Planning Potpourri

o What should your
child be doing before heading off to college?
If your child is 18 he or she should sign a durable power of
attorney to authorize a parent (or other responsible adult) to handle financial
or legal matters if necessary. A simple standard form for your state is
probably sufficient. Have him or her sign a health care proxy.  Get your child a credit card now and teach
them how to use, not abuse it. Too often college students are bombarded with
credit card offers that result in them racking up debts they can ill afford. Copy
your child’s wallet before they go and keep it in a secure place. If your child
looses his or her wallet you’ll have the information to help. Teach your child
how to keep and reconcile a check book. Best Bet: buy your child a computer
software program like Quicken and encourage them to use it now. This will set a
great foundation for future financial skills. Don’t let your child forget to
file an income tax return for their summer job. Best Bet: Match your child’s summer
wages so they can painlessly contribute their earnings to a Roth IRA and begin a
lifelong pattern of savings. The amounts may be small but the lessons
invaluable.

o Track Passwords, Usernames,
and More:

The proliferation of on line activities: banking,  bill paying, purchases, organization
memberships, professional societies, and more, makes it impossible to remember
all passwords and usernames. How can you remember them all? How will anyone be
able to find this information to help you if you are absent or ill? What if
you’re uncomfortable recording them on an Excel spreadsheet in case your laptop
is lost? Here’s an approach that meets the KISS principal (keep it simple
stupid). Print each web page when you next use it. This will have the web
address, the name prominently listed and other data. Note the password and user
name on the copy. File them in a loose-leaf binder with alphabetical index tabs
organized by website, vendor or company name.  Store them in a secure place your family knows about.

o IC-DISC:
If your corporation has
set up an IC-DISC to capture the differential between ordinary income and low
dividend tax rate, and you’ve engaged in comprehensive estate planning, be sure
to have your estate planner, as well as your corporate attorney, review the
contract between your corporation and DISC. If you have to broad a right turn
the commission payments to the DISC on and off there could be significant gift
and estate tax implications if you try to gift DISC stock to heirs.