This session will be a review of the most recent cases, rulings, and tax code changes that impact estate, gift and generation-skipping tax matters, and income taxation of trusts. 

Join Gerontologist, professional coach and life stage expert, Barbara Waxman, as she shares valuable insights that will turn everything you think about midlife on its head. During this interactive presentation you'll learn why this isn't your parents' midlife, why retirement as we know it is ready to be retired, and what specific tools and questions you can use to better serve your clients. Barbara will distill decades of research to help you develop insights into just how the aging of America and demographics of the 21st century have changed the way successful financial professionals think about their work.

This session will cover case studies, descriptions and explanations of effective and practical estate planning techniques to not only save estate taxes, but also to protect clients and their heirs from future estate taxes, divorce and creditors at the same time. 

This session will also show you how to structure basic estate documents, uses of GRATs, sales to grantor trusts, preferred partnership freezes and the like. 

AICPA works hard for its members. This session will show what projects the TRP is advocating for in the estate and trust area. Contacts with IRS and tax writing groups are emphasized.

Insurance products such as life insurance and annuities can provide tax advantaged investment returns. This presentation will explain the basics of insurance taxation, understanding basic annuity and life product structures, and the mathematics of net returns on assets subject to taxes on growth above basis. Topics include optimal location of financial assets within insurance products and assessing the value of mature insurance policies.

A truth has emerged: growth begins with behavior. The idea that growth begins with behavior should be no stranger to leaders of professional service, including advisory firm owners. While a focus on behavior has always been present, today there is a major trend within wealth management to help investors focus on their behavior and to shed light on how their actions and attitudes affect their retirement and financial goals. And yet, focusing on behavior is often the last place firm owners think to look when analyzing their own revenue and profit growth. In this session, you will learn the behaviors that are holding back growth, how to look at them differently, and how to overcome them to grow exponentially.

This discussion will address current issues and trends in the transfer tax controversy arena at the audit level, appeals and in litigation. It will include issues related to the valuation and transfer of interests in closely-held entities, the use of formula clauses, recent caselaw, positions taken by the IRS and ways to address them at the planning level.

Gift tax returns when filed with "adequate disclosure" provide a golden opportunity reduce audit issues and exposure on a federal estate tax return and most likely avoid later-life surprises for increases in gift tax liability. The session provides examples for effective gift tax reporting in addition to review of the applicable law and rules. After reviewing the demands and importance of adequate disclosure, this session will review practical return preparation preliminary actions; how Schedule A of the Form 709 integrates with GST reporting; fixed-dollar formula gift disclosures;  engagement agreements with appraisers; informing the appraiser what to value; reporting GRATs; reporting transfers subject to ETIPs and when the ETIP ends; and reporting with Crummey gifts, among other topics. 

With more than 500 different profession-specific software products to choose from in at least 30 different categories, building your tech stack is more complicated than ever. Join a panel of tech experts and business consultants as they survey the landscape and provide guidance on your selection process and what to look for in the CPA planner’s tech future.

With the current, high estate tax exemption, many practitioners believe “generation skipping” tax planning (keeping inherited assets out of the taxable estates of children) is no longer needed for most clients, just for very large estates. However, the estate tax exemption could be frozen or even reduced after the 2020 election. Even if this doesn’t happen, many married couples will likely underutilize the “generation skipping tax” (“GST”) exemption because it isn’t subject to portability. And keep in mind that inherited estates may grow during a child’s lifetime because, even in moderate-sized parental estates, trusts are often being set up for children, e.g., asset protection, divorce, blood-line distribution control or income tax reasons.

The reality is, because of changes in the tax code, GST planning is appropriate in lots of estates when it wouldn’t have been not too long ago. But, this raises an important question: are you up to speed on the complicated GST rules and can you properly apply them?

