Category Archives: Protection Planning
Business Interruption Insurance Can Help Some Companies
Natural disasters and other calamities can affect any company at any time. Depending on the type of business and its financial stability, a few weeks or months of lost income can leave it struggling to turn a profit indefinitely — … Continue reading
Fortifying Your Business with Enterprise Risk Management
Hundreds of years ago, prosperous towns managed the various risks of foreign invaders, thieves and wild animals by fortifying their entire communities with walls and towers. Today’s business owners can take a similar approach with enterprise risk management (ERM). Assessing … Continue reading
Make Sure Your Company is Prepared for Any Disaster
What could stop your company from operating for a day, a month or a year? A flood or fire? Perhaps a key supplier shuts down temporarily or permanently. Or maybe a hacker or technical problem crashes your website or you … Continue reading
Are Your Employees Trained to Guard Against Risk?
Many companies, especially smaller ones, minimize in-house training to cut costs. But the current business environment — with its hard-to-predict changes, external threats and regulatory demands — is causing some owners to rethink this strategy. A strong training program can … Continue reading
Taking Advantage of Tangible Property Safe Harbors
If your business has made repairs to tangible property, such as buildings, machinery, equipment and vehicles, you may be eligible for a deduction on your 2015 income tax return. But you must make sure they were truly “repairs,” and not actually “improvements.” Why? … Continue reading
Is an annuity an investment vehicle or an insurance policy?
Question: Is an annuity an investment vehicle or an insurance policy? Answer: An annuity is a distinctive financial product. Although it’s not an insurance policy per se, it is a contract with an insurance company. Many different types of annuities … Continue reading
Tax Tips: Long-Term Care Insurance
Your chances of requiring some sort of long-term care increase as you age, and long-term care insurance (LTCI) can help you cover your long-term care expenses. Although tax issues are probably not foremost in your mind when you buy LTCI, … Continue reading
Tax Planning Tips: Life Insurance
Understanding the importance of life insurance is one thing. Understanding the tax rules is quite another. As insurance products have evolved and become more sophisticated, the line separating insurance vehicles from investment vehicles has grown blurry. To differentiate between the … Continue reading
Qualified and Nonqualified Annuities
Annuities come in many different forms. There are immediate and deferred annuities, with both fixed and variable rates. However, whatever the type of annuity, all can be classified as either qualified or nonqualified annuities. And the distinction is easy. Qualified … Continue reading
Tax-Deferred Annuities: Are They Right for You?
Tax-deferred annuities can be a valuable tool, particularly for retirement savings. However, they are not appropriate for everyone. Five questions to consider: Think about each of the following questions. If you can answer yes to all of them, an annuity … Continue reading
