Most Recent Posts
May Tax Roundup: Lusty Easements, Jet Fees, And LIfe Insurance Lessons (With June Already Half Gone)
Falling behind again, we are, as Yoda would say. So here we are reviewing the month of May with June half over.
How Newlyweds Can Have Calm Honest Money Talks and Build Financial Trust
Your goal is consistency, not perfect spreadsheets. A short monthly money check-in keeps both of you oriented to the same reality, so decisions feel shared and surprises get handled early.
The New Yorker Piece on Belle Burden’s ‘Strangers’ Actually Bolsters Her Story
The book has no numbers and now Jessica Winter’s has gotten key documents with numbers. Rather than organizing them in columns like I might, she gives them to us in a narrative. Examining the whole narrative, I don’t see ten million bucks that can be used to buy James out of his share of the houses. So the numbers, such as they are, support Belle’s narrative.
Avoid Common Life Insurance Mistakes to Protect Your Loved Ones
A simple annual policy check-in helps you catch quiet problems, like a lapsed payment method or an out-of-date beneficiary, before they turn into expensive mistakes. It also keeps your coverage aligned with real life changes and bigger decisions, including whether keeping, changing, or even selling a policy still makes sense.
A Teachable Moment From The $1 Billion Texas Tax Shelter Indictment
I have to wonder how much Fenton was getting out of this compared to the mastermind and the two partners. If the indictment is accurate, I hope that he flips on them and gets off easy.
Two Great Books By And About Women – And Men
You and I both know that technically it was not Susan’s “status as a widow” that avoided the capital-gains taxes, but I was really starved for any financial details in the story, so I appreciated it. The take-away is that Carter Burden was a successful example of the hold, borrow, die strategy, but we can tell from the memoir that it was pretty stressful for his heirs.
Review of Carol Strickland’s “When Sparks Fly Up: The Lost Story of Margaret Fuller”
The biggest plus to this book is that it shows us Margaret Fuller seen through the eyes of other capable women playing the cards that they have been dealt by the mid-nineteenth century.
Some March Madness In The Tax World
I don’t know if I will ever catch up again, but I will keep trying. I had really good excuses last year. There was my Lafayette project and major health issues, happily resolved, for myself and my partner. Now there is just advancing age and a sort of demoralization as I question the whole enterprise of helping people be tax compliant without overpaying.
What Happens When You Have To Pay Social Security Back
We understand why petitioner views his predicament in this way, but this Court is bound by the provisions of the Code.
Spring Cleaning Tax Roundup: Ranching, Oil, Hobbies, Easements, and Endless Litigation
When I first started blogging, I would generally knock things out pretty quickly. I am somewhat amazed at the number of pieces I put out while I was still working and then touring the country. To be somewhat fair to my self, I will say that I didn’t dig as much in the early days. But really I think it is mainly me getting older. Attorney Heggestead notes that he is getting old in his email. From what I can make of his bio he is a few years older than I. I can’t resolve to hang on till the Stonehill story is complete, but as long as Mr. Heggestead is in I will be in, God willing.