By Vincent Gallo

Planned gifts that allow the donor to retain an income stream for life or a term of years include charitable remainder trusts, charitable gift annuities, and pooled income funds (collectively, charitable life income plans). A related technique is the gift of a remainder interest in a house or farm, which allows the donor to retain the use of the house or farm for life or a term of years.

By Brent King

A few recent examples of acronyms come to mind. Let's start with the relatively new federal agency, Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE). Briefly, this is the agency that inspects and audits employee files and Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. Now, improper completion of I-9's carries a monetary penalty. There are about forty different opportunities to create a mistake on each I-9 - with each mistake carrying a specific monetary penalty.

By Carole C. Foos, CPA, David B. Mandell, JD, MBA

The recent Medicare cuts in reimbursements for most physicians go from frustrating to downright scary. Layer on top of this any proposed healthcare overhaul (which may now be difficult to pass), and it starts to feel like the federal government is determined to make it difficult for physicians to prosper.

By Jeff Moffatt, CPA, CVA

Some tips for reviewing your billing and coding practices.

By Elizabeth Wertz Evans

Patient harm is usually caused by the failure of practice systems rather than negligence. Physicians and administrators are key players when it comes to creating and implementing patient safety procedures that minimize medical errors and unwanted outcomes. Discover tools and examples you can use to improve overall patient safety in the three important areas of: working as a patient safety team, assessing current patient safety procedures, and creating medication safety.

By Christopher R. Jarvis, MBA, Jason O'Dell, Kimberly Renners, MBA

The volatility of the stock market, dropping interest rates, and weakening of the dollar impact your investment returns. The purpose of this article is to describe the factors that are impacting the economy and investment landscape and then share an investment strategy that has a history of higher returns and lower risk than the S&P 500 Index (which most advisors compare themselves to).

By Christopher R. Jarvis, MBA, David B. Mandell, JD, MBA

As frequent speakers to physicians on asset protection and advanced planning, we are often asked about captive insurance companies (CICs). Certainly, CICs can be ideal tools if they are created for the right type of practice and are established and maintained properly. In this article, we will examine the benefits and costs of CICs and then demonstrate a case study of two doctors who use CICs to significantly enhance many areas of his comprehensive financial planning.

By Claudio De Vellis, Christopher R. Jarvis, MBA, David B. Mandell, JD, MBA

How many new lawsuits do you think are filed in the United States each year? 2,000? 20,000? 2,000,000? Would you be surprised to hear that all of these choices are wrong? Nearly 20 million new civil lawsuits will be filed this year in the state and federal court systems. That equates to about one every 14 seconds.

This means that the odds of an adult American being sued in any one year are close to 1 in 8. This means the average 40 year old American can expect to be named in at least 4 lawsuits over the remainder of his lifetime. If you consider that physicians face much more litigation risk than the average American because of malpractice risk, you can see why litigation is such a serious threat to every doctor's financial security.

By Christopher R. Jarvis, MBA, David B. Mandell, JD, MBA, Joseph J. Strazzeri, Danny Wexler

As attorneys and financial planner specializing in working with business owners and professionals in the area of Wealth Protection, we are often asked which "one tool" is the
most important for any overall asset protection plan. While the answer to such a question inevitably depends on the client's goals, in our practices, the one tool which we most often employ for our clients is the family limited liability company (FLLC).

By Carole C. Foos, CPA, Christopher R. Jarvis, MBA, David B. Mandell, JD, MBA

We discuss the uses of Captive Insurance Companies, the steps required to implement them, and for which individuals they are most appropriate.