Category: Estate Planning

Consequences Of Not Creating A Buy and sell agreement!

Featured by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Buy and Sell Agreements, Company Wealth, Estate Planning, evaluations, Funding your Buy and Sell, Income from your business, Inside Sale, Life Insurance Types, Selling Your Business, Working On Your Business

Part 2 

BY Thomas J. Perrone, CLU, CIC 

S Corporations enjoy the advantages of limited liability, transferability of ownership and professional business operation and management. The S Corporation is taxed similarly to a partnership, as it is a pass through to the shareholders.  

The C Corporation is taxed at the Corporation level first. When the C Corporation is profitable and generates taxable profits. When profits are distributed to the individual shareholder it is taxed again when dividends are received by the shareholder.  

You will find S Corporations normally when the individual rates are lower than the Corporation rates. Also, losses in the S Corporation shareholders may benefit, by deduction, the losses on their individual tax returns.  

S Corporation requirement 

  • No more than 100 shareholders- members of family are considered one shareholder 
  • Must be a domestic corporation 
  • Only individuals, a decedent’s estate, estate of individuals in bankruptcy, and certain trusts are eligible shareholders of s Corporation 
  • No shareholder can be a nonresident alien 
  • One class of stock (different voting rights are allowed) 

Basis and S Corporation 

There is only one level of taxation in the S Corporation. That is at the shareholder’s level.  

If the shareholders basis exceeds the distribution, the shareholder usually will not be taxed when they receive the distribution.  

If the S Corporation has never filed as a C Corporation and has no retained earnings or profits, distributions received by an s Corporation shareholder are not subject to income tax if the distribution does not exceed the shareholder’s basis. Consequently, the larger the basis the greater amount of distribution can be taken tax-free.  

Quick overview of Basis 

  • nontaxable distributions of previously taxed income 
  • income distributed in the same year in which it was earned 
  • losses 
  • nondeductible expenditures such as life insurance expenses 

Keep in mind that the adjustments to shareholder basis is an ongoing procedure and will vary from their initial contribution to, or investment in, the Corporation. Usually, a service corporation will have a low basis because of the low initial investment made in these types of businesses.  

Life insurance to fund the Buy and Sell Agreement 

Life Insurance can have several advantages for S Corporations in a buy-sell agreement.  

A nondeductible expenditure such as life insurance premiums decreases a shareholders’ basis in an S Corporation. The cash value policy can help offset, eliminate, this adverse situation.  

Life insurance cash value helps offset the premium charged to the capital account. The cash value offsets the premium paid so that the decrease to the capital account is offset by the cash value of the policy.  

 As an example, if the premiums are $15,000 and the cash value increases by $12,000, then only $3,000 is charged to the capital account reducing the basis of the stockholder by $3,000. As opposed to having a term insurance policy with a premium of $4,000. The permanent coverage will have less effect on the basis reduction of the stockholder than the lower term insurance premium.  

Over a longer period, there will be in increase over the premium, consequently eliminating the basis reduction. In the term insurance scenario, the reduction of cost basis will continue. In some cases where the term must be renewed, or the term has an increasing premium, the lowering of the basis can be substantial.  

Death benefit and basis 

If the life insurance is set up as a redemption basis, it is possible to plan for an increase in basis for the remaining stockholders, by using a promissory note for the deceased stockholder before settling the life insurance claim. Since the death benefit is tax free income, it will increase the basis. Example:  there are three stockholders, A dies. Instead of making the claim on the life insurance, A is bought out using a short-term promissory note. Once completed, the death claim is filed, and proceeds will come in tax free for the remaining stockholders which will increase their basis. If the death benefit were used for the decedent, there would have been a wasting of the basis since the decedent’s estate would normally receive a stepped-up cost basis.  

Stock Redemption in S Corporation 

The buy and sell agreement are between the stockholders and the Corporation. The S Corporation owns the policy on the stockholders and is the beneficiary of the policy. Death proceeds to the Corporation are tax free and increase the basis of the stockholders. A big advantage to arranging the buy and sell agreement under an S Corporation is avoiding the alternative minimum taxes and the loss of basis found in a C Corporation.  

Cross Purchase buy and sell in s Corporation  

The arrangement all owners of a business agree upon in advance to purchase proportionate shares of the decedent shareholder’s interest. Each stockholder would own life insurance on the other stockholder(s) and be the beneficiary.  

  • Life insurance premium is a nondeductible personal expense 
  • Shareholders receive the death benefit federal income tax-free 
  • The surviving stockholder uses the funds to purchase the stock, which will increase the basis of their holdings, by the amount purchased.  

Some key issues:  

Section 318 Attribution Rules  

In a C Corporation, attributions can be avoided for tax purposes by arranging the buy and sell agreement under a Cross Purchase. Since the Corporation is not redeeming the stock, and it is the stockholder, attribution and the treatment of the redemption being treated like a dividend distribution is avoided.  

In an S Corporation, if the S Corporation does not have retained earnings or profits , it will have the same tax result as if the shares were sold or exchanged, allowing the shareholder to recover their basis tax-free, with any amounts exceeding. Basis being treated as capital gains.  

 A poorly structured buy-sell agreement could result in the loss of S Corporation status, as well as the possibility of increasing the surviving shareholder’s tax burden on future distributions from, or on, the sale of the S Corporation. However, there are some great advantages of setting up a proper buy-sell agreement which can be even greater advantages than those available to C Corporations.  

