robert_martinelli_tax_planning

WHY WIVES DIE BROKE

Tue, 21 Sep 2021 20:54:34 GMT

Why Wives Die Broke

By: Robert Martinelli - Reading time: 3:18 Minutes

Your Wife Will Become a Victim of the Spouse’s Trap. Take Steps to Protect Her Today.

In my consulting with couples, it is important to have both partners there with me in the planning stages, as statistics prove that the wife will outlive her husband by perhaps 5 - 15 years and so it’s important that her financial wellbeing be protected after her husband is gone.

It is a fact of life that 80% of men die married.
91% of women die alone.
Retirement is a women’s issue.

All too often I come across financial plans that don’t specifically address the surviving spouse. This can only

lead to the number one fear of all women, running out of money in her lifetime.

Why will this happen?

Because of what I call the Spouse’s Trap.

What is the Spouse’s Trap?

Three bad things happen to the surviving spouse when her husband passes away:

The surviving spouse will lose 33% to 50% of her Social Security income.
She is will now pay federal and state taxes as a single person. The single person rate is 100% more than the married, filing jointly rate.
and
And, no one will be there to care for the surviving spouse which most often leads to spending the rest of her life in a nursing home.

To Learn More About the Spouse’s Trap Click Here to Schedule Your 15-minute Chat

Additionally, these three things typically happen towards the end of our lives when the cost of living is at its peak due to inflation. A $100,000 a year nursing home expense today will be $200,000 in just thirteen years. Ouch!

I know with all my heart; this is a serious issue that must be addressed and planned for. Regrettably, I’ve seen the majority of advisors fail to address this issue much too often.

Today, what must you do?

If your current advisor is not talking to you about the Spouse’s Trap or even worse, has no idea what the Spouse’s Trap is, it’s time to find a new advisor.

We’re applying for the job.

Click on the link below to schedule a 15-minute chat to learn how you can protect your wife from the Spouse’s Trap.

PS – the Spouse’s Trap also impacts men should the wife pass away first, however, statistically, our wives carry

this burden on their shoulders.

Robert Martinelli is the principal of Robert Martinelli Tax Planning, a conflict free adviser who represents his clients on a fiduciary basis – putting his client’s needs first.

Robert acts as your lead advisor – coordinating the different professionals to meet your ever-changing needs. The foundation of his work is built around the transition from work to retirement and protecting your lifestyle for the rest of your life.

BUSINESS OWNERS

Sun, 20 Dec 2020 21:01:10 GMT

Business owners and retirement.

If you ask any business owner about retirement, the largest majority will tell you that the business is their retirement. However, few understand the options and most often assume it will be sold at a much higher valuation. Wrong.

As one builds the revenue and customer base of a business, it is assumed that the valuation of the business grows to a larger profit come sales day. As we examine the options of selling it likely will be:

Sell the business to a relative or acquaintance
Sell the business to an employee or employees
Sell the business to a third party

Where each of these options are certainly an option, how does one benefit from the sale and ensure that the funds will support their lifestyle in retirement. Some business owners attach the sale to a portion cash buy-out along with a percentage of the profits over a certain period of time. Some opt to accept a balloon payment at a later date. There is an emotion here more so when the business is sold to family or a friend. This can be a dangerous red flag in that there is no guarantee the new business owners will turn a profit despite the reputation and track record of our client who is the current business owner. Our service is to offer an objective overview of the options and advise on the tax consequences that if not careful, can destroy the retirement goals of our client. There is also the challenge that if a business owners has more than one child and each are expecting to inherit the business, this calls for a team of advisors to ensure that there is balance—not just what is fair for the continuation of the business but simultaneously, protecting the business owner’s retirement plan.

If you fit into this business owner category, perhaps now is the time to call us and let’s explore the options, understand your goals, and see if we can bring this into reality for you.

INHERITANCE

Sun, 20 Dec 2020 20:59:18 GMT

Inheritance

Over the next decade, women will break all records of the largest amount of money transference in history due to divorce settlements, life insurance payouts, and inheritance from parents.

Where inheritance can impact the financial standing of both men and women, as well as younger adults after parents or grandparents pass, there are tax implications that if not arranged in advance, can cost those inheriting the money, a great deal in taxes.

In one of our testimonials, we were able to not only save the client over $750k in taxes in retirement but designed their plan to leave each of their children $2 million tax free—it simply takes strategic planning with our team.

We should add, that in addition to inheritance, funds can come from a sudden windfall be it the stock market, lottery winnings, a real estate sale or other non-traditional method of inheritance. The bottom line, tax doesn’t discriminate—the IRS wants to be included in sharing of the funds.

Our job in working with the tax codes is to ensure that our clients take advantage of the opportunity provided them by the IRS.

LIFE AFTER DIVORCE

Sun, 20 Dec 2020 20:56:22 GMT

Life After Divorce

Divorce is difficult and its impact affects the whole family and your retirement.

The current divorce rate in the United States is nearly 40 percent. Nearly 50 percent of divorces happens in first marriages. It climbs to 60 percent in second marriages and 73 percent of third marriages make it to divorce. Statistically, it’s a harsh reality. Our job is to make sure that we remain sensitive to the emotional experience but we must park it outside the door so we can focus on the financial plan well into the future to the newly divorced.

