Most advisors thought that Congress would extend the estate tax law before it was due to expire at the end of last year. But while the House did act, the Senate did not. So… what few predicted would happen, did…the tax is gone for a year but is expected to be revised in 2011 at a higher rate and a lower exemption.

At this point many suggestions have been made from keeping it the same and making it retroactive to changing it completely. No one knows what Congress will eventually do, but as we wait patiently, we must be smart and continue to plan for our futures.

As Benjamin Franklin said, “Time is Money”. Time is of the essence when talking estate planning even under this kind of uncertainty. Regardless of your estate’s size, it would be wise to seek the advice of an experienced estate planning attorney who can help you sort through your options.

In a 403-12 vote, the House approved the Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009 – a $24 billion economic stimulus bill which extends unemployment benefits to the longtime jobless and extends and expands the homebuyer tax credit.  The Senate passed the legislation 98-0 and President Obama signed the bill into law on Friday, November 6th.

Since January, first-time homebuyers have been getting tax credits of up to $8,000 (10 percent on principal homes valued up to $800,000).  This includes buyers who haven’t owned a home in three years.  Not only does the credit amount remain the same for these first-time homebuyers, the program now includes a $6,500 credit for existing homeowners who buy a new home after living in their residence for at least five years.

The November 30, 2009 deadline has also been extended and both groups now have until April 30, 2010 to sign a purchase agreement and until June 30, 2010 to close.

According to the National Association of Realtors, about 1.8 million first-time homebuyers will have qualified for the credit by the end of November.  Of that number, they estimate that at least 350,000 of them would not have purchased their homes without the credit.

The expansion of this credit also allows for more generous income limits.  Phase out begins for individuals with annual incomes above $125,000 and for joint filers with incomes above $225,000.  That’s up from $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for joint filers.

Two other points are addressed in the Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009 – unemploment benefits are extended by another 14-20 weeks and all money-losing companies can now use current losses to offset taxable profits in the previous five years (giving them refunds of taxes paid in those years).

For full details on this legislation and for access to the applicable IRS forms, click onto www.irs.gov.

If you are one of the people who unnecessarily took MRDs all year, you’ll be happy to note that on September 24th, the IRS issued Notice 2009-82 which gives you a second chance to keep the money in your account.  The normal ban on rolling over MRDs is being temporarily lifted and you now have the option to roll the money back into the IRA or defined contribution plan by November 30th for mandatory payments taken before October 1st.  If you took an MRD after September 30th, the deadline for putting the money back into your plan is 60 days after the distribution was made.

Some IRA owners are bound to be disappointed with part of Notice 2009-82.  The IRS did not change the part of the tax code which mandates a one-rollover-per-year rule for IRAs.  If you are an IRA owner who took your MRD in one lump sum - no problem.  You can roll the entire amount back into your plan.  Unfortunately, if you’re an IRA owner who took monthly MRDs, you are limited to rolling back only one of the withdrawals.

If your MRD was not taken from an IRA, but from some other defined contribution plan like a 401(k), this one-rollover-per-year does not apply to you.  Even if you took monthly distributions, you can still roll the entire amount back into your plan.

IRS Notice 2009-82 provides an excellent opportunity to extend your income tax deferral from your retirement account.  Just don’t miss the deadline - November 30th for payments taken before October 1st and 60 days after the distribution for payments made after September 30th.

For a complete look at Notice 2009-82, click on www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-09-82.pdf.

Qualifying taxpayers who buy a home by November 30th can get up to $8,000, or $4,000 if married filing separately.  Even better news — this credit does not have to be repaid as long as the home remains the main residence for 36 months after the purchase date.

Taxpayers can claim 10 percent of the purchase price up to $8,000, but the credit amount starts to phase out for taxpayers whose modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is more than $75,000 ($150,000 filing jointly).  If you do qualify for this tax credit, think about how you want to use it.  You can use it towards a nice tax refund - or - use the benefit of the tax credit to make a Roth IRA conversion if eligible.

Technically, you don’t have to actually be a first-time homebuyer to qualify for this credit.  If you did not own any other main home during the three-year period ending on the date of purchase, you will be considered a first-time homebuyer.

One side note for those who purchased homes between April 8, 2008 and December 31, 2008 - you do not qualify for this tax credit, but you may qualify for a different tax credit which amounts to 10 percent of the purchase price up to $7,500 ($3,750 for married individuals filing separately).  The big difference is that this tax credit must be repaid in 15 equal installments over 15 years beginning with the 2010 tax year.

With the success of the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit program - over 1.4 million homebuyers have used this credit so far - there is talk of extending the November 30th deadline.  However, Congress has yet to make a decision on an extension.  In the meantime, good luck house hunting!  If you would like more details on this tax credit and to see if you qualify, visit www.irs.gov.