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Conclusion: 

The S corporation can be a great tool for many business owners as a corporate structure. A Buy and Sell Agreement must be carefully considered and drafted with consideration of avoiding the loss of an S Corporation Election.  

How The Buy-Sell Agreement Fits Within the Scope of An S Corporation!  

Featured by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Business Growth and Transition, Buy and Sell Agreements, Company Wealth, Estate Planning, evaluations, Funding your Buy and Sell, Income from your business, Inside Sale, Life Insurance Types, Selling Your Business, Tax Efficient, Tax Free Income, Valuation, Working On Your Business

Part 1 

BY Thomas J. Perrone, CLU, CIC 

Normally, a business makes up a substantial portion of the owners’ net worth. Many business owners do not think about what will happen to their business in the event of their death or a life changing event (trigger).  

This article will focus on why a buy and sell is an important document, one of the most important you will need. 

We will also discuss the buy and sell agreement in the context of an S Corporation since S Corporations are extremely popular. 1 

Consequences of not creating a buy-sell Plan.  

  • Stress on the business’ cash flow or credit line having to purchase the decedents owner’s interest  
  • Unqualified and instability with employees running the company 
  • Disagreements and conflict among heirs increasing administration time and costs 
  • Lack of a market for business which may potentially represent a significant value in the estate 
  • Suppressed value much below fair market value to raise cash for estate needs 
  • Termination of the business 
  • Instability amount employees and creditors 
  • Lack of liquidity to pay estate taxes and other administration costs 
  • Stream of income to remaining family members from the business is lost 
  • Valuation disagreements and IRS litigation 
  • Nightmares of not having a Buy and Sell agreement in a S Corporation! Loss of eligibility as a S Corporation resulting in involuntary termination of the S. Corporation status 
  • Most transfers to entities such as partnership, Corporation and most trusts are prohibited transfers 
  • A termination of S Corporation status will cause the Corporation to be taxed as a C Corporation as of the day of termination creating income tax consequences to the shareholders.  
  • Corporation, which is terminated, must wait five years before making a new S Corporation election, resulting in Corporation being taxed on its net profits for five years.  
  • The surviving shareholder could face additional tax burdens on future ongoing Corporation distribution and on those made upon the sale of the Corporation 

Funding the buy and sell agreement is always a challenge to companies, because it comes down to four ways of funding a triggering event 

  1. Borrowing money from the bank 
  1. Using cash flow out of the business 
  1. Life insurance death benefit 
  1. Cash  

When you compare the costs of funding the buy and sell agreement, life insurance will be the least expensive by a long shot, in most cases, especially, based on a death trigger.  

Other triggers, like divorce, sudden removal from the firm, voluntary and non-voluntary removal from the firm, bankruptcy, and disability are triggers where there is not a death benefit being paid, but money is needed. In these cases, a promissory note may be used in conjunction with a term payout, or installment loan payout.  

However, the cash buildup of a life insurance policy could be used as a funding vehicle especially if the policy has been in force for many years.  

In Part 2 we will investigate how the buy and sell agreement fits within the scope of an S Corporation.  

FREE REPORT “Jones Business Planning and Succession Report” ASK FOR REPORT R3 

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Creating Great Personal Wealth With Your Business Income!

Featured by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Business Growth and Transition, Company Wealth, Estate Planning, Executive Benefits, Income from your business, Life Insurance Types, Strategies of growing business, Tax Free Income, Working On Your Business

In my planning with many companies over the years, I realize that many business owners are not using the corporate cash flow to create wealth outside of the business. Normally they are using their after-tax dollars to buy financial products to create a benefit for them personally.

Many of the business owners feel they need to put all their current dollars into the business. This is a mistake! The reason this is a mistake is the business equity can get tied up just like a home-equity can. At a time when the business owner needs his business equity the most, is usually at a time when he cannot get it out for one reason or another. Business equity is not very liquid as it is tied up in receivables, loans, inventory, and the like. By putting too much of the business owner’s wealth in the business, they are risking the loss of it in the future, or the very least, the ability for its use for some major cost.

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Owning a business creates opportunities to use the corporate dollars to create personal wealth outside the business. I call these benefits executive compensation. Normally you can arrange executive compensation programs to be highly effective and efficient tax wise. The corporate dollar can do more for you than the owner could do on their own personal dollar. We have many programs where the corporation is taking a deduction and creating wealth for the owner and their family which is positioned outside of the business.

Below is a project we worked on which shows the value of the corporate cash flow. The names of been changed to protect the innocent, but the case history explains how effective using your corporation cash flow to create wealth outside of your company!

The Case Of Joey Bag Of Donuts

This is the case of Joey Bag of Donuts and his pursuit of keeping wealth outside of his business.  You see, over the years working with Joey Bag of Donuts we told him that leaving too much of his wealth in the business can be problematic, especially when the time came that he needed to exit his business.  He heard me tell him many times, that someday he will leave his business by either a death, disability, or retirement_, and taking the wealth with you when you need it the most, can be a problem, if you do not have the right exit strategy. _

There are many reasons wealth gets lost in a business when it is sold.  It can range from bad planning to bad luck, but Joey Bag of Donuts always remembered to keep as much of his personal wealth outside of the business as possible.  Therefore, he purchased his company building and put it in a separate LLC.  Joey Bag of Donuts also believes in putting as much of his income into the company pension plan. Again, this plan is outside of the business.

