In a previous post, I discussed the importance of talking about your own estate plan – specifically the proposed guardians of your minor children – with those closest to you.  While I recommend having that discussion long before you need it, there many other family / estate type matters that ultimately require some “talking.”  Admittedly, discussions of this nature can be tough to initiate at any age, but one variation – the discussion children need to have with aging parents – can be particularly difficult.

I don’t know about you, but my parents are still my parents.  Yes, I have my own children and yes, responsibility to carve the obligatory holiday beast has fallen on my shoulders, but I still afford a great deal of deference to my parents’ opinions.  After all, doesn’t father know best?  Whether or not our parents know best our parents are human and no one lives forever.  We, as adult children, need information from our parents to assist them as they get older.  To that end, here are a couple items for your consideration.

Start the discussion early.  Although there are many times it easier to ask forgiveness than permission (for example, sliding out of the house for a quick 18 holes last weekend – sorry honey) waiting to talk to your parents about their financial plan for their golden years until they have to move in with you because they are broke may not be the best option.  Trying to start an open dialogue with your parents – even if they aren’t ready to discuss it – can get them thinking about their own plan for the future.  Be warned, this may not be easy conversation to start, and I can almost guarantee your parents will recall with vivid detail your weekly phone calls from college “asking for money.”  You need to make sure they know you are neither trying to steal their money for yourself, nor take it away from them “for their own good.”

Talk about personal matters.  By personal matters I mean ask them where and how they want to live.  Do they want to move to the Sunbelt?  Do they expect you to care for them when they can not care for themselves?  Do they want to live near family, church, or senior amenities?  You need to understand these types of things as your parents get older.  Many of us will have the loving responsibility of aiding our parents in their golden years and knowing what they want for their own lives can be a blessing for everyone.

Don’t forget to think about their health care.  As I write this article, the health-care debate is raging.  Until a decision is made, however, everyone needs to plan on spending a portion of their nest egg on health care as they age.  Again, what financial steps have your parents taken to cover health care for the long haul?  Are they planning to rely on savings?  Are lottery tickets a serious part of their plan?  Can they qualify for or afford long-term care insurance?  Will they qualify for government benefits?  Health care for seniors is and should be a serious concern.  Obviously, your parents’ health will play a major role in both their financial future and associated quality of life.  It is important for you to talk about it before it is too late.

Remember, your parents’ answers are neither right nor wrong.  I am simply suggesting that you try to open an honest and caring dialogue between yourself and other family members to help plan for your parents as they age.  Discussing and understanding these types of issues as family and bringing in qualified professionals to help your parents with Wills, Powers of Attorney, taxes, geriatric care issues, and the like can only make your parents golden years better for everyone involved.

Ok, let’s be frank.  Unless you have lost someone really close to you, I’m guessing most of you actively avoid thinking about your inevitable demise.  I know for a long time I assumed I was invincible.  Of course, getting married, having kids, finding those first gray hairs, and waking up with an unexplained sore back made me consider an unpleasant truth: I may not live forever.  In fact, statistics show that roughly 97% of all people (with a 3% margin of error) will die at some point in their life time.

Once you acknowledge that you may need to plan for the inevitable (in other words, prepare an estate plan), you need to talk about the specifics.  This talk needs to go way beyond speaking with non-judgmental and impartial professionals (your attorney, financial planner, CPA, and insurance agent): you have to talk to people you know personally.  These people need to know how you want them to handle your affairs in the event you can not.

One of the most important decisions you can discuss deals with guardians for your minor children.  You need to figure out who will care for your children in the event you can not.  Parents all have different opinions about who and what will be best for the kids, but for the sake of your children, you need to think seriously about this issue.  While I’m sure your spouse’s family truly is insane, that does not necessarily mean the children will suffer irreparable harm if you name one of your spouse’s relatives as guardian.  Reaching a decision you can live with – even if it is not your first choice – can save time, money, and heartache down the road.  If parents can’t agree on what is best for their children, they could be setting up the probate court equivalent of a custody battle.

Once you narrow your guardian choices, make sure to discuss your decision with the prospective guardian.  While most people will be more than willing to help (even your crazy in-laws), getting a less-than-enthusiastic response is not a bad thing.  Knowing your prospective guardian is ready, willing, and able to care for your children should be far more comforting than a tepid “I guess so,” response.  Being confident your guardian will warmly welcome your children into their home in the event of a tragedy should give you the peace of mind you were seeking in preparing an estate plan.