To keep it simple, let’s say, for example, that you converted $100,000 from your traditional IRA in June of 2008.  It’s quite possible that with the steep decline in the market over the past year that your Roth IRA is now valued at $50,000.  Since you had to pay taxes on your Roth IRA conversion up front (or the taxes are due by October 15th), you are probably not a happy camper right now.

The good news is that you can do something about it.  By recharacterizing, you can reverse the conversion and turn your Roth IRA back into a traditional IRA.  It’s as though the conversion never happened.  True, the value of your IRA is still only $50,000, but that’s where it would have been anyway with the market collapse and at least you can recover the taxes that you paid to make the conversion.

The recharacterization can be accomplished by filing the appropriate paperwork with the IRA custodian.  Then, file an amended tax return using form 1040-X to obtain a refund of the overpaid taxes.  If you haven’t yet filed your taxes, there is no need to file an amended return — simply file your return by the October 15th deadline.

One more point to consider - after the recharacterization, you could then do another Roth IRA conversion of the reduced amount.  This strategy leaves you with a Roth IRA of the same value before the recharacterization, but with far less taxes due to the IRS.

As you might expect, there are waiting rules for these “reconversions”.  You must wait until the calendar year after the original conversion or 30 days after the original conversion - whichever is longer - to make a conversion with the same money.  However, if you made only a partial conversion, the waiting rule does not apply.

Throughout 2009, our office has been proactive in advising our clients about recharacterizations and reconversions.  We strongly advise that if you made a Roth IRA conversion in 2008 and haven’t yet spoken with your financial or tax professional, do so immediately.  Remember, the deadline for recharacterizing 2008 Roth IRA conversions is just weeks away.  After October 15th, it will be too late. If you have the 2nd edition of Retire Secure!,  turn to page 135 for a further look at recharacterizations.   You can also call our office toll-free at 1-800-387-1129.

The trip to D.C. was taken with members of the Committee for the Fiduciary Standard - a group that was formed to draw the public’s attention to the movement to create a unified fiduciary standard.  Fiduciaries are people who manage money on behalf of others and stand in a special relationship of trust and legal and ethical responsibility - including CPAs, CFPs, stock brokers and insurance brokers.

Currently, some fiduciaries are held to a fiduciary standard while others are held to a suitability standard.  It is the goal of the Committee for the Fiduciary Standard that the fiduciary standard apply to all fiduciaries and that disclosures become crystal clear.  (For more on this effort, visit fi360’s website at www.fi360.com).

During the second half of the show, Blaine took a close look at some of the recent financial scams and scandals (including the Bernie Madoff scandal) and what the average investor should be doing to avoid becoming a victim of such a scandal.

Blaine’s advice was excellent and taking a minute to review his suggestions could save you financial heartbreak in the future.  For starters, Blaine recommends that investors rely on RFPs (requests for proposals) instead of third party testimonials.  Do a background check - read the fine print in disclosures.

Don’t work with people who don’t have time to answer your questions or tell you that you don’t really need to know.  This is one of the ways that Bernie Madoff was able to avoid detection for so long.

Make sure that your advisor uses a system of checks and balances.  For instance, Bernie wore four hats - broker, advisor, manager and custodian.  Included in this system of checks and balances is making sure that your advisor does not take custody of your assets directly.

Do your homework - look for 3rd party verification - audited financials, GIPS certified performance standards, CEFEX.

Finally, keep in mind the old adage - if something seems to good to be true, it probably is.

If you missed the show with Blaine Aikin and you’d like to hear either the entire show or portions of the show - check back to this website soon.  Audio will be posted by next week (the week of September 21st).

To show the wealth-building potential of a Roth IRA conversion, Jim gives an example involving two 65-year old fathers.  They are both in the 28% tax bracket and both have IRAs valued at $100,000.  To simplify the example, both dads also have $28,000 in a taxable account.

The first dad decides to make a Roth IRA conversion and pays $28,000 in taxes up front.  The second dad decides to stick to his traditional IRA and will pay taxes upon withdrawal.  In Jim’s example, both dads live another 20 years and leave their IRAs to their children.

Thirty years after their parents die, the Roth IRA child has $1.8 million in future dollars.  The traditional IRA child only has $980,000.  Why the big difference?  For starters, the Roth parent never had to take required minimum distributions and the entire amount was able to grow tax-free for all of those years.  The traditional dad had to take an RMD starting at age 70 1/2 resulting in the parent and child paying taxes on the RMD every year.

This analysis really becomes powerful when you realize that a tax-law change starting on January 1, 2010 will make all taxpayers eligible for a Roth IRA conversion, regardless of income.  Considering that many wealthy taxpayers will be able to convert much more than the $100,000 in the example, the potential benefits of a Roth IRA conversion could be even more dramatic.

