It is evident by the numbers that Americans are fed up with corporate disillusions of job security, dwindling employee benefits, and unfair or inadequate pay grades, as report numbers of Americans have become self-employed. According to a 2005 look by the U.S. Miniature Business Administration and reported by USABizMart, there were 29 million tiny businesses and 19.8 of those had no employees.
This is the highest level of self-employment we have seen in this country to date. In addition, the U.S. Census reports that in 2007, 5.4 million Americans work at home, although that figure does not rupture down how many of those Americans are self-employed or work for an employer at home. However, it is assumed that many of those home-based workers are self-employed contractors, freelancers, and consultants. Because of these high self-employed statistics, more laws, lobbying groups, and organizations are in site for protecting the rights and benefits of the self-employed and their beneficiaries.
There are many different levels of estate planning protection that are needed by self-employed Americans depending on the assets in the estate. I have been self-employed for eight years and at the highest point of owning several properties, our corporation had a rep worth of halt to $1 million. Noteworthy of my time was spent on researching estate planning to protect these assets.
In some cases, I consulted with our CPA and our business attorney for guidance in self-employed estate planning. As a disclaimer for this article, I am neither a CPA nor an attorney, and the tips I provide are meant only as a research tool for you to think along with your CPA, business attorney and beneficiaries.
Top Ten Tips in the Estate Planning Guide for the Self-Employed:
Get Durable and Medical Powers of Attorney
This is crucial in estate planning so that in the event of your inability to bustle your self-employed business, someone has the authority to access and manage your financial assets, develop business decisions for your business, and consult with medical staff in the event of illness or accident. In my case, the notable power of attorney was my husband, and the secondary power of attorney was my daughter. It is vital that you spend the fair power of attorney invent for the space in which you live. Powers of Attorney laws vary from residence to place.
You can put on lawyer fees and for a microscopic fee do your enjoy Powers of Attorney using forms from any office supply store or from online resources like USLegalForms.com. I conventional the forms from this online spot and filed a recorded copy of the Powers of Attorney with each notable and secondary person, as well as in our business attorney’s office. I also provided a copy of the Medical Power of Attorney to my well-known doctors and closest hospital where I had medical records.
Have Several Bank Accounts With Various Rights of Survivorship
If most of your self-employed assets are liquid and you don’t have a lot of trusty estate properties, this can be wonderful if you simply want to include several relatives in your estate planning without the exhaust of a Last Will and Testament. In my case, I had six bank accounts that all listed different beneficiaries in the event something happened to me. These people did not have rights to manage the anecdote or access the money unless I died. The bank officials can wait on you choose which types of rights are best for your hold status. In fact, you probably don’t want your children to have equal rights on your bank accounts. In the event of a bankruptcy, your children’s credit situation would also be negatively affected.
For essential information about using bank accounts for self-employed estate planning, read this FDIC Consumer Alert, titled Fall 2005 – A Special Guide for Seniors and Families:Naming Names – Points to Contemplate Before Giving Friends or Relatives Access to Bank Accounts and Estimable Deposit Boxes
Get a SEP or Keogh Self-Employed Retirement and Pension Thought
SEP stands for Simplified Employee Pension. Starting a SEP view is a agreeable self-employed strategy for both a tax back and an estate view, but there are things to reflect about a SEP depending on how many employees you have. Also, depending on the position you live in, most assets in these types of plans are exempt from bankruptcy laws, so if your business fails, you do not lose the money you have contributed to these types of self-employed pension plans. In my case, we had a very superior SEP with Fidelity. For more information about starting a SEP, visit this U.S. Department of Labor web site with detailed information and resources for starting a SEP.
Get a Last Will and Testament
This is distinguished for self-employed people that have more than cash in their self-employed estate assets. Once again if your assets are miniature, for a fee of around $20, you can acquire your absorb Last Will and Testament using the do at USLegalForms.com.
