“Luck’s a chance but trouble’s sure,” the poet A.E. Housman wrote, speaking to the wisdom of preparing for problems as opposed to counting on good fortune. Even the most serendipitous…
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Over the next 20 years, nearly $4.8 trillion of wealth is set to be transferred to the next generation of heirs. Much of that wealth will consist of the assets…
"All you need is love," sang the Beatles. But if the Fab Four had been family business owners, the lyric should rightly have been written, "All you need is trust."...
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A popular national business magazine recently reported that “the late Richard Simplot’s 24% voting stake in Boise’s J.R. Simplot Co., started by billionaire dad J.R. Simplot, is worth only $54,450…
When selling a family business, one of the single greatest expenses will be taxes. That’s why careful planning is so important. Now, because of a new law that quietly took…
DO YOU REALLY KNOW WHAT YOU’RE GETTING INTO? Someone you love has named you the executor of their estate in their will. Aside from feeling pleased that they respected your…
Once upon a time, family business patriarchs had it easy when it came to deciding who would take over the family business. Centuries-old customs required that the eldest son “regardless…
In addition, private closely-held companies have enjoyed a period of sustained prosperity since the 1980s. A generally favorable economy, combined with declining interest rates, has enabled hundreds of thousands of…
It’s derisively called the death tax, the vulture tax, the survivor’s tax, the exit tax, or the departure tax. But the federal estate tax is no laughing matter. For many…
When Bob Steadman started his manufacturing business 22 years ago, he had never heard of mission statements. However, from the beginning he operated his company with a few simple guiding…