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Important IRS Update: Significant Interest Penalty Increase for Tax Underpayments

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has recently announced a critical change that could significantly impact taxpayers who underpay their taxes. This update is particularly relevant as we approach the next tax filing season. Previously, the IRS charged a 3% interest penalty on estimated tax underpayments. However, this rate has now been increased to a substantial

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Will Inflation Hurt Stock Returns? Not Necessarily

Investors may wonder whether stock returns will suffer if inflation keeps rising. Here’s some good news: Inflation isn’t necessarily bad news for stocks. A look at equity performance in the past three decades does not show any reliable connection between periods of high (or low) inflation and US stock returns. Since 1993, one-year returns on

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Maximize Your Charitable Impact with These Four Strategies

As the year draws to a close, it’s a perfect opportunity to rethink how you give to charity. This is important for managing how much tax you pay and how much help reaches those in need. Here are four effective strategies: Need Guidance? Reach Out to Us! These strategies are just a starting point. There

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Hoteliers & Moteliers: What Security Challenges Do Today’s Hotel Owners Face?

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Category: Asset Protection Captive Insurance Companies Hospitality Hotel Owners

Hotel owners face a broad array of challenges when it comes to mitigating risks. Whether you’re a single motel or part of a chain, you need to be concerned with protecting and maintaining assets. You’ll need to be concerned with physical, human, and intangible assets.

Hoteliers & Moteliers What Security Challenges Do Todays Hotel Owners Face
(Photo Credit: e27.co)

Some of the major concerns that hotel owners are faced with include sabotage, natural disaster, injury, criminal activities, terrorism, and fire. On a more common basis, you might be concerned with injuries and claims or injuries on hotel property, or the theft of services or merchandise.

There’s no doubt that as a hotel owner, you frequently feel pulled in many different directions to deal with immediate problems and trying to prepare for the future. One of the best ways to reduce your risks is to consider whether a captive insurance company can help you with some of your concerns in the long run. Policies for a captive insurance company contain many of the same provisions as typical commercial insurance contracts but they go above and beyond by reinsuring your particular risk needs.

As an added benefit, maintaining control over that captive company may even give you investment control over assets for that company. If you’ve got risks that cannot be covered under the typical umbrella of a commercial insurance contract, you’ve got to look elsewhere. A captive insurance company may alleviate your concerns, protect your assets, and allow you to build a long-term plan. Email us at info@lawesq.net or call 732-521-9455 to begin.

Estate Planning For Your House: Irrevocable Trusts

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Category: Estate Planning

A transfer of assets outright may not be the best solution as this has been known to create undesirable outcomes. In the case when planning to avoid probate and conservatorships, it makes more sense to use an irrevocable trust. In many cases, the biggest and/or most important asset to be transferred is a home.

Estate Planning For Your House Irrevocable Trusts
(Photo Credit: nwkidsmagazine.com/2012/01/1560/)

An outright transfer could cause problems: if it ever becomes necessary or desired to sell the property to buy a new one elsewhere, this can be difficult. Also the new owners might lose the residence to creditors or divorce or sell it on their own. That’s why it may be preferable to use an irrevocable trust to ensure protections and flexibility in planning. This can be done using lifetime retaining benefits held by the transferor.

There are benefits to using an irrevocable trust to manage the house transfer. First, the residence is protected from the threats of creditors or ex-spouses of death beneficiaries or the trustee. Second, if there is interest or need to sell the home to acquire a new one, the trustee can navigate this move fairly easily, If drafted properly. To talk more about how to plan for the transfer of your home, we can help. Email us at info@lawesq.net or contact us via phone at 732-521-9455.

Side Business? Silent Partner? What’s the Risk? Duties of non-manager members of LLCs

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Category: Asset Protection Asset Protection Planning Estate Planning LLCs

If you are interested in creating a managed multi-member LLC, one of the most popular questions for individuals in this position is whether non-manager members are held to the same standards (or have the same liability) with regards to fiduciary duties like care and loyalty. The answer is “it depends”.