Consult a Lawyer About a Trust Fund for Larger Estate Assets
If your self-employed business has larger assets including staunch estate holdings, grand cash amounts, securities, inventory, and critical tangible property like primary jewelry, equipment, appliances, and other furnishings, you should judge setting up a trust fund for your beneficiaries to crop the amount of inheritance tax they must pay from inheriting the value of your estate. Depending on the type of trust fund you location up, you may also have tax benefits from setting up the trust fund before you die. There are many different types of trust funds for various estate idea objectives and the laws about trust funds vary from area to space. For more general information about trust funds, you can visit the Family Education web site, but my best advice for you if to consult a family lawyer in your site.
Consider a Special Life Insurance Policy Designed to Protect Liquid Assets
This was a jewel that I learned about after going through a business bankruptcy when our gasoline distributor filed for bankruptcy causing our hold business to fail. We had Universal Life Insurance policies with Area Farm Insurance Company and all of the cash value we contributed for 25 years was exempt from bankruptcy. If your business is perilous, volatile, or cash heavy, you may want to shield those assets in this kind of life insurance. This is an even stronger shield than contributions to a self-employed retirement conception because in some states, if you file for bankruptcy, the courts can choose up to one year of your last retirement understanding contributions if they judge you were trying to protect losing your money in bankruptcy. But in most cases, they cannot buy your life insurance money. For more information about using life insurance and annuities for estate planning, visit with your insurance agent and read this article titled, Creditor Protection for Life Insurance and Annuities.
In addition to using life insurance policies to protect your self-employed estate assets from creditors, there are times when you want to name your estate as the beneficiary of your life insurance proceeds rather than a person’s name. Depending on the suitable entity of your business or your personal family place, there may be stronger estate tax shelters for you and your beneficiaries by naming your estate as the life insurance beneficiary. In my case, the moral business entity was an S-Corp in Texas. There were special reasons and tax implications for naming my estate as beneficiary of my life insurance proceeds since most of my assets were held by the corporation. Your life insurance agent, CPA, or family lawyer can provide more information about this estate planning option.
Consider Gifting, Transferring, or Selling Assets to Beneficiaries Prior to Death
This is certainly a consideration you should consult with a lawyer and tax advisor before deciding to do. There are several reasons why this may be a well-known step in your self-employed estate planning. In most states and under federal law, bankruptcy courts contemplate at transfers of assets as far aid as three years. If you are in a hazardous business and have notable assets, AND you can trust your children or other beneficiaries, you could establish the asset from bankruptcy by placing it in someone else’s name or selling it to a beneficiary for a petite amount. Before doing this, you must also consult with a CPA because this has tax implications, capital gains implications, and could affect your beneficiaries’ taxes before and after you die. This is a complex estate-planning tool but it actually saved one of our $50,000 properties from being taken by the bankruptcy courts. More information about gift taxes can be found at this Internal Revenue Service web page, but my advice is to consult with a lawyer and CPA for the best strategies and decisions.
Seriously Gape at Medicare and Medicaid Laws in Your State
Most self-employed people do not think what would happen to all their assets if they have a medical condition that lands them in a long-term care facility. Most self-employed people cannot afford to privately pay for either the long-term care facility or for long-term care insurance. When we owned our store, ALL of our income was generated from the profits of the business and ALL our assets were subject to be taken away if we had to rely on Medicare and/or Medicaid for long-term care. We could not afford long-term care insurance and we would never be able to afford to privately pay for a long-term care facility.
This is another profitable reason you might want to contemplate placing your assets in the name of an estate beneficiary after consulting with a business lawyer and CPA. In my case, without putting the business properties in our daughter’s name, the only method my husband and I could protect our Texas properties in the event one of us was save in a nursing home, was to bag a divorce and region half of the assets in one name and half in the other’s name. The Medicare and Medicaid laws vary from dwelling to dwelling, but the federal Medicare and Medicaid laws are very definite as to what is exempt and what they can assume. If you are an older self-employed person, in poor health, or you hurry a unsafe business where injuries and disabilities are likely, you should seriously consult a business lawyer to glimpse options for protecting your estate assets from Medicare and Medicaid.