We also taught him to have his company support whatever it can legally towards his personal lifestyle.  For example, his cars, gas, some entertainment, health insurance, retirement, and other things are paid for through the company.

Joey Bag of Donuts wanted to put more money away for himself and his family’s future, but did not want to use his own funds, so why not have the company support more retirement contributions?

He already had a profit-sharing plan, and he was sharing company contributions with his employees.

We decided that a non-regulated plan was the best way to go, so we developed a plan for only him.  The plan is a combination of two concepts.  We call this the CEEP PLAN (CORPORATE EXECUTIVE EQUITY PLAN).

The plan is a discriminatory plan, so Joey Bag of Donuts can pick himself or anyone else he wants, unlike a profit sharing or 401k plan, which is a regulated plan.

THE PLAN: As you can see, the company made all the contributions, and took the deductions for them.  Joey Bag of Donuts was the sole participant of the plan. His cost was “0” out of pocket and he ends up with almost $800,000 of cash at retirement.  He also could turn the cash into a tax-free income stream.  In this case it was $67,500 tax-free income. The stream of income is worth more than $1,215,000.  Along with that he has a death benefit of $2,300,000 payable to his family tax-free.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Joey Bag of Donuts gets retirement income using corporate funds.  All the contributions can be applied to just his account.  He also has the use of the account before retirement, like a “family bank,” along with the ability to withdraw funds tax-free.[1]  There would be no 10% penalty if withdrawn before 59 ½.

THE RESTRICTED PLAN: The “Restricted Plan” relates to an employee of the company that the owner wants to make a “A key person To Hold onto Forever.”  This is a terrific way of giving someone a benefit with a vesting schedule, so they stay longer.

Summary: If you own a company and are not taking advantage of the CEEP program, you are missing one of the genuinely great executive benefits available to you as a business owner.  The plan is flexible so you can design it to your needs.

OVERVIEW OF THE PLAN (Summary):[i]  Type of Model: CEEP

EMPLOYER

Yearly Premium Payment:  $25,000

Yearly Net Cost:  $17,500

Total Gross Premium to Retirement: $675,000

Total Net. Premiums to Retirement: $472,500

Total Loans:

For Tax Costs: $202,500

For Interest Costs:  $112,003

Net Cost of Loans: $314,503

If Loan Forgiven, Net cost:  $220,152

EMPLOYEE

Annual Average Interests: $4,148.25

Loan Payoff AT Retirement:[2]  $314,503

Net Cost:  0 (all funding came from Ajax Company)

AT RETIREMENT:

Rollout Amount:  $94,350.83

Tax Cost on Forgiveness of loan[3]:  $94,350.83

Net Cost to Mr. Joey Bag Of Donuts

ll :  0 cost out of pocket[ii]

Cash Value in policy after rollout/forgiveness:  $793,4 29

Death Benefit After Rollout: $2,306,317

Tax-Free Retirement Yearly Income: $67,500

Equivalent Pretax Payout Before Taxes:   $96,429

Years of Retirement Income:18

Total Retirement Income:  $1,215,000

All and all, not a bad arrangement.

[1] Fund in excess of the collateralized amount.

[2] Funds are withdrawn from policy tax-free, results are “0” cost to Mr. Joey Bag Of Donuts

[3] Fund come from policy tax-free.

[i]This is only a summary of the illustration attached to this book.  The illustration is a hypothetical model of how the policy would work.

[ii] This is a fully funded Employer plan. There is “0” cost out of pocket for Mr. Joey Bag Of Donuts

For a free repot on creating Wealth Without Taxes, CLICK HERE! REQUEST R2 REPORT
This report will discuss the methods which will allow your business to use its cash flow to create wealth for you outside your business at the most tax effective way of creating wealth. Executive Compensation CEEP planning is more tax effective than a 401k, 403b, or any other pension and retirement plan. 

As a business owner you have the opportunity to create an amazing amount of wealth with little tax cost. Start with the report and find out how you can create your wealth and your financial security for the future. 

Tax Effective Strategies For RETIREMENT PHASE 2

Featured by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Company Wealth, Estate Planning, Income from your business, retirement, Tax Efficient, Tax Free Income

In the Phase one report I discussed why only focusing on the accumulation stage of retirement could be a big mistake.  I emphasized the need for tax diversification in retirement to create the largest after-tax spendable dollar to help maintain your lifestyle when you retire.   

I have seen where people have allocated  their investments in categories relating to the type of tax structure the investment has, and then positioning the category to a timing of when to start taking the withdrawals from the category.  Here are the categories:  

Type of Category Contributions Type of Growth Distribution 
Equities After Tax Tax Deferred Growth Taxable 
Taxable Income After Tax Taxable Growth Taxable 
Tax Free Income After Tax Tax Deferred Tax Free 
Tax Qualified Pre Tax Tax Deferred Fully Taxable 

One method of distribution would be to defer the withdrawal from accounts that are tax deferrable, to grow the value for as long as possible.  As you can see in the chart above, most of the accounts are tax deferred.  However equities, if they are individual stock, may be tax deferred when outside a 401k or IRA, only to be taxed when they are sold.  They may have taxable dividends yearly which would be taxable.  Equities could also be personally purchased mutual funds which are taxable, and in many cases are not the type of account where you can control the timing of the tax exposure.   

