Financial Planning

The House voted to set the inheritance tax at 45 percent permanently for estates larger than $3.5 million.

The Virginia Society of CPAs has produced a free Financial Fitness Calendar for next year.

Financial education provider Financial Finesse has launched a new Web site to promote financial literacy.

The Internal Revenue Service said it is temporarily closing its determination letter program for adopters of pre-approved defined-benefit plans.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined Terra Nova Financial $400,000 for making more than $1 million in improper “soft dollar” payments to hedge fund clients for accounting expenses, estate planning fees and more questionable expenses.

Consulting firm Capco has introduced a North American Wealth and Investment Management Group to help build the wealth and investment management capabilities of various types of financial firms.

With last year's financial market turmoil slowly fading in the rear-view mirror, what can forward-looking CPA financial advisors conclude about the performance of their broker-dealers during the upheaval?

For more than a decade, my mother resided in the bucolic hamlet of Ludlow, Vt. Those of you who enjoy winter sports may recognize the town as home to Okemo, one of the Green Mountain State's wildly popular ski areas. But nearly 70 years ago, the town received notoriety for something other than downhill racing or snowboarding. For it was on Jan. 31, 1940, that the town's Ida M. Fuller became the first citizen to receive an old-age monthly benefit check under the newly passed Social Security law. For those keeping score at home. Mrs. Fuller paid in $24.75 between 1937 and 1939 on an income of $2,484. Her first check was cut in the amount of $22.54.

BETTER ADVICE COULD REDUCE RETIREMENT PLAN FEES

Perhaps the most critical goal of professional portfolio management is to allocate client assets in such a manner as to achieve appropriate diversification.