Join A Dinky Business Lobby Organization for Estate Planning Benefits
There are many reasons to join minute business organizations if you are self-employed. Many of the benefits described thus far in this Guide to Estate Planning for the Self-Employed are offered through these colossal national organizations. I belong to three organizations with tall investment, benefits, and estate planning resources:
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)
The annual membership for NFIB is around $10. NFIB has consistently been named by Fortune as one of the top ten dinky business lobbying groups in America. The NFIB also has very strong local lobbying power and will fight for business, tax, and estate planning laws for self-employed at all government levels.
The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)
AARP is also consistently named by Fortune as one of the leading lobby groups in Washington. AARP members can count on expansive advice and resources for senior self-employed estate planning and lobbying for laws and rights of retired persons who are now self-employed.
Industry Related Association
In my case because I owned a convenience store, I belonged to the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) that also provided vast advice and resources for self-employed benefits and estate planning tools. This organization was also a mighty lobbying group for the best interests of self-employed people.
Consider Using Your Lawyer or Other Honest Person As Estate Trustee
In the event that your estate goes into probate, which means true questions remain about the disposal of its assets or that your estate is contested by any of your beneficiaries and rejected heirs, you want to beget definite you have an fair outside person managing the estate. Reflect naming someone from outside your self-employed business who does NOT have a vested interest in the rights of your assets as the person named as executor of your Last Will and Testament or is named as Trustee of your estate. In my case, I named our business lawyer as our Estate Trustee. Your estate will have to pay fees to this person, but that is usually the case in most third-party just executors and trustees anyway. In the long hasten, it could establish family members a lot of correct fees if they prolong the estate probate.
Sources:
U.S. Census
USABizMart
It is evident by the numbers that Americans are fed up with corporate disillusions of job security, dwindling employee benefits, and unfair or inadequate pay grades, as represent numbers of Americans have become self-employed. According to a 2005 explore by the U.S. Dinky Business Administration and reported by USABizMart, there were 29 million itsy-bitsy businesses and 19.8 of those had no employees.
This is the highest level of self-employment we have seen in this country to date. In addition, the U.S. Census reports that in 2007, 5.4 million Americans work at home, although that figure does not shatter down how many of those Americans are self-employed or work for an employer at home. However, it is assumed that many of those home-based workers are self-employed contractors, freelancers, and consultants. Because of these high self-employed statistics, more laws, lobbying groups, and organizations are in space for protecting the rights and benefits of the self-employed and their beneficiaries.
There are many different levels of estate planning protection that are needed by self-employed Americans depending on the assets in the estate. I have been self-employed for eight years and at the highest point of owning several properties, our corporation had a win worth of terminate to $1 million. Noteworthy of my time was spent on researching estate planning to protect these assets.
In some cases, I consulted with our CPA and our business attorney for guidance in self-employed estate planning. As a disclaimer for this article, I am neither a CPA nor an attorney, and the tips I provide are meant only as a research tool for you to believe along with your CPA, business attorney and beneficiaries.
Top Ten Tips in the Estate Planning Guide for the Self-Employed:
Get Durable and Medical Powers of Attorney
This is crucial in estate planning so that in the event of your inability to speed your self-employed business, someone has the authority to access and manage your financial assets, develop business decisions for your business, and consult with medical staff in the event of illness or accident. In my case, the valuable power of attorney was my husband, and the secondary power of attorney was my daughter. It is considerable that you exercise the just power of attorney effect for the position in which you live. Powers of Attorney laws vary from residence to set.