Join Bob Keebler to learn how to utilize the GST rules to maximum advantage for your clients. Here are just a few of the topics Bob will cover in this content-packed session:

· Who are “skip persons” versus “non-skip persons”
· What are “direct skips” versus “indirect skips”
· The difference between the annual GST exclusion and life GST exemption amounts?
· The automatic allocation rules?
· When do you allocate the lifetime GST exemption amount to “indirect skips”?
· How does late allocation of the lifetime GST exemption amount work?
· How do you calculate the “inclusion ratio”?
· How to split trusts into GST and non-GST shares via “qualified severance”?

This session will cover cross-border estate, gift and trust issues and the reporting requirements associated with those issues. 

Behavioral Finance Advice with Magic bridges the gap in traditional finance that assumes people are rational. Because most people are irrational, it combines traditional finance with the science behind how our brains work and the psychology of why we make the decisions we do.

After this session, you will be able to help your clients:

This session will address the challenges of estate planning in 2021. Have new laws been proposed or passed? How should practitioners respond? What techniques should be recommended now? Which techniques are best to use in a low interest rate environment? Are different techniques best recommended for clients at different levels of wealth? These and related issues will be discussed.

The reality of the of long term care planning for today’s mass affluent client has changed for the positive. Longevity, lifestyle and legacy are why the subject must be considered.

The financial and non-financial consequences that providing care brings will result in difficult decisions and compromise family dynamics. This is especially true for the sandwich generation, blended families, divorce, and growing solo aging population.

The desire for control about how, where and who provides care is front and center in a Covid world.

An increase in chronic conditions for aging such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Covid long-haulers demands proactive LTC planning. Reduced government programs and increased costs for retirement lifestyle make LTC planning valuable, if not critical.

We will compare the new planning solutions in the marketplace. Hybrid polices, Joint and Second to Die LTC solutions and Life and Annuities with Riders. A discussion of the differences in LTC riders, and a focus on the sweet spots for planning given health and family history will highlight opportunistic planning windows.

An analysis of “self- insuring “will solve for the true cost of self-funding for the mass affluent and HNW clients. Financing, gifting options, ILITs, tax incentives and 1035 exchanges in LTC planning are unique and opportunistic planning tools that will be addressed.

Lastly, why the broker you ultimately work with matters - for successful client outcomes and at policy execution.

We will discuss the issues that can arise with long term trusts, review the tools available to modify irrevocable trusts, and offer advise on advising clients on modifications. 

How many times have we said, “If only I knew, I would have planned better?” Insurance is often thought of as an “expensive” way to transfer risk…until a disaster event occurs! Wouldn’t it be great to share a “best practice checklist” with your clients to identify the risks they should consider transferring at each major stage in life? For example, shouldn’t every 30-something first parent buy some term insurance? And how about an umbrella policy to protect the family fortune from the teen driver? What about the client who is facing staggering bills to keep mom who has dementia in quality care? Our expert panel will share in rapid-fire their best tips in the area of life, long-term care, property, and casualty that are immediately actionable for your clients. Remember, financial planning includes risk management so even if you are not an insurance expert you need to point out the “holes” in the plan and guide your client to take action!

The undeniable impacts of super trends, governmental intervention and geopolitical volatility have move the markets into unchartered territory. The panel will discuss best practices in strategic investment management, including navigating a low yield environment, passive versus active, international versus domestic, product innovations, client communications and more. We'll look at how the lines between investing and gaming/gambling can become blurred in investments like derivatives, SPACs, Bitcoin and Options Trading, accentuating their inherent benefits and pitfalls. Join AICPA thought leaders in a discussion of what’s working now and, more importantly, what’s likely to work going forward in investment management.

LLC CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS
• CARES Changes Have Special Mention for Partnerships
• Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Makes Few Changes to Partnership Tax Law
• IRS Launches Website for Streamlined Partnership Audit Process
• IRS Adds Reporting Requirements to Form K-1
• IRS Says Small Partnership Abatement of Late Filing Penalties Not Automatic
• Doctor’s Surgery Center K-1 Income Not Subject to SE Tax. Why Not?
• Attorneys’ Law Practice K-1 Income Subject to SE Tax. Why?

