by Leif Jensen | Aug 24, 2016 | General |
I was reading a WSJ OpEd piece that hit home for me. Robert Wilmers of M&T Bank had the stats that I suspected but pulled them together. According to the Bureau of Labor Statics, since 2009 the pace of small business start-ups has fallen to the lowest...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 23, 2016 | General |
I have run into a number of situations where an individual should be promoting themselves, yet seem to be promoting the company wrapper they currently have about their shoulders. I know a realtor form a networking group, when I was a member of the group he...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 22, 2016 | General |
A hundred years ago, when I started this business, I met with an entrepreneur who told me in no uncertain terms to lose the Hotmail e-mail address. If I wanted to be treated as a professional I should present myself as a professional. Like I said, it was a hundred...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 17, 2016 | General |
According to Kiplinger the Republicans are starting to position themselves for the “goring of the bulls” tax plan that I was informed would occur for 2017. Kiplinger is attempting to present this as a positive, but if the details that were shared with me...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 16, 2016 | General |
According to Kiplinger the Republicans are starting to position themselves for the “goring of the bulls” tax plan that I was informed would occur for 2017. The plan that Kiplinger lays out would have C-Corporations pay tax at a flat 20% rate, down from the 35%...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 15, 2016 | General |
I was having a chat with a banker who was rolling his eyes when we were talking about some start-ups that were looking for loans and lines of credit. Now he is an aggressive banker who is always looking for new clients and enjoys assisting clients get those loans and...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 10, 2016 | General |
Typically people use a single financial advisor. For most people the use of a financial advisor is recommended, let alone multiple advisors. I also don’t mean a husband and wife team as two advisors. I mean a financial professional from whom some guidance can be...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 9, 2016 | General |
I have written about being busy versus being productive. In my mind the way to make sure that your time is productive instead of being busy is to plan. Do you plan out your year, with a budget, projection or cash flow? Do you set your goals and measurable and...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 8, 2016 | General |
I was attending a presentation by a financial advisor and the question was asked what keeps you up at night, or better yet what wakes you up in that cold sweat in the dead of night with the tightening grip of fear in your chest. Where are running short of...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 3, 2016 | General |
Is there a dumb phone revolution in the making? I have been hearing more and more about people wanting to unplug from the system and giving up the smart phones for plain generic old flip phones. With the computer revolution switch by some industries away from...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 2, 2016 | General |
I was having lunch with a client the other week and he mentioned that he wanted to buy a business within the next 5 years. I found this to be an intriguing thought because it was suggested to me by another client earlier in the year to buy a business for one of my...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 1, 2016 | General |
Death has an immediate impact in more ways than most think. I wrote that a friend and client passed away recently. Beyond the immediate impact on his family or on me personally. I think the biggest impact was on the company he worked at. He was the sole IT...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 27, 2016 | General |
As I was discussing over lunch with a financial advisor; there are times when clients have special needs or requests. Beyond the fact that all clients have their preference on how they interact with us, or the similarities of the requests. Our wealthier...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 26, 2016 | General |
In my continuing quest to learn the answer, to the question how can I further assist my clients better, I stumbled over these statistics. They seem odd to me. Seemingly 22.7% of the profits realized in the US come from the financial services industry, I am including...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 25, 2016 | General |
Surprise the IRS and the courts are sticklers on allowing business mileage write-offs. In a recent case a taxpayer used his personal auto in his business of marketing petroleum properties. For some activities, he kept a meticulous log with the exact miles...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 20, 2016 | General |
In another case an insider trader does not get a tax write-off for the forfeiture of his profits. A former executive was convicted of insider trading and sentenced to jail. He was also forced to return the stock sale gains that were derived from his crime, the...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 19, 2016 | General |
Have you ever wondered what the purpose of Qualified Plan audits? Uncle is looking for large participant loans are a key examination issue. During an audit, the IRS checks how plans handle loans, such as the time they allow for repayment and what happens upon...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 18, 2016 | General |
At this moment e-commerce sales are not now subject to sales tax collection for small out of state vendors. The basis for this is a Supreme Court decision that shields out-of-state sellers with no physical presence in the buyer’s home state from having to...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 13, 2016 | General |
How would you alter your business model if your main source of income was now illegal? You state it could never happen? Well remember prohibition? It may not be a real option that it could not happen, but are nimble enough to switch gears and stay in business?...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 12, 2016 | General |
I was introduced to a unique way looking at rationale for estate planning. The advisor quoted that there are only four reasons people typically do estate planning. Predators – sons and daughters in law, keep the cash away from them Outlive wealth – do not wish to run...