One strategy would be to use the taxable income plans first to give the other plans the opportunity to grow through tax-deferment.   Or, we have seen where clients pull out their taxable income from the investments and supplement the balance with tax-free income plans from life insurance or the Roth IRA.   

Other Distribution Methods 

One might consider taking the taxable income category first since the income is taxable.  The 2nd category may be the qualified plan money since that is 100% taxable. The 3rd category may be the equities which are taxed less than then category 1, 2, and are taxed on a capital gain basis. The last category would be tax-free because, the assets can grow tax-deferred over a longer period, and then give off a tax-free income, normally when more income is needed (purchase power and time), and all income would be tax-free.   

Sometimes you need to withdraw income from two or more categories for reasons.  For example, let’s say you are now receiving social security, but you are also receiving taxable income from your mutual funds, but you don’t want to create more taxable income which may disqualify you from some potential benefit.  Or by receiving more taxable income, your social security tax liability will jump from 50% to 85%.   

A consideration under that situation would be to withdraw tax-free income to support the needed income without causing an increase in taxes.  Another need may be to qualify for housing benefits like freezing property assessments.  Tax-free income may be the only way to qualify. 

Qualified plans such as 401k, 403b and IRAs, are the most heavily taxed.     Most people deposit their retirement savings into company plans since they are readily available through their employer.  Very rarely are employees educated as to the tax exposure of the account when they retire, and many are surprised at the taxes they have to pay on the withdrawals.  

In my planning, I use quadrants, I call my system, the “Asset Cycle Portfolio” and make the qualified retirement plan and IRAs the main generator of income.   

I suggest to our clients that they  defer the tax- free income plans, but I do let our clients know that the plans are a great place to grab money for the  support of their larger purchases such as cars, second homes, and other items.   

By using the tax-free life insurance plans, or Roth plans, they avoid paying tax today, and can defer the other accounts.  I like the idea of the “family bank”, using the life insurance, as you can withdraw the money tax-free, and then replace the funds.  I find this a great vehicle with great flexibility for life’s changes.   

It is not uncommon for our clients to finance their new cars using tax-free cash value and pay the loan back at an assumed low rate which they set.  By repaying the loan just like they would if it were a bank, they create the ability to reloan in the future the same money.   

For example, I have a client who purchased their high-end vehicle at the end of the lease by loaning his consulting firm the money to buy out the car.  His firm now has to pay him back over five years at 3%.  He will make about $3,000 in interest earnings, plus his company can take the tax-deduction on the interest of the loan paid to him. 

The big picture 

It’s more important to invest in different categories of assets to have the ability to develop a tax wise strategy when you retire, as opposed to a one demension investment strategy.  By doing so, you can take advantage of tax laws, eliminate unnecessary taxes, and create family banks with effective tax leveraging.   

For more informtion on how to use Tax-Free Life Insurance, request my FREE WHITE PAPER, “Wealth Without Taxes”  

The Six Most Costly Financial Mistakes Business Owners Make Costing Them to Owe Huge Taxes!

Featured by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Business Growth and Transition, Buy and Sell Agreements, Company Wealth, Estate Planning, Executive Benefits, Income from your business, Key People_Or Group, Life Insurance Types, Passive Ownership, Strategies of growing business, Tax Efficient, Tax Free Income

Many business owners are unaware of the opportunities they have in creating wealth through their business.  Many owners put too much wealth in their business, where it can be tied up or hard to get out.  It also prevents them from accumulating outside retirement funds.

There are several ways to create wealth through your business on a tax-efficient basis which many owners are not aware of.  

I would like to share with you the six mistakes that prevent owners from creating more wealth by utilizing the business cash flow. 

  1. NOT IMPLEMENTING A CEEP: (Corporate Executive Equity Plan) for themselves.  This is one of the most tax effective methods of creating personal wealth using corporate cash flow.  The cost of providing this wealth creating account costs the owner about 30% of the tax cost.  Example: if the company bonused $20,000 to the owner for a personal retirement plan, the tax cost would be $6,000 each year.  However, under a CEEP arrangement, the cost would only be a $60 the first year, and about $1,200 the 20th year. This is one of the most misunderstood concepts in executive compensation by attorneys, insurance professionals and CPA’S.  Consequently, it might be considered under used.  However, the executive compensation specialist understands how the plans work and how it can be of great value for the business owner in shifting income from the company to the personal side of the owner. 
  2. NOT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE SECTION 412(e)(1): which allows the owner to make a substantial number of tax-deductible contributions into a retirement plan skewed towards the higher paid owner.  Example, the owner aged 50 can deposit up to $213,905 fully tax-deductible.  Great for good cash flow companies.
  3. NOT USING THE “SAFE HARBOR RETIREMENT PLAN”: where a substantial amount of the tax-deductible contributions can be allocated to the higher paid participants.  Also, included in this arrangement is the “Cash Balance Plan”.  These plans create greater tax-deductions for higher paid employees.   
  4. NOT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF   A RESTRICTED BENEFIT PLANS (RBP): which is a discriminatory and tax-deductible plan.  It can be used to provide valuable benefits to retain key people.  The business owner keeps the forfeitures if the employee leaves before vested. This can lock your key group to your company.  
  5. NOT CREATING A DEFERRED COMPENSATION PLAN:  This is a flexible, separate, and discretionary retirement benefit that can also become a mechanism for funding the sale of your business in the future and create retirement income. The pot is sweetened when you add a DBO (Death Benefit Only) to the planning. 
  6. NOT CREATING AND NOT FUNDING YOUR BUY AND SELL AGREEMENTS: A disability, long term illness, or death may occur long before the owner planned to exit their business, creating a path to financial disaster not only for the owner, but their family, partners, and employees.  This is one of the most egregious mistakes I see business owners make.  Many times, it goes unnoticed by the advisors.  This is one of the reasons why I am an advocate of check-off lists, “fire drills”, and annual reviews.[i]