Ultimately, you need to make the decision that is best for you and your family.  Even though most families will never need their chosen guardian’s services, it is still a major decision for everyone involved.  You need to talk about it with your spouse and prospective guardian to make sure everyone is willing to act for the benefit of your kids.

Matthew S. Lewis is an attorney at J.D. Walls & Associates, P.C., who focuses his practice on estate planning.  He can be reached at mslewis@jdwalls.com

 “According to XYZ metrics, the market has grown from $125 million in 2006 to $147 million in 2007 and $163 million in 2008.  We are conservatively projecting a 5% share of this market in two years.”

Does this shed any light on the who, how, what, why and when of landing that first sale? No. That information may have been gathered, but this macro approach doesn’t require any rigor.

A different approach makes sure you pay attention to what’s important.

 A bottom up financial forecast includes of the price,  the cost, and projected sales for each month. To price your product or service, you must know your costs and how you compare to competition. Your pricing strategy affects your marketing strategy which affects your sales strategy which leads to your sales forecast. A good business plan template takes you through the steps to validate your idea as an opportunity, and then leads you through developing the interacting marketing and sales strategies.

Great words alone can describe an awful business. Only by translating the words into numbers (the financial forecast) will you and others know whether this idea will make money.

What if the forecast says you can’t make money with this idea? Your plan and forecast will have done you a great favor: you found out the bad news on paper, not by losing a bunch of money. You can modify the business model (and reforecast) until you see results you like or give up on the idea.

If you’d like to continue this conversation, I’d love to hear from you. Contact me at cmcevoy@gowingspan.com or visit www.gowingspan.com.

Chris McEvoy is the President of Wingspan Thinking, LLC. 

Non-compete agreements have become commonplace today.  Unfortunately, the misunderstanding of them is equally common.  Employers may believe these agreements are worthless and therefore do not use them.  Others may use them, but use a form document or draft the document themselves. 

The truth is, non-compete agreements are difficult to enforce.  The courts generally do not like any restraint on trade or an individual’s ability to earn a living.  Nonetheless, a carefully drafted agreement can be a powerful tool to help employers protect their business. 

Non-compete agreements are governed by state law.  In Indiana, a valid non-compete must:

·          Be given in exchange for some benefit at the time it was signed;

·         Protect a legitimate business interest of the employer; and        

·         Must be reasonable in scope, geography and time.

The employee must receive something in exchange for their agreement.  In most cases, requiring new employees to sign the agreement as a condition of their hiring is adequate.  Also, the Indiana courts have held that keeping a current job is also adequate for enforcement.  Many states differ on this interpretation so care must be taken to understand under what jurisdictions the agreement will be used.   Due to this, many employers will give something additional to continued employment in return for the signed agreement.  The amount of this additional consideration varies depending upon the situation.

An employer’s legitimate business interests usually include items such as customer lists and confidential information.  The employer must demonstrate reasonable efforts to protect the information and that the information would give someone else an unfair advantage.

The scope, geography, and time rule is the most difficult to navigate.  The court balances the needs of the employer with the burden on the employee.  This standard will be different in each case.  If the court finds that the document was intended to restrain fair trade, they can strike down the entire document.

The result of all this is that amateur attorneys should beware!  This tool, if carefully drafted, can provide valuable protection for your business.  If drafted sloppily or incorrectly, it can also end up costing an employer dearly. 

Steve Lawson

Steve Lawson Consulting

317-708-3770

http://www.SteveLawsonConsulting.com

http://www.STARteamNetwork.com

Making Advisors More Successful

Recently, my wife and I were visiting a city in the desert located near Lake Mead – the name of the city has been withheld to protect the innocent.  I had been there before, and each time I visit I am amazed by the diversity of the human race.  I watch people from every walk of life, socio-economic class, size, shape and color.  It is amazing.  Something I noticed on this trip more than in the past, however, was the countless number of tattoos.  They were everywhere and they seemed to be on everyone.  I saw big ones, small ones, black and white and in color, I saw them on legs, arms, backs, chests, necks, and I am fairly confident that there may have been some in places not generally displayed to the masses.

Seeing them all made me wonder why so many people choose to permanently mark their bodies.  Without pretending to understand the psychology, I suspect a lot of people get tattooed as a way of leaving a permanent mark on the world.  People who see the tattoo will have a visual reminder of what the individual bearer represents.

Now, those of you who know me know that I am chronically unhip, so I was probably more shocked than I should have been.  I was just amazed by endless array of styles, colors, and depictions etched into peoples’ skin.  Don’t misunderstand me, I am not opposed to tattoos, I, by virtue of my profession, am simply a proponent of a different method for leaving your permanent mark on the world.

