William Byrnes' Tax, Wealth, and Risk Intelligence

William Byrnes (Texas A&M) tax & compliance articles

Posts Tagged ‘Long-term care’

Annuities and Long Term Care Does the Rider Fit?

Posted by William Byrnes on July 15, 2014


Protection against future long-term care (LTC) expenses is important for all clients.  For the right client, combining LTC insurance with an annuity product can make all the difference between comfort and anxiety late in life.

That the need for LTC coverage is relatively universal, however, does not mean that the analysis of a particular combination annuity-LTC product is any less nuanced.

Just as every client is different, not all LTC riders are created equally—and your advice can prove crucial in finding the most suitable product for the individual client.

Read the thoughts of Professor William Byrnes and Robert Bloink on long term care annuity riders at ThinkAdvisor.

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“Robert Bloink, Esq., LL.M., and William H. Byrnes, Esq., LL.M., CWM®—are delivering real-life guidance based on decades of experience.  The authors’ knowledge and experience in tax law and practice provides the expert guidance for National Underwriter to once again deliver a valuable resource for the financial advising community,” added Rick Kravitz.

Anyone interested can try Tax Facts on Individuals & Small Business, risk-free for 30 days, with a 100% guarantee of complete satisfaction.  For more information, please go to www.nationalunderwriter.com/TaxFactsIndividuals or call 1-800-543-0874.

Interested in exploring a Master or Doctoral degree in the areas of financial services or international taxation? Let’s talk. profbyrnes@gmail.com Watch my youtube video by clicking on the logo to the left.

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LTC’s Future Lies in New Crop of Hybrid Products

Posted by William Byrnes on December 30, 2013


When it comes to long-term care coverage, advising risk-adverse clients has historically required a balancing act that many traditional long-term care insurance (LTCI) policies simply are not cut out for. In weighing the need for coverage against the risk of a lost investment, clients frequently decide against obtaining coverage.

Fortunately, changes in the long-term care marketplace have recently inspired a new crop of products that can alleviate some concerns of clients who are already feeling the pinch of a persistently low interest rate economy. While longer lifespans and the ever-increasing cost of care have led to dramatically higher LTCI costs, new asset-based products can allow your clients to obtain affordable coverage on an almost risk-free basis, with features and tax-preferences that will likely tip the scales in favor of coverage for even the most cautious of clients.

Read the analysis of Prof. William Byrnes and Robert Bloink at ThinkAdvisor !

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Court Eases Use of Annuities to Avoid Medicaid Spend-Down

Posted by William Byrnes on December 24, 2013


The winds are finally changing for Medicaid recipients, as evidenced by a recent U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that eases state-imposed restrictions on the use of annuities, reducing the need for your clients to spend down assets in order to become eligible for Medicaid assistance. The 6th Circuit ruling shut down the state’s attack on Medicaid-compliant annuities in this case, ruling in favor of clients who rely upon these annuities to provide sufficient income even if one spouse requires Medicaid assistance to pay for long-term care in a nursing home.

Based on this precedent, your clients may begin to experience a much more favorable Medicaid planning environment as they gain greater flexibility in the purchase timing and beneficiary designation requirements for annuity contracts that escape the Medicaid resource calculation formula, without jeopardizing an unhealthy spouse’s Medicaid eligibility.

Read the full analysis of Professor William Byrnes and Robert Bloink at Think Advisor !

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How to Build Your Own Solution to Long-Term Care Insurance Scarcity

Posted by William Byrnes on September 10, 2013


A basic problem for clients looking for long-term care insurance today is that they simply may not be able to find it. Major carriers have pulled out of the market in the last year, and the policies that remain can be prohibitively expensive and contain strict qualification requirements.

Fortunately, the product market is evolving so that a relatively new method of securing tax-preferred long-term care benefits has emerged. Hybrid annuity products that combine the estate and income planning features of an annuity with the protection of long-term care insurance are becoming increasingly popular among clients looking for replacement insurance.

Read William Byrnes’ analysis of building your own solution to long-term care insurance at > The Law Professor Column of Think Advisor <

 

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In Medicaid Planning, Don’t Surrender Life Insurance—Trade It for LTC Instead

Posted by William Byrnes on July 23, 2013


Your clients who are nearing retirement age might often wonder why they bother maintaining the life insurance policies they have funded for years. With children grown, the need to provide for beneficiaries in the event of an untimely death has already been eliminated. Further, these policies are considered assets that can have a significant impact when determining Medicaid eligibility.

Despite this, recent proposals in several states can give older clients a reason to maintain their policies and provide peace of mind in Medicaid planning. Under these proposals, ownership of a life insurance policy can actually help clients in long-term care planning as more state Medicaid offices embrace the use of life settlements in conjunction with Medicaid coverage.

The Proposals

read the full analysis at ThinkAdvisor – http://www.thinkadvisor.com/2013/06/03/in-medicaid-planning-dont-surrender-life-insurance

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How Much to Allocate to Annuities: A Critical Analysis

Posted by William Byrnes on October 4, 2011


A commonly known characteristic of annuities is providing retirees retirement income security. However, a more complicated aspect is deciding exactly how much of a retiree’s nest egg should be allocated to an annuity to reduce the person’s probability of outliving their retirement income.

The Employee Benefits Research Institute takes some of the guesswork out of allocation in a study released this month. The study analyzes the impact of longevity and immediate annuities on retirement income adequacy. The study finds that the “optimal level of annuitization and asset allocation that would give a desired level of confidence that people will have enough retirement income, based on the three different types of risk: investment income, longevity, and long-term care.”

The study’s results offer a prescient guide for advisors looking to maximize their client’s retirement success through annuities. Although parts of the study are quite technical, briefly reviewing the results can be enlightening.

Read this complete analysis of the impact at AdvisorFX (sign up for a free trial subscription with full access to all of the planning libraries and client presentations if you are not already a subscriber).

For previous coverage of annuities in Advisor’s Journal, see Drama Over the “Drawbacks” of Annuities (CC 11-62).

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The Federal Insurance Office

Posted by William Byrnes on September 28, 2010


Although regulation of insurance generally has been left to the states, the Wall Street Reform Act may foreshadow future federal oversight of the industry. The Act creates the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) within the Treasury, which will monitor all components of the insurance industry—excluding the health, crop, and long-term care sectors.

Today’s analysis by our Experts William Byrnes and Robert Bloink is located at AdvisorFX Journal The Federal Insurance Office

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