Simply Put!  By Utilizing These Common Benefits, Owners Can Maximize Their Fullest Potential Business Value! 

To help you understand some of the ways to utilize your business cash flow to create more wealth for you and your family, I put together this FREE WHITE PAPER, CALLED “A TAX -FREE LIFESTYLE FOR BUSINESS OWNERS”, AND I would like to GIVE this FREE WHITE PAPER TO YOU.  

THIS REPORT will help you understand how you can use your business to take advantage of discriminatory benefits   plans for yourself, family members, and key employees.    The Tax-Free Lifestyle REPORT is strictly for small business owners who want to grow their business while creating more wealth outside of their business.   I designed this white paper to help business owners avoid the COMMON MISTAKES made by other business owners which forced them to work more years, save less retirement, pay more in taxes, and tied up too much wealth in their business, creating more stress, and had no free time for themselves! 

You’ll also discover in the TAX-FREE REPORT:

  • One simple concept allowing you to retire with more wealth or retire years sooner.  (This one simple financial principle is rarely ever talked about on “pop news” financial TV shows or by other so-called “financial planners”. 
  •  2 proven strategies to increase cash flow and reduce expenses if you really want to sleep at night!
  • 3 secret ways to have your business build a tax-free wealth account for your personal and business use!
  • “Your Business DNA” Understanding this key allows you to double your savings and retirement investing without making a single dollar more in income or investing in more capital equipment and labor.
  •  5 value drivers to prepare your business for a sale, even 20 years in advance!
  • How a simple inexpensive benefit plan can keep your key people! 
  • How creating a Deferred Compensation plan can help finance the future sale of your business.
  • How having a benefit plan for you in the future can lower your cost to sell your business?
  • Misleading and incorrect “old wives’ tales” about creating wealth in your business. 
  • Tax saving strategies that 9 out of 10 business owners don’t use and end up paying more taxes
  • Much more…

TO RECEIVE YOUR FREE   NO OBLIGATION WHITE PAPER Called: 

“The Tax-Free Lifestyle for Business Owners”

To request your free white paper 

CLICK SUBMIT:     Wealth Without Taxes Report

Once you submit your email address, you will receive your report immediately! Enjoy!

Now you may be asking…Why would I spend my own money to send you this FREE WHITE PAPER? Think of it as my personal introduction… a way for you to get to know me better.  Nothing more than that! 

Often enough, when business owners learn the information in this guide, they decide they want to know more about what we do, and possibly do business with us so they can have our business owner expertise and in-depth knowledge of how business owners think.  I know, I am one of them. I know what you think because I think about it all the time.  Let’s say 24/7 to be safe! Just as you value the expertise in your business field, I believe working with a financial expert who knows what it is to run a business and knows the business world is critical to your financial health.

That’s it!  Let me send you “The Tax-Free Lifestyle for Business Owners”.   Do with it what you want. Maybe you’ll want to talk to us further, maybe you won’t.   There is no obligation to do so.

Either way, I think you’ll find the information in this report will be immensely valuable to helping deal with the “what if’s, grow your business value, enjoy it more, and create more time for you and your family while creating an almost “stress-free” life with tremendous financial freedom in the future.  Oh yes! NO TAXES EITHER!    Visit www.yourbusinessworth.com  to learn more! 

FOR A 7 MINUTE VIDEO

[i] Paul Hood: “Buy and Sell Agreements- the last will and testament for business owners”.  Paul discusses his check off list, and his “fire drill”.  I am an advocate for these systems to make sure the buy and sell agreement is a perfect of a fit to the entity and owners as possible. 

Pending Tax Changes May Be Around The Corner 2022!

Featured by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Business Growth and Transition, Company Wealth, Estate Planning, evaluations, Income from your business, Life Insurance Types, Strategies of growing business, Tax Efficient, Valuation, Working On Your Business

 

I am currently reviewing some of the pending tax proposals being presented. Again, these are proposals and most of them will change before enacted.  

It occurred to me as I was reviewing the details of the tax proposals, how many changes I have seen over my long planning career.  It made me think of  how many times clients (YOU AND ME) had to  update our plans at our cost.  It is amazing the disregard the government has for the U.S. citizen in making this system easier to work with. I can understand why so many citizens put off planning, or just get tired of updating.  Unfortunately, this is the reality of the tax system and the changing of administrations.  

In 2017 we had a major income tax change which in most cases helped many  citizens lower their taxes.   It was easy to understand and it did what it was suppose to do, stimulated the economy along with increasing  public confidence.  

