February Update

February has started out as a very busy month. But. . .my time commitments have very little to do with doing work for which I can send an invoice. Rather. . .I (we) are busy with physical therapy, some doctor appointments and just other stuff. Every Wednesday evening Marge and I go to the Holzapfel class on "Joseph the Seer." We have tickets for two BYU basketball games this month (Colorado State on 2/11 and Utah on 2/28). I had a luncheon with 3 other lawyers at LDS Philanthrophies on 2/3 to discuss charitable stratagies for the benefit of the full-time staff (mostly lawyers) who work there. Two afternoons this month are devoted to the Normandy Village Homeowners Association Board of Trustees. The meeting is usually about 1 hour but there is preparation time. On 2/16 Marge and I will fly to Sacramento, rent a car, and drive to the Sansome farm for two nights. Then on 2/18 we will go to Eldorado Hills for a client meeting. We fly home late on 2/18. We leave for Cabo on 2/27 through 3/7. We plan to meet John and the Speck family and stay in the D-108 condo. Jason and I will go fishing on either 2/28 (Saturday) or 3/2 (Monday).

Tax time is upon us. I always dred this time of year. Thinking about income taxes is like having a "root canal" every year. Even though I always extend to October I need to know what my obligations are so I can plan. Just so you all know, I don't do our income tax returns. I have a local CPA firm take care of doing so. For clients the only tax returns I will prepare are Form 706 (Estate Tax) or Form 709 (Gift Tax). The rest is beyond me. What say you?

I am looking at a to-do list with 34 items. Most will produce no income. At my age some of items on my list relate to old-age guilt and a concern that my time to complete books and stories may be short. Don't read anything special into these comments. I am not ill. But I am 75 going on 76. Recently Marge and I had lunch with John and Gail Hallgren (John is 80 and Gail not far behind). They have aged significantly during the last year and both seem so frail. What is tells me is that health can change so quickly that I don't want alot of "unfinished business" to haunt me.

I am a presenter at a seminar to be held in Southern California on April 6, 7 & 8. It could lead to some ongoing business for Hank Whiffen and I doing "back office" work for highly productive insurance agents with weathy clients. Time will tell. If interested go to the following site. www.advpractice.com/symposium My picture as a symposium speaker is not too bad--at least it is better than my "costco" photo.

My book on "10 principles of effective wealth preservation" [The Best Ways To Dramatically Enhance Your Estate Planning] has 29 chapters. It's not finished but is now waiting for the Obama Administration to present a bill in the House to deal with estate and gift taxes. I am hopeful something with be done within the next 60 days. Otherwise the law is just too confused on the future of estate and gift taxes. Stability and finality is what I need in this part of the tax code. Is it going to happen? Is there an answer? According to one of John's referenced authors, Gertrude Stein, "There ain't no answer. There ain't going to be any answer. There never has been an answer. That's the answer."

No photos on this post.

Su Padre