SBA Loans Can Help to Finance Small Businesses
It is no secret that businesses generally, and small businesses in particular, have been through rough times, and those are not over yet. Still, there is some assistance to be had as a small business owner if you know where to look. One prominent example is the Small Business Administration (SBA) and its Guaranteed Loan Programs.
Contrary to a common misconception, the SBA does not make direct loans to small businesses. Instead, the SBA establishes the guidelines for loans, which are then made by its “partners,” meaning lenders, community development organizations, and microlending institutions. To eliminate some of the risk to the lending partners, the SBA guarantees that these loans will be repaid. In short, a business applicant is actually applying for a commercial loan, structured according to SBA requirements, with an SBA guaranty.
Financially Speaking, Keep it Simple
In theory, we are all in favor of saving time, labor, and space, not to mention avoiding the stress and anxiety that can come from leading complicated and disorganized lives. In the realm of personal finance, these are all good reasons to resolve to become more simplified and organized, but saying and doing are two different things. It may help move the process along to break the job up into some very specific things that you can do in addition to making an overall change in attitude toward your finances. Minutes spent doing this ahead of time could save hours and many dollars later.
Don’t Lose Your Charitable Deduction
For you to claim a federal income tax deduction for a charitable donation valued at $250 or more, you must obtain from the recipient of the donation a “contemporaneous written acknowledgment” letter. Failure to obtain such a letter can result in a disallowance of the deduction by the IRS.
The acknowledgment letter, which may be in the form of a thank you letter to you as the donor, should include the following information:
* the name and address of the recipient of the donation;
Estate Planning with ILITs
For some people, life insurance may not spring to mind immediately as an effective estate planning tool. A life insurance policy remaining in the estate of the insured is subject to federal estate taxes. However, when carefully crafted and put in place with the guidance of an appropriate professional, there is a way both to obtain the familiar benefits of a life insurance policy–providing a measure of financial security for the beneficiaries–and to remove the policy’s proceeds from exposure to the estate tax. The vehicle is called an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT).
Accentuate the Positive and Eliminate the Negative?
The current spike in gloomy economic news after reaching the I-think-I’ve-heard-enough-for-now stage, reminded me of and inspired me to take up the challenge of seeing if I could comply with that great Johnny Mercer lyric to the song entitled: Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive.
If you remember the mid-1900′s you’ll easily recognize this message and if you do not, permit me to create and re-create the abundant positiveness of this incredibly upbeat lyric which has been recorded by many – including Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald and Aretha Franklin – and which I submit is worth revisiting with a vengeance at this time.
FDIC Insurance Update
Last summer, a law was enacted that raised the standard maximum deposit insurance amount (SMDIA) to $250,000. The law made permanent a previous temporary increase to $250,000 from the former maximum limit of $100,000. The new permanent maximum limit should especially benefit consumers who figure to have more than $100,000–such as in multi-year certificates of deposit–in their bank beginning in 2014, when the temporary hike in the maximum limit had been scheduled to expire.
New Gift Tax Break
Having a net worth of $1 million, or maybe even $2 million, does not give you entry into such a small exceptional group as used to be the case. By some estimates, between 5 and 6 million American households have a net worth of at least $2 million. This means that currently there are considerably more people who should consider how best to shield their money from the IRS and pass it on to their heirs, assuming that is their wish. One such strategy that just became more attractive, due to new federal legislation, is the making of gifts during one’s lifetime.
Borrowers, Lenders, and Processing Payments
The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) is a federal consumer protection law that regulates the real estate settlement process, including the servicing of loans and the assignment of those loans. RESPA places a number of duties on lenders and loan servicers, including requirements that borrowers be given notice by both a transferor and a transferee when their loan is transferred to a new lender or servicer, and that loan servicers respond promptly to borrowers’ written requests for information.
Social Media in the Workplace
The prevalence of social media, including postings that are meant for employment-related topics in particular, has led to an increase in litigation on the subject between employees and their employers. The scenarios leading the parties to the courtroom are as varied as one might imagine. A company fires a worker over her criticisms of the boss that she posted on Facebook. Repeated attempts by a manager to “friend” a female employee on Facebook eventually leads to allegations of sexual harassment. A disappointed job applicant sues when a job offer is retracted after a hiring manager turns up something about the applicant on Twitter that the manager finds disturbing.
Deleting Company E-Mail
When a telecommunications company went defunct, almost literally on his way out the door, the former president and CEO of the company allegedly deleted certain e-mails from the company’s computers. When the company was placed in receivership, the receiver sued the former executive for a variety of his actions taken in connection with the collapse of the company. Among these claims was an assertion that when he deleted the e-mails, allegedly to cover up some misconduct, the executive violated the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).
