Community Magazine October 2009

The Ideal Time forWealth Transfers Individuals interested in minimizing gift, estate and generation skipping taxes should take advantage of the current economic conditions and tax laws by making transfers now! Low asset values and interest rates due to a sluggish economy make this an ideal time to transfer wealth to children and grandchildren at reduced costs. For larger transfers, which exceed the $1 million lifetime gift tax exclusion, children and grandchildren can purchase assets from parents and grandparents, paying the purchase price over time. Each month the federal government sets the minimum interest rates that must be charged on such loans. In September, 2009, the minimum rate for a loan of up to 9 years is only 2.87% (consult with your rabbi about how the laws of ribbit (interest) may apply to such loans). Interest rates as low as these may not be seen again for a long time. The need to plan now is even more pressing due to current government proposals aimed at eliminating techniques that estate planners use to obtain substantial discounts for transfers of interests in closely-held businesses and family limited partnerships. If some government officials get their way, these minority interest and marketability discounts of 30% to 60% may be eliminated. Morris Sabbagh, Esq., Vishnick McGovern Milizio LLP Mortgage Like the Old Days New bank restrictions don’t have to keep you from getting a mortgage. Through Federal Housing Authority (FHA) programs qualified borrowers can still get historically low mortgage or refinance rates. Here is some of the inside information about FHA programs: Some FHA programs allow for less then 4 percent down • payment – even with low credit scores. FHA programs can provide cash-out refinancing for things • such as education or major home improvements. An FHA cash-out refinancing mortgage may offer lower • interest rates than traditional home equity financing loans. FHA offers two mortgage plans with loans as high as 85-95 • percent of the appraised value of the home. FHA mortgage loan payments should • account for no more than 29 percent of a borrower’s monthly income. Joey Sasson, email@joeysasson.com Conference and Share Information Online for Free Once reserved for big companies with big IT budgets, online collaboration is now accessible to just about anyone with a broadband connection. Whether it’s video or telephone conferencing with overseas employees and vendors or sharing public documents that can be accessed via a web link, these functions can be accessed for free and require no special software installation. Conferencing systems are an impactful way to share important information with lots of people in different locations at one time. They are also useful for joint job training, brainstorming and virtual meetings. Publishing documents with web link access enables specified users to view the same updated version of a document. This feature can prove very useful for company calendars, factory shipping policies, human resource documents and company policies. All this is now available online and free of charge, courtesy of Adobe software at acrobat.com. Microsoft also offers a powerful document collaboration system at office. workspace.com . Sign up for a free account at either or both these sites to access these great online collaboration tools. Hal Husney, Superior Development Center Tap Into Your Social Networking Potential The hottest web marketing strategies today involve the use of social networking sites, like MySpace.com, Facebook.com and LinkedIn. com as well as technologies like Twitter, Digg, Delicious (formerly del.icio.us ) and others. While most organizations have employees who are active in these social networking spheres in their personal lives, few companies have a coherent strategy to capitalize on this huge potential. Some companies are hiring staff specifically for social media and others are outsourcing to independent social media gurus, but most find that they don’t have the budget for more online marketing. One idea is to appoint a social media maven from within the organization. Let’s face it, any employee who works on a computer that is connected to the web is probably already spending your company’s time on these social media sites. Instead of fruitlessly trying to stem this activity, encourage it with the condition that they establish your company’s social network presence. Jacob Cayre, Enterprise Dynamix It’s Your Busine $$ Do you have a killer business or personal finance tip? Send your contributions to business@communitym.com 68 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE