Happy New Year (Belated)

Best wishes for the new year. And no, Jack is not taller than me.  😀

The Morning Line Again

I subbed for Paul Daugherty's The Morning Line blog in the Cincinnati Enquirer again yesterday. The only topic was Mike Brown's management of the Cincinnati Bengals. I will not be receiving Christmas cards from his family anytime soon.

I hope you enjoy it.

Photo Credit:  Kareem Elgazaar for the Cincinnati Enquirer
License:  I wrote the linked article for the Cincinnati Enquirer   :)

The Morning Line (Again)

Paul Daugherty has once again graciously allowed me to guest write his The Morning Line blog for the Cincinnati Enquirer.   It is primarily about Mick Cronin and UC basketball.  I hope you enjoy it.

The Morning Line (Again)

Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer has once again graciously allowed me to write his The Morning Line blog.  

Estate Planning and Fiscal Cliff Diving

Happy New Year.  Moving into 2013, my previously mentioned horrible prognostication abilities did not end when 2012 ended.  I did not foresee Congress making the $5 million unified credit permanent.  The unified credit is the amount of money one can give away tax free during life or at death.  Although in some fairness, I am not sure anyone in the estate planning community foresaw it either. 

Quick estate planning facts from the fiscal cliff legislation:

1.  Unified credit is $5 million and will be indexed for inflation.
2.  The estate tax rate will be 40%.
3.  The unified credit is portable which means that the first spouse to die does not need a trust to utilize the credit.  

For the rest of 2013, I will be out of the prediction game save for Alabama defeating Notre Dame next week (with fingers crossed that I am wrong and ND wins the National Championship).