How Estate Planning is like eating a Marshmallow?

Years ago I remember reading about a “Marshmallow Experiment,” where Stanford researcher Walter Mischel gave a group of three to five year-olds a choice: Eat one marshmallow now, or wait fifteen minutes and get two marshmallows. The experiment was intended to measure children’s ability to delay gratification. Mischel found that only 30 percent of the […]

Single or Multi Member LLC?

There is one slight advantage to a single member LLC. If you are the sole owner of the entity (single member LLC) you can choose to be taxed as a sole proprietor or corporation (C or S). If you are willing to be taxed as a “sole proprietorship,” then you don’t need to get an EIN. You will still operate as an LLC, but it will be a “disregarded entity” in the eyes of the IRS.

Living Revocable Trusts and FDIC Bank Insurance

You can have more than $250,000 at one insured bank or savings association and still be fully insured provided the accounts meet certain requirements. For instance, if you have a joint account then each person listed on the account can have $250,000. This is where living revocable trusts fit in. A living revocable trust account at an FDIC insured bank can have more than $250,000 as long as it has more than one beneficiary.