Author: Steve

Wills in Texas – planning for inheritance tax

A will is a legal document outlining who will receive your accumulated wealth and assets upon your death. Wills in Texas help you distribute your wealth as you desire among those you love. After your death, if you do not plan your estate properly, your loved ones could end up having to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes upon your death.

Planning for inheritance taxes is one last thing you can do for your loved ones to help them keep as much of your property as possible. There are two kinds of properties. Real property is land, improvements on that land, gas, oil, and mineral rights. All other property is called personal property. It helps to know what is taxable and what isnt so you can leave your relatives with as much as possible without having to pay a lot in taxes.

If the sum of your personal and real property is above the Inheritance threshold of your state, your beneficiaries will be taxed a good percentage of the remainder. Inheritance tax is a controversial law. Having to pay taxes on already taxed income seems unfair. However, it also seems unfair that wealth will be perpetuated within a family line. Inheritance tax helps to redistribute wealth to the government and the common man.

You can limit the amount of money you have to pay in taxes by opening a living trust, giving money to charitable projects, and investing your money into your business or agriculture. Agricultural land may be left the farmer sun of a farmer and be up to 90 tax exempt. Property invested in the family business may also be exempt from taxes up to 90. Planning your wealth and passing it on to your relatives in the most orderly fashion takes time and professional assistance. Texas wills advisors can help you in your planning for inheritance taxes.

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How To Use Your IRA To Buy Property In Central America

A growing number of North Americans are using funds from their IRA to purchase foreign real estate. While the process may appear convoluted at first, all it involves is a few steps taken in sequence. The steps have been followed by hundreds of investors purchasing real estate in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Belize. The same process works for 401K investments, Roth IRA and other retirement plans.

The first thing you need to do is to set up what is called a “self-directed IRA”. You’ll typically need a new custodian to do this. So either search online for a self-directed custodian or review the three main firms offering this service: Entrust, Equity Trust and Lincoln Trust.  As you decide on your custodian make sure that their program allows investment in foreign real estate.

Practically all types of real estate in Central America are eligible for purchase using the funds in your IRA. So this will include raw land, condos, multi-unit apartments or a house. The key factor to bear in mind is that the property needs to qualify as an investment rather than as a personal use purchase. But that’s only before you retire. Once you retire you can take the property as an IRA payment and live in it full-time. Many investors who are of pre-retirement age use their IRA funds to buy rental real estate as an investment with a plan on moving into the property once they retire.

Although in some countries it’s possible to buy property in the name of your IRA account, across Central America the local legal systems do not recognize these account names. The solution is to set up a corporation to own the property. Your IRA invests all of its funds in that corporation and then you as the manager of that corporation purchases the real estate that you have chosen.

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Interesting Mergers and Acquisitions

The European Union agreed in merger regulation in 1989. This defined circumstances in which a merger would have a European dimension and come under the roles of the European Union, and when a merger would be decided by national bodies.

In one case, in particular, the commission vetoed the takeover of the De Havilland, a Canadian aircraft maker, by a French aerospace company and Alenia from Italy. On the other hand, objections to the Nestlé’s takeover of Perrier had little effect and Nestlé’s and BSN of France now control over 75% of the French mineral water market. In the UK, AirTours abandoned its bid for First Choice in June 1999, following objections from the regulatory authorities in Brussels.

The EU has abandoned the idea of a detailed takeover bid directive in favor of one which outlines principles with which local legislation must comply-for example, equal treatment of all shareholders. However, the problem was stalled for 13 years, despite a clear need for general principles to be adopted. In France, BNP made a bid for Society General and Paribas. The last two can and did deal in BNP shares, but BNP cannot deal in theirs. Gucci, facing a hostile bid from LVMH, sold 40% of new shares to an ally, Francois Pinault. This is only possible due to lax takeover rules in Amsterdam, where Gucci is listed. One current compromise floats the idea of joint jurisdiction, where a company is listed in one country but registered in another.

Finally, in 2002, a new takeover code was agreed by European Union lawmakers. It curbs companies’ use of the poison pill takeover defenses and requires bidders and targets to treat all shareholders equally. Also, predators will be required to make a formal bid once their state reaches a certain threshold. European Union nations had up to a certain point, to implement the roles.

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