Estate Planning Questions

What is a probate? How does it affect my family or me if my parents' assets were going through probate? Do I or my parents need a trust? What type of trust(s) do I need? What's a revocable and irrevocable trust? Do I only need a will? Should I have my trust own some of my assets and not others? Does a successor ownership make more sense? Should I name my trust as the primary beneficiary or contingent beneficiary? What is a Trustee? A Guardian? An Executor? Power of Attorney? Healthcare Agents? Will I owe estate tax when I die? How about my parents? If so how will that be paid and when and who will pay for it? What happens to my special needs child? Do I need a special trust for that? I'm not a U.S citizen, does it make a difference when it comes to estate planning and estate tax? What if I don't want to give one of my kids anything? What are JWROS, CPWROS, TOD, JTIC, CP, JTIE, JTOD, etc and their effects on my beneficiaries? Who will make medical decisions for me when I cannot? What's Advance Care Directive? Why do I need to have a copy with me and why do I need to have quick access to it?

Real Estate and Financing Questions

Should I purchase a home or rent? What are the benefits of owning vs. renting? Or vice versa? Should I buy a home in a great school district or rent? What are the costs or opportunity costs of these decisions? How does my mortgage interest help reduce my income tax? Am I putting too much down on the house? Or not enough? Should I get a 30 year fixed loan or 5/1 ARM? What's FHA? Should I refinance my house? With money out? Are loan interest rates going to rise or decrease? Should I pay more towards to my principal or use the money to invest? How much tax am I really deducting? Should I purchase the rental property or invest it in the stock market? What is my rental property's rate of return per year? Is my rental property a good investment after all? Do I have too much invested in real estate or not enough? Are there other alternative real estate investments? How do I participate in commercial real estate without a huge investment requirement? What is Real Estate Investment Trust? 

Tax Planning Questions

Am I employed or self-employed? Should I file single or join tax returns? Does it make sense to form a corporation? If so what type of corporation should I form? Should I itemize my deductions? What are the new Medicare SurTax rules? Do I have to pay for this new tax? If so how do I manage it so I don't have to pay it? What's short term and long term capital gain tax? Which one am I paying? Why is my long term capital gain tax is over 20% where my friends are only paying 15%? How do I lower my long term capital gain tax? How is my social security and healthcare tax calculated? I'm a W2 person, how do I reduce my tax liabilities other than my mortgage interests and 401k contributions? Are there investments that can help me reduce my tax liabilities? I'm self-employed with a few employees, are there ways I can put much more money away other than having a SEP IRA, Simple IRA or 401k plan? How do I lower my tax bracket? Will tax eventually go up or down? What's the difference between long-term capital gain tax vs short-term capital gain tax? How do I go from STC to LTC and save on taxes? How will my charitable donations benefit me and others? Am I violating the gift tax rule? Do I need to pay tax when I'm dead? How do I manage that so my heirs will get the maximum assets I pass on to them?