The financial impact of a divorce targets the entire family, can impact those that own businesses, and we must manage the communication between the couple regarding major financial decisions that they must make together when their are children involved.

Decisions that impact housing, college, life insurance and so much more. The cliché that the only ones who financially benefit from a divorce are the lawyers. It’s a fact that reaching a mutually agreed settlement can be quite costly when left to the legal profession.

Where anger, frustration, and at times, revenge play an active role in trying find a peaceful settlement, few come out ahead. I will add that the future, more so the retirement of the newly divorced, is fragile and rarely considered during the anger that spews from a divorce settlement.

By the time our team is involved, we assess what is left after the divorce, what is the present and future cash flow, savings and lifestyle, and what are the options to ensure that the client can have a comfortable lifestyle in retirement and still manage the commitment to the divorce.

If this is your current situation, call us and lets discuss the options.

LOSS OF A LOVED ONE

Sun, 20 Dec 2020 20:49:04 GMT

Loss Of A Loved One

After the loss of a loved one it's important that the surviving partner's financial well being is managed.

In my consulting with couples, it is important to have both partners there with me in the planning, as statistics prove out that she will outlive her husband by perhaps 20-25 years and it’s so important that her financial well being is managed.

As a baby boomer myself, we all look back and hold onto the memories of the loved ones that we’ve lost. It is a painful and sad experience. We can’t change the outcome but we are there to ease the financial hardship by ensuring there is a tax strategy in place to make this journey easier.

There is fact of life that 80% of men die married. 90% of women die alone. I can remember that my dad, who was a life insurance agent, would deliver the death benefits checks to the newly widowed. I was young but the impression of thankfulness has never left me—the women were so appreciative of having insurance to fall back on, it was evident that my dad was their hero. And to this day, if I can help women plan for a more comfortable retirement, then I will feel that I’ve done my job.

If you have concern about your financial plan and the next 20 to 25 years in maintaining your lifestyle, then we should talk.

WE ALL PAY TAXES. A FACT OF LIFE - you need a tax plan for life

Sun, 20 Dec 2020 19:33:15 GMT

We All Pay Taxes

It’s a fact - we all pay taxes.

We are experts in the US tax code and taxes will be the single largest expense in your retirement and without a plan, outliving your savings could be devastating. Our team ensures that each of our clients, and those of the financial planners that we advise, pay the least amount of taxes so that they might live a more comfortable retirement, which in many cases can last up to 25 years.

Financial advisors are specialists in product—those instruments that may help you get a higher return on your investment dollars. However, few of these professionals are educated and updated on the changing tax code that could bear a heavy consequence in taxes during retirement. We work directly with clients and our services extend to financial advisors across the nation who seek our expertise on behalf of their clients. The important thing to remember is that the single largest expense you will have in retirement will be taxes—our job is to minimize that cost.

If there is one important thing for all pre-retirees to understand is that a tax preparer is not qualified to offer tax advice. Your stockbroker—definitely not qualified. And most financial planners are purveyors of recommending product—they are not tax specialist. And keep in mind that that the US Tax Code is a moving target—it changes regularly and decisions that you mad in 2020 will have a different outcome in 2021.

It’s easy to assume that you are paying the least amount of taxes each year when your taxes forms are provided to you to sign. WRONG. Over 70 percent of financial planning cases, the tax code is not adhered to and savings of tens of thousands of dollars each year is missed. The lack of tax planning is common.

One of the most vulnerable targets of taxation are widows. In addition to the devastating loss of their soul mates, the tax code is cruel. Not only will they lose a large part of their social security, they are taxed in a higher tax bracket as a single woman. And the sad fact is that 90% of women will be alone in their life and they will be the hardest hit without a tax plan. At Robert Martinelli Tax Planning we focus on today and the future. We can assess the unexpected costs that happen in life and ensure that widows are protected against the tax changes in your retirement years. Let’s talk. Let us help.

EVERYONE RETIRES how many of us can maintain your lifestyle

Sun, 20 Dec 2020 19:30:21 GMT

We All Retire

It’s not a choice, but a fact that we will all retire or that we might semi-retire.

The real question is how many of us can maintain our lifestyle, in some cases, for over two decades. This is the challenge and where we step in with our expertise. Due to economic changes, and that we are living longer and healthier, many have chosen to put off retirement well into their 70s. And with longevity, the lifestyle plan becomes most important.

As you will often hear me say in our workshops and webinars that taxes will be the single largest expense in retirement so it’s important that by working closely with you throughout the year, that we create a map to assist you to ensure that you have plan that will meet your retirement goals.

We have successfully worked with many clients where to their astonishment in our strategic planning, have saved them tens of thousands of dollars in taxes that adds to their infamous retirement nest egg. Life is changing and the new normal is quite different. And it’s our job to make sure your lifestyle financial plan keeps up with those changes.

You might be like many of our clients who have put off retirement and have started new online businesses—perhaps an exciting venture—and some, are active in stock trading. Whatever the plan, we are there to guide you along the way and to always being on top of any tax implication of these events.

Retirement is very personal.

We all have a vision of what that looks like, and yes, we’d love to hear it and see how we might make it a reality. I’m a baby boomer myself, so I have all the same concerns you have but together, we’ll make the journey to retirement more rewarding.