S CORPORATION CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS
• Minimal Changes to S Corporation Tax in CARES and TCJA
• IRS Targets S Corporation Shareholder Basis and Reasonable Compensation
• Court Cases Illustrate IRS Targets

PASS THROUGH ENTITIES - Generally
• Pass-Through Entity Decision Making and the QBI Deduction
• IRS Promises More Audits of Pass-Through Entities
• Covid Relief and its Impact on Pass-Through Entities

With potential changes to the estate tax exemption and rules on the horizon, business owners are expected to transfer ownership in their companies at significantly higher rates this year. This session will bring you up to speed on the latest trends and methods for discounting non-controlling, non-marketable interests in closely-held business interests and provide tips on how to support the discounts in the valuation report. 

This presentation will survey various charitable giving techniques, including outright cash and noncash gifts, gifts of life insurance and annuities, bargain sales, charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts, pooled income funds, and gifts of remainder interests. In addition, the presentation will review the reduction rules and charitable contribution substantial rules.

This session will be a discussion on how aggressively advisors should allocate to investment products with an environment, social and governance (ESG) mandate. We will present a series of concerns about ESG investing, and our panelists will respond to those concerns from a practical perspective and from the standpoint of academic research.

The global pandemic has accelerated the need for financial advisors to adapt and innovate to stay relevant and grow in 2021 and beyond. While many advisors have struggled to adapt, elite practices have been able to make the subtle, yet significant adjustments to their strategies and tactics to gain market share during these challenging times.

The Business Strategy team at Goldman Sachs has identified the 5 Tactical Themes that they believe will help Financial Advisors stay ahead of the curve in 2021 and beyond. These tactics are the by-product of a recently completed global survey as well as thousands of client interactions around the world during the global pandemic.

We find ourselves in an incredibly competitive marketplace where attracting (and retaining) top talent isn't as easy as it used to be. Kelli Cruz, founder of Cruz Consulting Group, will discuss compensation philosophies and strategies for attracting top talent to your firm, and retaining the top talent you already have. The session will cover; pay philosophy, base & incentive compensation design, and other key components of a comprehensive pay program to attract and retain an engaged team.

In order for taxpayers to resolve their back tax issues they are required to be in tax compliance. But what exactly does that mean? This program will cover the role tax compliance plays in resolving tax debts and what practitioners need to know to help get their clients into compliance to resolve their debt. The program will also discuss the issue of cleaning up a client’s bad behavior and the potential for voluntary disclosure to avoid a criminal referral. Also addressed will be the role of economic hardship and how it can be used to resolve a tax debt and prevent enforcement action by the IRS.

An important study showed that over 60% of the failures to maintain family wealth are due to a lack of communication. This session will focus on best practices and the importance of communicating the estate plan, including:

1. Relevant client concerns over qualitative issues
2. The why, who, what, when and how to facilitate the communication session

The Best Ideas Panel will pull together the best thinking from the first two days of the conference and some of our highest rated speakers. We will give the attendees practical planning strategies that affect their clients that they can implement now. Topics will cover thought leadership in the income tax planning, estate planning, retirement and other areas as well as some of the general sessions. Our panel consists of individuals who are recognized experts in each area and consistently ranked as our top speakers at the conference.

Learning Objectives:

1. Analyze best planning ideas from across all the sessions from the first two days of the PFP conference.
2. Recognize current hot topics including tax planning, estate planning, retirement, elder planning, and other financial planning topics will be presented in a practical format.

This session will review trusts commonly used by clients such as life insurance trusts, survivorship life insurance trusts, trusts for children and grandchildren, and others. 

The length of retirement is one of the most important assumptions in a financial plan; therefore, care should be taken that is estimated as accurately as possible. This presentation will explore a variety of topics related to estimating “the end” of retirement, including a review of life expectancy and its drivers, the accuracy of subjective mortality estimates, the actual assumptions used by financial advisors in financial plans, as well as model that can be used to approximate a reasonable retirement period that considers personalized mortality and the probability of success.