It also gave estate owners a path to plan to preservation their estates. The tax policy was working very well and our government tax coffers where growing.  

Pending Tax Changes- Again These are only proposals!  

The Green Book 2021  

Sr. Van Hollen (Sensible Taxation and Equity Promotion (STEP) and other plan such as the American Families Plan, and the “For the 99.5% Act (Bernie Sauders)”  

Income Tax Changes 

  • Top income tax rates 37%-39.6% effective January 2022; > $509,300 for married, and $452,700 for single 
  • Restrict tax deferral, “like-kind exchanges” (swaps of real estate that avoid current taxation that a sale would tigger  
  • Capital Gains might double-(sale of stock, investment real estate, etc. ) qualified dividend with incomes over $1million taxed at ordinary rates. This could be triggered for gains after April 28, 2021 

Social Security Taxes 

  • To coordinate the net investment income and self employment taxes, so unlike current law, a company could pay the owner a reasonable salary or guananteed payment, the overage became federal taxable profits, but not defined as payroll taxes.   This was assuming that the salary, and withdrawals were reasonable  compensation .  

The proposal is to tax pass-through business income (e.g. S Corps, limited liability companies, partnership) of high income taxpayers will be subject to either the net investment income tax or the social security taxes.   

Audits from the IRS: $80 BILLION increase over 10 years for IRS for audits.  

Estate and gift tax:  

  • Bernie Sanders proposal (For the 99.5% Act) calls for a return to lower estate and gift tax exemptions as well as significant changes to the rules on GRATs and grantor trusts 
  • Most dramatic:  Biden’s plan is to make the transfers of property by Gift, and on assets owned at death (as of January 1, 2022) triggering events for capital gains taxes.  The gain is measured by the date of gift or death fair market value less basis.   
  • Exclusions: transfer at death to a US spouse.  

So there are other potential changes coming down the pike and we’ll have to wait and see.  Here is the bottom line:   

Split Interest Gifts: Grat’s ; watch for developments 

Grantor Trusts:  At Grantor’s death or trust is no longer revocable 

BOTTOM LINE- 

If you are a business owner with wealth in your business and you have not done any planning, it may be a good time to start thinking about a certified appraisal of your business and your holdings.  Also, you might want to start thinking about what your goals would be for passing your estate assets.  It’s to early to tell where the wind will blow and how you will be affected by any change, but it is not too soon to think of what you wish to accomplish in your estate and business planning. 

As I look some of the potential changes, Life Insurance Planning will become more significant in paying for the additional liabilities of passing your estate assets either by gift or death.  

To help you with your planning, I would like to offer to you my newly published Ebook called,”Unlocking Your Business DNA”. In the book I cover strategies I have used with business owners for over 50 years  with powerful strategies to create growth and profits in your business and also create an amazing amount of leisure time. 

To get the book, CLICK AND SUBMIT 
 
OR,  
 
If you with to receive a free business assessment of your business planning, take our ONE MINUTE SCORECARD SURVEY. Literally, it takes one minute to go through. Once submitted I will send you a FREE ASSESSMENT of our findings. We will be able to pin point the strong point and the points that you need to work on to create more business growth and profits.  

CLICK HERE FOR THE ONE-MINUTE SCORECARD  

More to come… stay tuned.  

Issues Of A Growing Company

Featured by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Business Growth and Transition, Buy and Sell Agreements, Estate Planning, evaluations, Funding your Buy and Sell, Key People_Or Group, Life Insurance Types, Selling Your Business, Strategies of growing business, Valuation, Working On Your Business

This is a case study about   a company that did not have a buy and sell agreement in place.  The business has grown substantially.  The owners were concerned about the growth of the company, sacrificing larger salaries to invest and grow their business. 

The accountant recognized that there was a problem if there was a termination of a partner, and referred me to his clients to help educate  them on estate and business planning, and also to help them design a buy and sell agreement.   

Scenario:  

Bill and Sam started a very successful manufacturing company.  They produced the assemblies for hard drives. 

They are a C corporation and have scaled tahe business from four full time workers to about 34 employees. Their client base has grown from just a few to a few dozen over the years. 

One Page Issue(s) (With our team we identified these issues)

  1. The business has never been appraised so there is a question of the value of the company and estate.  
  2. Both partners have families and larger personal liabilities than when they started. 
  3. They have invested their earnings into the business and don’t have a retirement plan.
  4. They don’t have a binding buy and sell agreement, nor a method of funding the liability. 
  5. The owners are expecting the exemption credit to lower which will expose them to death taxes.
  6. Neither partner has done any estate planning, other than simple wills. 
  7. Retaining the key person in the firm who has the relationship with the customers, vendors and key contacts. Because he basically runs the company, the owners take a lot of time off.  They are concerned that the competition may try to recruit him.  If lost, it would have a major impact on the company.