Taking steps to plan and protect your financial future for yourself and your loved ones is a great way to leave your mark on the world.  The positive results that come about by taking the time to sit down with an attorney to prepare your estate plan, or finding a financial planner to help manage your money, or speaking with an insurance agent about the benefits of life, health, or long term care insurance will be remembered long after the ink from a tattoo fades.  Taking these types of steps can ensure you will be remembered for who you were as a person, not for the financial mess you left your family to clean up when you passed away or became disabled.

I know: the prospect of starting to make such a plan can be frightening.  It takes time and money, and you have to open yourself up to think about possibilities you may have never even considered.  But surely steps like these are not as frightening as having someone repeatedly stab your skin with needles dipped in ink that you can’t wash away.  That seems scary.

            Matt Lewis  

           mslewis@jdwalls.com

In this situation, if the owner’s entire salary from the business is used as a basis to determine maintenance or child support, the amount of “excess” salary used in determining the value of the business has been effectively counted twice.  It has been counted once in the value of the business and once in the value or amount of maintenance or child support.  This double counting is often referred to as “double dipping” in divorce matters.

Paul N. Wonch, MBA, CPA/ABV, CVA

Mr. Wonch is the business valuation specialist at K. B. Parrish & Co. LLP, an Indianapolis, Indiana CPA firm.  He is an expert in the valuation of privately owned businesses and has testified as an expert in federal court.  Mr. Wonch has completed 100’s of valuations for a wide variety of businesses.  His business valuation experience includes valuations for estate and gift taxes, divorce, shareholder disputes, buy-sell, ESOP’s, etc.  He can be reached via email at pwonch@kbparrish.com.  For more information about K. B. Parrish & Co. LLP go to www.kbparrish.com.

Two years ago I took the plunge. I left corporate life to launch Bebe Paluzza. It was a leap of faith, and I was not going to allow myself to fail. I had a three-year-old at home with big brown eyes that stare up at me expectantly. I was his source of new food, shelter and Transformer toys. The latter being the most important, of course!

Being a parent prepares us all to be mommy-prenuers. It’s the skill of being able to juggle multiple tasks, stay organized, problem solving, and know that sleeping eight hours a night is well in the past. I knew that I would have to work hard. I knew there would be many long days. What I had to learn was that balancing work-life and my son was going to be challenge – but one think was certain, my family would always come first. There have been times when I have had a day full of meetings, multiple production deadlines, and a hoard of phone calls and emails coming in and I get the call. My son is sick and needs to be picked up from daycare. The rest of my day is spent juggling between caring for my son and rescheduling meetings. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

As a mommy-preneur, I have learned not to take anything for granted. It’s all the little things that we need to be thankful for, that continue to build on our successes. I’ve been fortunate to have many friends, family members, customers and past colleagues, refer me to potential clients. For each, I have been sure to show my gratitude through a personal phone call or email to say thank you. Those people are the building blocks of my business.

My purse has gotten a bit heavier over the past two years. The wet wipes and bandaids are now sharing space with hundreds of business cards which I hand out or leave stacks of everywhere I go. Having a son makes that easier since he tends to want to frequent places that hit my target market – Chucky Cheese, McDonalds, the playground, the restroom at the Zoo…you never know where you might catch someone’s attention!

I knew that success would not happen overnight. I’ve learned that’s true – success doesn’t happen overnight, in fact – it takes multiple overnight “catch up sessions” to be a success.  But it is those late nights that I am thankful for being busy, thankful for long days, relishing on the sound of my son’s laughter from a tickle-fest we got into earlier in the day. 

For those who are considering life as a mommy-preneur, I have this to say – it’s tough and exhausting, but it’s very rewarding! If you have a dream, don’t let it pass you by. You deserve to give yourself a chance – dream big and shoot bigger.

Welcome to the J.D. Walls & Associates, P.C. blog.  We are excited about the opportunity to use this wonderful forum and hope you will find it both interesting and useful.  Moving forward you can expect to see our legal professionals providing useful advice, updates to legal issues, as well as general  tips and reminders on important legal topics that may affect you. 

We are also excited to have many guest bloggers who have agreed to contribute content as well.  They will be providing information and using their insights on areas of their expertise and experience.  We have CPAs, consultants, insurance advisors, financial planners, real estate experts and many other entrepreneurs scheduled to contribute.  We hope you enjoy the material and if you have any questions or suggestions about future topics, please do not hesitate to contact us.    We thank you in advance for your readership!

John D. Walls

jwalls@jdwalls.com       

John D. Walls

jwalls@jdwalls.com