In the same Kiplinger’s article, Jim also stresses the importance of the beneficiary designation of your IRA.  If you hope to have your heirs stretch this tax-free shalter for their lifetimes, it’s important to get the wording correct.  Non-spouse heirs cannot roll an inherited IRA into their own Roth IRA.  Instead, they must set up an inherited IRA and the name of the deceased must remain on the account.  Jim advises using language along the order of “inherited IRA of Joe Sr. for the benefit of Joe Jr.”.  The money must then be transferred directly into the new IRA.

Remember - we are less than four months away from the big tax-law change.  Make sure that you’re up-to-speed on the benefits of Roth IRAs and Roth IRA conversions.  For a more detailed comparison between traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs, we offer another of Jim’s articles on this website.  Go to the homepage, click on articles and then click on Roth: Four Little Letters Lead to Long-term Financial Security.

As always, our excellent professional staff is available to help you with a complete Roth IRA analysis.  Get more details by calling our office at 800-387-1129.

Continuing the upturn, the market also had a great July. The S&P 500 reached its low on March 9, 2009 closing at 676.53.  On August 3, 2009, it closed at 1002.63.  This is a return of 48.2% off the March 9th bottom.  The second quarter performance of the S&P 500 - an increase of 15.9% for the quarter - was its best quarterly performance in over 10 years.

Even though the market is still well off the highs that we experienced in 2008, the latest market news is certainly promising.  Many of our clients continue to ask what’s going to happen to the market in the next 3 to 6 months or even in the next year.  The truth is - we don’t know.  Nobody knows.

However, it is interesting to take a look at historical trends.  From 1926 (before the depression) to the second quarter of 2009, the S&P 500 Index has generated an average annual return of 9.6% (compared to government bonds which have averaged 5.5%).  Let’s say that you invested $1 in 1926.  If you had invested in government bonds, you would have roughly $100 today.  If you had invested in the S&P 500 Index, you would have roughly $2,000 today.

Of course, individual circumstances play a critical role in determining what asset allocation is appropriate for you.  At Lange Financial Group we continue to be believers in well diversified portfolios with some representation in most asset categories.

If you’d like to take a look at a more detailed analysis of the latest market figures as well as other economic indicators including international markets, emerging markets, interest rate changes and unemployment figures - it’s all available in the latest edition of The Lange Report.  For a copy, please contact the office at 1-800-387-1129 or sign up for our e-mails on the home page of this website.

We’ve also discovered that many listeners enjoy listening to the shows again once they’ve been posted here at www.retiresecure.com.  Thanks to the listeners who made the suggestion that we offer shorter audio clips in addition to our full-length shows.

Since we also thought that was a great idea, we’ve created a new page featuring clips from every show.  The link is posted on the left-hand side of the homepage — click on Audio: Key Advice From The Lange Money Hour.

To make this feature even more user friendly, we provide a description of the topic and the date of the show.  Now you can get quick advice from Ed Slott, Bob Keebler, Natalie Choate and all of our other guests, just by clicking on the appropriate link.

All of our favorite topics are covered including Roth IRAs and Roth IRA conversions, safe withdrawal rates, the use of insurance in estate planning, tax-loss harvesting and the best estate plan for most traditional families — Lange’s Cascading Beneficiary Plan.

Please use and enjoy these clips at your leisure and keep the ideas coming!

A couple of her strategies are particularly timely given the economy and the time of the year.  For instance, many parents and grandparents are busy doing back-to-school shopping right now and we all know that shopping with tweens and teens can get ugly.  Neale offered a practical solution to avoid arguments and overspending.  For kids age eleven and up, Neale suggests giving them a budget and letting them make their own decisions.  You can set up a bank account or give them pre-paid debit cards, but in the end, putting them in control of their finances forces them to make budgetary choices.

The recession has also forced a lot of adult children to fly back to the nest and Neale recommends hammering out the details of the arrangement before they move back in.  How long do you expect them to stay?  What financial obligations do you want them to take care of?  Having these discussions in advance avoids problems later.  Neale even suggests taking the extra step of drawing up a lease with all of the terms defined.

In addition to setting up a trust, one of Jim Lange’s chief concerns when it comes to minors is the naming of a guardian.  Neale agreed that naming a guardian for your children is absolutely critical and she also recommends sharing the details of the arrangement with your children.

Notice, though, that the key element in all of these situations is communication — full disclosure of the family’s finances.  The problem for many families is that money is a taboo topic.  If this is the case in your family, one of Neale’s books might help.

Her #1 New York Times best-seller, Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees: A Parent’s Guide to Raising Financially Responsible Children is an excellent choice for adults and Ultimate Kids Money Book is perfect for elementary school age children.  Both are available on Neale’s website www.childrensfinancialnetwork.com.