Side Business Silent Partner Whats the Risk Duties of nonmanager members of LLCs
(Photo Credit: serpent.com)

In the non-manager members are involved in some significant aspect of the business, the operating agreement should generally include an expression of such duties for these individuals. Looking at the landscape of typical non-manager member involvement in the business of these LLCs, significant duties are typically rare with smaller businesses that are closely held.

There are some cases where the operating agreement might not address this question specifically. In this scenario, the LLC act governs and can provide some important insight. A lot of these acts, however, are quiet when it comes to this particular question. Some agreements, however, do have specific information about these duties included. An example is the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act, which actually negatives any duties for the non-manager members unless an express clause in the LLC agreement states anything to the contrary.

LLC formation and agreement construction can be aided significantly with the watchful eye of an attorney. Call us at 732-521-9455 or send us an email to info@lawesq.net to discuss your needs.

For Hoteliers: Hotel Business Protection Using Captive Insurance

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Category: Business Planning Hotel Owners

For hotel business owners, there are big benefits to setting up a captive insurance company. This can be a valuable way to protect your company and save money at the same time, since captive insurance companies are known for tax flexibility. A captive insurance company is an affiliate of a business that is created to reinsure particular risks of that business. The captive can be formed in the U.S. or in a foreign jurisdiction. Policies can contain all of the basic terms that are included in commercial insurance contracts and premiums are determined by independent actuaries.

For Hoteliers Hotel Business Protection Using Captive Insurance
(Photo Credit: gamasutra.com)

The goal of a captive is to help pick up the risk that has already been held by a business that “self-insured”. This means that the business has some kind of specific need for which it is too expensive or impossible to get typical insurance. In this case, the captive serves a very important role of improving the risk protection capability for the business. Some examples include earthquake coverage, food-borne illness concerns, or cyber theft.

Surplus that is not used to pay out claims can be distributed out to shareholders as dividends. Control over this captive also gives the client investment control over the assets with the captive in certain situations. Captive insurance companies benefit from special tax treatment under the Internal Revenue Code. As a result of all these benefits, business owners for thousands of companies have been able to accumulate a great deal of pre-tax wealth through captive insurance companies. Hotel owners take note: you should consider how a captive insurance company suits your needs and helps you insure specialized risk. To get started, contact us at 732-521-9455 or email us at info@lawesq.net

Risky Business? Manage that Risk: Captive Insurance Companies

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Category: Business Law Business Planning Business Succession Planning Captive Insurance Companies

A captive insurance company is a company created by a business owner to help insure risks of affiliated businesses. When set up appropriately, a captive allows a business to manage risks while allowing the affiliated company to reap benefits, too.

Risky Business Manage that Risk Captive Insurance Companies
(Photo Credit: business2community.com)

A Captive will receive premiums that are then invested as opposed to premiums sent to a traditional unrelated insurer, which are essentially “lost”. Over time, those premiums accumulate. In the event of a risk loss, the premiums are available to be paid for those self-insured losses, thus protecting the business’s bottom line. This crucial benefit is the biggest advantage for business owners.

A Captive can issue casualty or property insurance to protect against a broad array of risks. Where the business owner has the most potential to capitalize on this opportunity is through risk protection for those risks that are typically too expensive to coverage or uninsurable, period. With possible major tax increases coming in the future, the Captive Insurance company remains situated as one of the most effective solutions for business owners. Captive Insurance benefits go beyond tax advantages by providing business owners with opportunities in wealth transfer, estate planning, and asset protection, too.

At Shah and Associates, we work with you individually to determine how a Captive can best suit your business needs. With vast experience in the field, we have helped our clients use Captives to minimize taxes, protect assets, manage risks, and improve cash flow. We understand the peace of mind and confidence that comes from a comprehensive approach to risk management, and that’s why we remain committed to the business community.