Major issues and immediate concerns: 

  1. Potential fire sale of the firm if there is not a “planned design for buyout”
  2. Uncertainty and instability for the employees, especially the key people in the firm.
  3. The possibility of the deceased partners family running the business with the surviving partner, leading to inexperienced leadership. 
  4. Lack of liquity to pay the taxes assessed on the value of the business and other administration costs. Without the valuation, it was a best guess estimate, jeopardizing accurate estate planning. 
  5. Business valuation disagreements, especially IRS litigation. 
  6. Lack of market for the business.
  7. The loss of income for the family.
  8. Lending from the banks could be cut off after the death of one of the owners. No  assurances that loans would be immediately available upon an owners termination. A concern that any new loans in the future may have convenants that credit lines would be redeemed upon a partners termination unless there was a valid buy and sell agreement. 
  9. Stress on the business’ cash flow or credit line  as a result of the surviving owner trying to purchase the deceased partner’s share. 
  10. The possibility of losing their key person to a competitor would be a significant loss to the firm.

One Page Solution

The most critical issues to solve now : 

  • Complete a Buy and Sell Agreement with funding/ both life insurance and disability insurance
  • A Certified appraisal to be done
  • Create strategies to keep the key person with the company
  • Start the process of personal estate planning for each partner

 There were other issues, but we all felt the buy and sell agreement was the most important at this point. 

One Page Solutions For Buy and Sell Agreement: 

  • Cross purchase buy and sell agreement funded with cross owned permanent life insurance
  • The insureds were about the same age
  • They were  both in great health
  • Premiums were about equal in cost, and the corporation would bonus the premium to the owners
  • Since the owners willl sell in the future, having the increased stepped up in basis would save taxes, as the partners plan on selling in the future.
  • Also wanted the insurance company to define full disability through the contract definition.

One Page Solution FOR KEY PERSON:  

A CEEP for the key person (Corporate Executive Equity Plan); For Key Person

  • Cash Equity for retirement
  • Tax free death benefit for family
  • Limited contribution by employee-basically paid in full by employer
  • Tax-free income at retirement- Will create about $200,000 tax free for 20 years at 66

There was a vesting schedule designed for the employee for 10 years. If he stayed he would have a much richer benefit than his 401k would provide

  • Non-compete, Non-recruiting  and solicitation of  employees of the firm,  and Non-disclosure agreement to be executed by key person

Estate Planning: 

Currently, working with the attorney on new wills, trusts, and an irrevocable trust for life insurance. There are some other things we are considering with real estate owned outside the state, such as LLC, AND inter vious trusts.

Triggers:  In the agreement we established the major triggers: death, disability, termination, retirement, divorce, bankruptcy.  We decided to use a disability income policy to fund that part of the plan.  We also wanted to have the definition of disability decided by the insurance company. 

As we move forward we are reviewing other issues yearly.  Also, forming the team with the attorney, CPA, and others was instrumental in accomplishing the results.  

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Treating Your Children Equally Or Fairly!

Featured by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Business Growth and Transition, Company Wealth, Estate Planning, evaluations, Income from your business, Inside Sale, Passive Ownership

Leaving assets Equally or Fairly!

The One Page Issue

The Issue Overview:    

Parents want to leave different property to their two children. Son A is in the family business, while Son B is a teacher. They also want to update their estate plan.  

Break down and fact pattern:  Family owns a business worth approximately $3 million (ballpark guess by accountant, but not a certified appraisal).  The account has suggested that the owner get a certified appraisal.  There is a building worth $800,000 that houses the family business, and residential real estate worth about $1.5 million.  Their home is valued, $500,000, and an investment worth about $600,000.   Their net worth is approximately $6,400,000.[i]

Rents and salary are where the family derives their income.

The rental income profits are being invested back in the real estate to pay down the mortgages which will be paid off in five years.  

Intention of estate owners; Specifically, at the death of the surviving spouse, Son A is to receive the business and the business property.   Son B is to receive the real estate and residence. The investment account balance to be split equally.    

Past Planning:  The parents have done very little estate planning. They have an old, “I love you will” and do not have healthcare directives in place.  

One Page Issues:

Summary of Issues:  

A. Upon dad’s death- the status of mom and her income. 

B. The real estate other than the business building to Son B. 

C. Distribution of business assets to the son A

D. Estate settlement costs and taxes.

ONE PAGE SOLUTION!

One Page Solution (s), things we suggested to consider:

  • Certified evaluation of the business as a watermark of value, for a variety of things.
  • Update wills, possibly a living trust (Qtip/bypass) and Medical Directives
  • Placing real estate in Irrevocable defective grantor trust   with spouse as income beneficiary (Defective Grantor Trust) remove from estate and future value[ii].  
    • Parents are not concerned with making gifts. (See footnotes).
    • Parents are aware of a possible reduction in the exemption credit.
    • There is also the issue of the loss of stepped-up cost basis in the future because of future tax law changes. 
  • At spouse death, Son B can receive the investment property. Son B will receive the commercial building and the business.  
  • If more cash is needed in the estate, the business could fund a life insurance policy on Mom and dad (2nd to die) to absorb taxes and transfer costs.  Using the company to fund the policy via a split dollar or bonus plan. If so, the life insurance would be purchased by an irrevocable trust.  

Overview

These were a a few of the strategies the family could do to improve their situation, although there are many more ways to plan their estate.  Most important, this was the direction the family felt more comfortable after reviewing other possibilities.  Compared to the default estate plan they had; this planning puts them in a much better position to accomplish their goals. 

