As we approach the 4th quarter of the year, most of our clients now have a fairly good idea on what their taxable income will be for 2011. If you are like these clients, you may be wondering "Is there anything I can do NOW to save taxes on April 15th"? The answer is very likely "yes." This short article will lay out a few ideas - each of them could save you tens of thousands of dollars on your 2011 income tax bill, depending on your facts and circumstances.

If you are like most Americans, you feel less secure about the U.S. economy. Certainly, this is justified. While we may be technically out of the recession, our dependence on foreign oil, behemoth deficits, and the weak dollar are all fundamental threats to our national fiscal health and our investment marketplace that are not going away anytime soon. For this reason, it is crucial that savvy investors, including physicians, learn from the past two years and adjust their investment behavior accordingly. This article touches on a few thoughts in this arena.

Too many physicians over the last decade have sought cookie-cutter asset protection plans to give them some "peace of mind" that if they ever endure an outrageous malpractice case, they won't lose everything. While we admire these doctors' commitment to pro-actively managing their risk, we have to remind doctors that all "asset protection plans" are not created equal. In fact, many will not even "work" if they ever are relied on.

As a physician, do you realize that - between income, capital gains, Medicare, self-employment and other taxes, you spend 40 to 50% of your working hours laboring for the IRS and your state? That is a lot of time with patients for someone else's benefit. Given the significance of this fact, shouldn't your advisors be giving you creative ways to legally reduce your tax liabilities? How many tax-reducing ideas does your CPA regularly provide you? If you are like most physicians, you probably get very few tax planning ideas from your advisors.

In our practices as consultants to physicians nationwide, we see significant estate planning mistakes made by doctors and their families (including their parents) everyday. Fortunately, there are a few simple tools doctors can use to help circumvent such mistakes and allow their families to avoid the unnecessary costs that come with poor planning. Let’s discuss some signs of poor planning and discuss solutions that can help doctors manage these avoidable mistakes.

Choosing the form and structure of one's medical practice is an important decision. Most advisors to medical practices believe that the avoidance of potential double taxation makes the S Corporation the logical choice. This "conventional wisdom" overlooks the potential benefits a C Corporation can offer. If you want to explore ways to reduce unnecessary taxes without subjecting yourself to double taxation AND would like to see how you can do this without having to change any of your insurance provider or Medicare provider numbers, this article is ideal for you.

"U.S. Baby Boomers fear running out of money in retirement more than they fear death."(1)

As you already know, those of you born between 1946 and 1964 are part of the 77-million strong Baby Boomer generation - one that is now contemplating retirement.(2) If you were born before 1946, you may already be retired or are seriously considering it. If you fit into either of these groups, the following issue will be paramount for all of your financial decisions moving forward: "How do I take the wealth I have saved and efficiently turn it into cash income to sustain me during retirement?" No wonder, as the quote above makes clear. Many soon-to-be retirees are very worried about running out of money in their retirement.

In this article, we will explain problems with the solutions retirees typically rely on to generate cash income in their retirement and suggest alternatives which may be safer and more efficient.

Over the last few years, many physicians have re-examined not only their investment assumptions, but also their relationships with investment advisory professionals. Declines in market values, like the 2007-2008 40% drop in the S&P 500, often cause investors to rethink their investment strategies. Today’s investors have an even greater concern with their investment advisory firms. The unraveling of Bernie Madoff’s and Allen Stanford’s ponzi schemes made headlines nationwide. Many investors were shocked at the collapse of the “supposedly-elite” Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers as a result of their own mismanagement. In April of 2010, the SEC filed fraud charges against Goldman Sachs for actions that allegedly cost their investors over $1 Billion. The volatility of the market returns along with the cracking of the Wall Street foundation leaves many doctor-investors very uncomfortable with the idea of just “staying the course.” Who can blame physician investors for looking at other options for investment advice?
If you have thought about changing the direction you go with your investments or would value a second opinion on your current strategy, this article should prove helpful.

As advisors to young physicians across the country, we are often asked the question: "What is the most important thing I should be doing financially in the first years of practice?" Our answer is simple: "You need to build a solid foundation" - yet, the application of this concept (Foundation) is different for each physician. However, as with patients, we often see very common symptoms and can make some generalizations about what is involved in creating a "financial foundation" for many young doctors. We will do that here in this article.

Becoming an employee at a hospital can be a great fit for many doctors. But, for many others, this decision could come at an unnecessarily high financial cost. Read this article and you'll understand how much more Net Income (net of overhead and taxes) you can achieve in private practice when you invest in better management and systems. Once you understand how good things could be for you, you will be able to more fairly assess the costs and benefits of giving up private practice for hospital employment.