Category Archives: Business Reports

By Rob Snell

One of the rewards for working over several decades is the ability to contribute to tax-advantaged retirement accounts, which can help provide needed income for you when you do retire. 

As the years went by, you may well have accumulated several retirement accounts, such as IRAs and 401(k)s or similar employer-sponsored plans. But you might find it advantageous to consolidate these accounts with a single provider.

Consolidating them can provide you with several potential benefits, including these:

• Less confusion and clutter. If you have multiple accounts in different locations, it may be difficult to keep track of tax documents, statements, fees, disclosures and other important information. Consolidating accounts could help provide clear, simplified account maintenance.

• Less likelihood of “lost accounts.” It may be hard to believe, but many people abandon their retirement accounts, leaving thousands of dollars behind and unclaimed. In fact, at the end of 2021, there were nearly 25 million forgotten 401(k) accounts, worth about 20 percent of all 401(k) assets, according to an estimate by Capitalize, a financial services company that helps individuals roll over retirement plan assets into new accounts. 

By Rose Miller

There is a term floating around the TikTok work circles. I like to follow TikTok’s workplace trends discussions because I get to hear what employees are talking about. Similar to the way restaurateurs follow Yelp, some employers follow social media such as TikTok, Reddit, and Twitter to hear what the work force is saying about their employers and their work environments. 

There is a phrase called “quietly quitting” and it is catching on quickly. 

What I found as a surprising discovery was that the term doesn’t mean they are actually leaving their jobs. Instead, they have decided not to take their jobs too seriously. Young professionals are stating they reject the idea of going above and beyond in their careers. The idea is to stay at the company but focus time on things they do outside of work. They have decided to pass on promotions, pay and titles.

They are setting some firm boundaries like refusing to work overtime. They insist on leaving right at five. Others advertise the fact that they will only do enough to get by. Unlike their senior managers, they don’t want their careers to be confused with personal identifies. 

Remember these are young professionals and it’s not uncommon for younger employees to, at first, refuse to climb the corporate ladder, only to end up changing their minds later. Gaining a mortgage, spouse and children can change perspectives and priorities in a drastic way. 

By Sabastian Piedmont, Esq.

New legislation in the form of an amendment to the New York Civil Rights Law became effective on May 7, requiring private employers to inform current and newly hired employees that the employer electronically monitors their work telephone, email, and internet access and usage. 

With the increased reliance on technology in the workplace—and for that matter, the increased amount of remote work being done throughout New York state—many employees and employers are curious as to how this will impact their normal operating procedures, if at all. 

While the law does not radically modify the terms of an employee’s use of technology in the workplace (and remotely), there are several changes that both employees and employers should be aware of with regard to the consent/notice given of this surveillance, as well as how it will impact those currently employed versus those who will be newly hired.

Now that the amendment is in effect, all private employers of all sizes must disclose that they are electronically monitoring employee internet usage, emails, and/or telephone communication in the form of:

by Rose Miller

In my roles as an HR professional, a critical requirement is to keep up with the ever-changing landscape of employment laws, HR best practices and workforce stressors. 

It’s a lot. But us HR folks are a resilient bunch. The successful ones are always ready for change. Reinvention should be embraced to prepare for change.

I was speaking with a peer group of women leaders the other day. I love this group of “power-women”, who come from all walks of life and various careers. They are smart, fun, and empowered. We support each other in many ways, both personally and professionally. We understand how these things are deeply tied together.

The group’s facilitator often presents topics that are thought provoking and it challenges us learn about ourselves so we can lead with more self-awareness. If you have ever worked with someone who was not at all self-aware, you would fully understand the importance of this exercise.

This month, we were asked the question, “if you could reinvent yourself or change something at this point, how or what would it be?”

By Steven Luttman

Few things warm my heart more than a trip to the Lake George outlets. 

Some might say cheap, others prefer “financially thoughtful,” but no matter what you call it I like finding a good deal. No doubt many of you feel the same way. Think for a moment about a purchase you’ve been considering recently. 

If this item were to become available for 79 percent less than its historical price how excited would that make you? That’s an amazing value. People line up hours in advance for Black Friday deals less great than this. But before you take out your wallet, what if at this exact same time last month the item could be had for 85 percent off. Given that the discount has shrunk, is it still attractive today? Of course, it’s a no brainer.   

Freddie Mac’s weekly lender survey found the average 30 year fixed rate mortgage  closed out the month of March at 4.67 percent, a sizable jump from the sub 3 percent we were seeing as recently as November. 

For anyone that’s been eyeing a home purchase or refinance it’s easy to think “I’ve dropped the ball here, rates are just way too high now”. With a short term perspective you wouldn’t be wrong. However if you were to line up the average rate for every single week over the past 50 years, rates are lower today than they’ve been for almost 80 percent of those data points since 1971. 

The rise in borrowing costs we’ve seen in 2022 can be attributed primarily to the Federal Reserve, who in an effort to combat inflation recently announced their first increase to the target Fed Funds rate since 2018. While Chairman Powell can influence short term yields via monetary policy, longer dated maturities are dictated more so by the buying and selling of Treasuries done by investors. It’s the latter that drives mortgage rates. 

By Brian M. Johnson, MBA, CLTC

Many clients have qualified assets they intend to use for retirement income. However, there is one risk that could potentially jeopardize even the most well thought out plan—the need for long-term care or extended healthcare. 