Bottom Line:  

  • The spouse will have the income needed to stay in her world. 
  • Son A received the company along with the building. 
  • Son B is treated fairly in that he receives the real estate and income from the real estate.
  • It also works well if the mother passed first.  The only exception would depend on the value of the stock which the father owned at his death.  Currently, he owns 100% of the stock.  (Once the business value is known other planning strategies could be implemented to save taxes and accomplish their financial goals as a family.  Things such as using minority stock discounts, recapitalization, estate tax funding with life insurance, gift programs, along with other techniques to accomplish the personal family goals).

Take our free SCOREBOARD ONE MINUTE ASSESSMENT. AFTER YOU TAKE IT, WE WILL SEND YOU A FREE ASSESSMENT REPORT.  IT WILL HELP YOU IDENTIFY WHAT AREAS IN YOUR BUSINESS GROWTH are strong and what areas you need to work in to maximize your full potential business value.  CLICK TO GET

[i] Business needs certified appraisal- current value is an estimate

[ii] We are considering current tax laws; however, we are on the verge of a possible lowering of the exemption credit and repeal of the stepped-up basis

Case Examples of When To Use Life Insurance and The Type To Use!

Featured by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Estate Planning, Executive Benefits, Funding your Buy and Sell, Life Insurance Types, Tax Efficient, Tax Free Income

Part 1

Part One- Two cases using life insurance.   

Over the years I have seen clients and advisors get hung up on which type of life insurance they should purchase, permanent or term insurance, making their situation much more complicated than it must be.   

In this article I want to break down the different situations where life insurance is needed and what type of life insurance I would    recommend.  Again, this is my opinion, but it is based on several facts within the situation.   

Example 1 – Young Business Owner with A Growing Business 

Our client is running a business and is investing much of his discretionary dollars into the business. His wife is a nurse and makes  good income. This helps him support the family while building his business.  

He has two young children, a mortgage, and a business loan. They are not concerned about income replacement at his death, as his wife can work anytime and anyplace as a nurse. However, they are concerned about debt, business debt and the college costs for the kids. The capital required was $1,000,000 

His earnings have been increasing consistently for the past five years, and his business has been stabilizing while growing. The income from the business is more predictable and, in a few years, he feels it will be easier to budget.  

In this case I suggested he purchase a 20-year term convertible term insurance plan.  

  •  The premiums are affordable and low  
  •  the term of the insurance would be adequate 

I could have suggested permanent life insurance under a split dollar or bonus plan however, I felt it would impede his ability to save money in his business and continue to expand. 

Case 2-The Sole Proprietor with No Market 

The problem with owning a sole proprietorship, is in many cases there is no market to sell the business. These small companies create a job for the owner, a salary, and a place to go. It affords them a good standard of living, and enjoyment in their work. The problem, however, is at their death, a long-term illness, or a cash flow crunch, or loss of key employees, they do not have a market to sell too immediately.   

One of the greatest risks is dying while owning the company.  The business is too small for the open market, and normally there are a handful of employees who do not have an interest in or the money to purchase the business.  

This is a time that the estate in many cases needs the cash to settle estate expenses.   

Competitors are more than happy to lend a helping hand by offering 10-20 cents on the dollar for the assets.   

As a planner, I can help them!  

I can arrange to have a buyer ready at any time to provide the spouse or estate of the owner, the going concern value of the business.  

  The payout would be tax free. The cost could be from 1/2% to 2% of the value put on the business.   

If the cost were 1% for example, and the business was worth $250,000, the owner would pay $2,500 a year for this guarantee.  

If the owner decided to sell the business to a willing buyer, the owner would receive back part or all their cost for the arranged guaranteed purchase.   

The “Arrangement” at death is that the spouse/estate would receive tax-free the $250,000 purchase value!    The spouse/estate could also keep the business, and sell the assets or the business (piecemeal, or the whole business). 

If the owner of the business had retired and sold the business to an outsider or another family member, the arrangement would return to the owner all the deposits the business owner contributed to the “Arrangement” over the years, plus a reasonable interest rate to help them in retirement.  

Not a bad plan when you consider the “Arrangement” is guaranteed if the business owner paid their 1% to the arrangement.  

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10 Questions Every Business Owner Should Know Know!

by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Buy and Sell Agreements, Company Wealth, Estate Planning, Executive Benefits, Key People_Or Group, Life Insurance Types, Passive Ownership, Selling Your Business

  1. What strategies are you using to make sure you will grow your business to the maximum value it can grow to.  
  1. What are you doing to make sure you have a key group, culture, and a method to keep them with you for the future?  
  1. What makes you think you are taking advantage of all the benefits available to use in your company that would help, you, your company, and your family on a tax-effective basis.  
  1. How will you extract the greatest potential value of your business upon your death, disability, or retirement (the three major reasons you will have to leave your business)?  
  1. What ideas and strategies have your accountants and attorneys given you in the last three years that has made a significant difference in your growth of the business? 
  1. If you died tonight, who would own your business? And are you sure that is true? 
  1. Make makes you sure that your key people will not leave you? And if they do, what makes you think that they will not go to your competitor, start their own business, and/or reveal your business secrets the competition. 
  1. What makes you believe your key people would not steal your employees, and clients, if they decided to set up shop across the street from you? 
  1. When was the last time “all your advisors” sat in the same room for the morning and talked about your goals, and what is the best advice they could give you to create more growth and better business? 
  1. How would your spouse know what all the passwords needed to open your computer accounts, would she know where the key to the front door of your office is, if you died last night?  

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