You can build on lawyer fees and for a minute fee do your occupy Powers of Attorney using forms from any office supply store or from online resources like USLegalForms.com. I ancient the forms from this online dwelling and filed a recorded copy of the Powers of Attorney with each important and secondary person, as well as in our business attorney’s office. I also provided a copy of the Medical Power of Attorney to my well-known doctors and closest hospital where I had medical records.
Have Several Bank Accounts With Various Rights of Survivorship
If most of your self-employed assets are liquid and you don’t have a lot of true estate properties, this can be wonderful if you simply want to include several relatives in your estate planning without the consume of a Last Will and Testament. In my case, I had six bank accounts that all listed different beneficiaries in the event something happened to me. These people did not have rights to manage the story or access the money unless I died. The bank officials can wait on you determine which types of rights are best for your acquire place. In fact, you probably don’t want your children to have equal rights on your bank accounts. In the event of a bankruptcy, your children’s credit region would also be negatively affected.
For famous information about using bank accounts for self-employed estate planning, read this FDIC Consumer Alert, titled Fall 2005 – A Special Guide for Seniors and Families:Naming Names – Points to Contemplate Before Giving Friends or Relatives Access to Bank Accounts and Kindly Deposit Boxes
Get a SEP or Keogh Self-Employed Retirement and Pension Concept
SEP stands for Simplified Employee Pension. Starting a SEP belief is a wonderful self-employed strategy for both a tax aid and an estate idea, but there are things to contemplate about a SEP depending on how many employees you have. Also, depending on the dwelling you live in, most assets in these types of plans are exempt from bankruptcy laws, so if your business fails, you do not lose the money you have contributed to these types of self-employed pension plans. In my case, we had a very fine SEP with Fidelity. For more information about starting a SEP, visit this U.S. Department of Labor web site with detailed information and resources for starting a SEP.
Get a Last Will and Testament
This is considerable for self-employed people that have more than cash in their self-employed estate assets. Once again if your assets are tiny, for a fee of around $20, you can execute your maintain Last Will and Testament using the do at USLegalForms.com.
Consult a Lawyer About a Trust Fund for Larger Estate Assets
If your self-employed business has larger assets including actual estate holdings, stout cash amounts, securities, inventory, and considerable tangible property like significant jewelry, equipment, appliances, and other furnishings, you should assume setting up a trust fund for your beneficiaries to prick the amount of inheritance tax they must pay from inheriting the value of your estate. Depending on the type of trust fund you space up, you may also have tax benefits from setting up the trust fund before you die. There are many different types of trust funds for various estate notion objectives and the laws about trust funds vary from station to place. For more general information about trust funds, you can visit the Family Education web site, but my best advice for you if to consult a family lawyer in your location.
Consider a Special Life Insurance Policy Designed to Protect Liquid Assets
This was a jewel that I learned about after going through a business bankruptcy when our gasoline distributor filed for bankruptcy causing our acquire business to fail. We had Universal Life Insurance policies with Location Farm Insurance Company and all of the cash value we contributed for 25 years was exempt from bankruptcy. If your business is hazardous, volatile, or cash heavy, you may want to shield those assets in this kind of life insurance. This is an even stronger shield than contributions to a self-employed retirement belief because in some states, if you file for bankruptcy, the courts can consume up to one year of your last retirement idea contributions if they assume you were trying to protect losing your money in bankruptcy. But in most cases, they cannot lift your life insurance money. For more information about using life insurance and annuities for estate planning, visit with your insurance agent and read this article titled, Creditor Protection for Life Insurance and Annuities.
In addition to using life insurance policies to protect your self-employed estate assets from creditors, there are times when you want to name your estate as the beneficiary of your life insurance proceeds rather than a person’s name. Depending on the proper entity of your business or your personal family station, there may be stronger estate tax shelters for you and your beneficiaries by naming your estate as the life insurance beneficiary. In my case, the apt business entity was an S-Corp in Texas. There were special reasons and tax implications for naming my estate as beneficiary of my life insurance proceeds since most of my assets were held by the corporation. Your life insurance agent, CPA, or family lawyer can provide more information about this estate planning option.