Long-term care is defined as needing assistance or supervision with everyday activities of daily living or ADL’s. A long-term care event is generally not cure oriented and the need for services, whether in home or a facility, is expected to last longer than 100 days. This type of care of referred to as custodial care, and a reason why traditional health insurance, Medicare and/or Medicare Advantage plans don’t cover it. Our default plan includes trying to qualify for Medicaid, which is a financially means tested program, which typically covers a nursing home, zero assisted living and limited home care or to use our own assets and income. 

A hybrid long-term care policy is another popular way to address the risk. It’s a type of permanent life insurance policy which offers three core benefits: An income tax-free life insurance death benefit long-term care services aren’t needed, cash indemnity benefits to pay for home care, assisted living and/or skilled nursing and a return of premium rider, which allows the insured to surrender the policy and receive either all or a portion of their premiums back with no penalty or charges.

Unlike a traditional long-term care policy, policy premiums are guaranteed and can never increase and benefits for are paid in cash to the insured, meaning the insured can use the funds however he/she sees fit, whether it’s to offset other bills, pay a family member or licensed providers. It’s an asset allocation approach to financing long-term care needs. 

By Ryan McCall, esQ.

Cryptocurrency has become one of the newest and most prevalent investments of the last two years. As a result, the courts are now faced with the prospect of having to evaluate and distribute cryptocurrency as a marital asset during a divorce proceeding.  

What makes this new and innovative technology so complex is figuring out how much each cryptocurrency is worth.

Assuming a spouse is using a U.S.-based exchange, determining the value of an individual cryptocurrency is relatively simple. All that is needed is a subpoena duces tecum to that institution to obtain the necessary documents. Under these pretenses, the subpoenaing attorney would receive statements detailing how many funds were listed with that exchange and the assets could be easily valued as of any given date just as if dealing with stocks and investment assets.

However, what has become increasingly difficult is the rise of popular international cryptocurrency exchanges. Many of these exchanges are unregulated and will not comply with United States federal regulations. Courts should not be deterred by this in establishing a value for cryptocurrency as a marital asset.

In theory, certain cryptocurrencies—with the most popular one being Bitcoin—utilize blockchain technology, with each individual Bitcoin having a different identification number than the next. Blockchain technology has a continuous ledger of ongoing transactions that are performed and tracked. 

With that being said, there are numerous ways savvy investors can attempt to hide their funds. The most popular way for someone to do this is through a “tumbler” which can issue a separate Bitcoin or fraction of a Bitcoin from the one currently in your possession. This creates a very difficult scenario for lawyers who would be faced with the task of attempting to track down these funds.

By David A. Kubikian, Esq.

The word “succession” has become a larger part of our lexicon because HBO a few years back created an immensely watchable show about the cut-throat world of a family owned media company where hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake depending on who gets to take over when Dad leaves (or dies).  

Entertaining? Yes.  Realistic?  Maybe.  A learning moment?  Definitely.  

Succession is defined as being “the action or process of inheriting a title, position, property, etc.”  Every business, regardless of size, will deal with a succession event if it is in business long enough.  While family in-fighting on private jets may be reserved for the Roy family on TV Sunday evenings, the planning as to the who, when, and how your business transitions from one generation to the next (or not at all) is something that should take shape long before an actual transition happens.   

To illustrate this point, consider a few common issues that come up:

1. The Estate Planning Angle. An all too typical scenario, the business, started by one generation has a younger generation heavily involved.  One child seems to have the chops to continue to run the business once “Dad” hands over the reins (that is IF he ever hands over the reins).  Another child is involved but not as much.  

A third child has no interest in the business and in fact lives out of town. Dad’s estate plan is to treat all of his kids the same. That is, his Last will and testament or his living trust state that all assets held by the trust or governed by the will pass evenly to his “issue”.  

Does this include the business?  The technical answer is that it depends on how the business is structured and how it is owned. Whether the business has operating documents concerning the transfers of shares at death or whether there is a buy-sell agreement in place.  In the event that the organizational documents reflect a certain chain of ownership, what impact does that have on the distribution of non-business assets via Will/Trust?  

By Michael cruz

We’re all aware of the current labor shortage. It makes it hard to fill your backlog or get your work done in a timely basis. It might make you feel justified in taking risks on marginal candidates for your jobs.

Don’t. Quick hires are all too often bad hires. And bad hires cost you lots of money both in hard dollars and your reputation. There is the cost of advertising and recruiter fees. These are direct hiring costs. When you must replace someone, you need to do this all over again, and the original costs are never recovered. 

Then there is the issue of what you paid that person while they were in your employ. The actual salary or hourly rate, plus the 20-30 percent benefit load, plus any expenses they incurred that were reimbursed. Add in what you paid to have their computer and cell phone set up, and costs for other tools. 

Add in what you spent for outside training courses. Add in any severance expenses. Severance can be minimal if they were not there long. However, when you linger in your decision, you are “running up the meter.”

Indirect costs are harder to quantify. Yet, they are far greater. You will need to take time to coach these people. And to listen to complaints about them. That negative energy drags us all down. Not only is the actual time spent wasted, but it also makes us less productive at the work we like to do.

It affects not just managers, but other employees as well. They will spend time complaining about your mis-hire. Often, they will have figured it out before you finally admit it to yourself. If they are in a customer facing position, they may have made life worse for a customer or client. You need to spend time repairing that damage. Lastly, they probably missed signals and lost some opportunities to pursue better initiatives that a productive hire would have seen.