing is easy. Developing an estate plan is also more complicated than it is for “typical” families.
Many powerful trends are taking place in 2016 with trust and estate planning for both domestic and international families in the favorable boutique trust jurisdictions such as South Dakota. From modern trust structures such as the directed trust, private family trust companies, special purpose entities and domestic asset protection trusts, to planning with private placement life insurance and promissory note sales, this article examines strategies that can help maximize a family’s estate plan.
Estate-planning advisors should be aware that there are many creative planning opportunities for the use of Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI) with trusts. PPLI is essentially a flexible premium variable universal life insurance transactions that occurs within a private placement offering. Previously, PPLI hadn’t been as appealing due to lack of Internal Revenue Service guidelines; limited investment alternatives; and wide-ranging expense charges.
For insights on integrated wealth planning, this issue of The Advisor presents a view from the top with Joe Kahn, The New York Times Managing Editor, the impact of globalization 2.0, and the U.S. presidential election 2016 and the candidates’ tax platforms. Also in this issue are the best practices in providing age-appropriate transparency when it comes to discussing a family’s wealth plan. Following it is the takeaway on the advantage of Delaware’s laws on directed trusts.