Consider Gifting, Transferring, or Selling Assets to Beneficiaries Prior to Death
This is certainly a consideration you should consult with a lawyer and tax advisor before deciding to do. There are several reasons why this may be a critical step in your self-employed estate planning. In most states and under federal law, bankruptcy courts observe at transfers of assets as far relieve as three years. If you are in a hazardous business and have notable assets, AND you can trust your children or other beneficiaries, you could set aside the asset from bankruptcy by placing it in someone else’s name or selling it to a beneficiary for a itsy-bitsy amount. Before doing this, you must also consult with a CPA because this has tax implications, capital gains implications, and could affect your beneficiaries’ taxes before and after you die. This is a complex estate-planning tool but it actually saved one of our $50,000 properties from being taken by the bankruptcy courts. More information about gift taxes can be found at this Internal Revenue Service web page, but my advice is to consult with a lawyer and CPA for the best strategies and decisions.
Seriously Gape at Medicare and Medicaid Laws in Your State
Most self-employed people do not think what would happen to all their assets if they have a medical condition that lands them in a long-term care facility. Most self-employed people cannot afford to privately pay for either the long-term care facility or for long-term care insurance. When we owned our store, ALL of our income was generated from the profits of the business and ALL our assets were subject to be taken away if we had to rely on Medicare and/or Medicaid for long-term care. We could not afford long-term care insurance and we would never be able to afford to privately pay for a long-term care facility.
This is another great reason you might want to contemplate placing your assets in the name of an estate beneficiary after consulting with a business lawyer and CPA. In my case, without putting the business properties in our daughter’s name, the only diagram my husband and I could protect our Texas properties in the event one of us was effect in a nursing home, was to bag a divorce and site half of the assets in one name and half in the other’s name. The Medicare and Medicaid laws vary from area to area, but the federal Medicare and Medicaid laws are very determined as to what is exempt and what they can grasp. If you are an older self-employed person, in terrible health, or you urge a perilous business where injuries and disabilities are likely, you should seriously consult a business lawyer to scrutinize options for protecting your estate assets from Medicare and Medicaid.
Join A Shrimp Business Lobby Organization for Estate Planning Benefits
There are many reasons to join itsy-bitsy business organizations if you are self-employed. Many of the benefits described thus far in this Guide to Estate Planning for the Self-Employed are offered through these vast national organizations. I belong to three organizations with grand investment, benefits, and estate planning resources:
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)
The annual membership for NFIB is around $10. NFIB has consistently been named by Fortune as one of the top ten puny business lobbying groups in America. The NFIB also has very strong local lobbying power and will fight for business, tax, and estate planning laws for self-employed at all government levels.
The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)
AARP is also consistently named by Fortune as one of the leading lobby groups in Washington. AARP members can count on substantial advice and resources for senior self-employed estate planning and lobbying for laws and rights of retired persons who are now self-employed.
Industry Related Association
In my case because I owned a convenience store, I belonged to the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) that also provided immense advice and resources for self-employed benefits and estate planning tools. This organization was also a great lobbying group for the best interests of self-employed people.
Consider Using Your Lawyer or Other Fair Person As Estate Trustee
In the event that your estate goes into probate, which means accurate questions remain about the disposal of its assets or that your estate is contested by any of your beneficiaries and rejected heirs, you want to create definite you have an honest outside person managing the estate. Contemplate naming someone from outside your self-employed business who does NOT have a vested interest in the rights of your assets as the person named as executor of your Last Will and Testament or is named as Trustee of your estate. In my case, I named our business lawyer as our Estate Trustee. Your estate will have to pay fees to this person, but that is usually the case in most third-party honest executors and trustees anyway. In the long hasten, it could build family members a lot of good fees if they prolong the estate probate.
Sources:
U.S. Census
USABizMart