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Estate planning isn’t just about what happens to your assets after you die. It’s also about protecting yourself and your loved ones. This includes having a plan for making critical medical decisions in the event you’re unable to make them yourself. And, as with other aspects of your estate plan, the time to act is now, while you’re healthy. If an illness or injury renders you unconscious or otherwise incapacitated, it will be too late.

Without a plan that expresses your wishes, your family may have to make medical decisions on your behalf or petition a court for a conservatorship. Either way, there’s no guarantee that these decisions will be made the way you would want, or by the person you would choose.

2 documents, 2 purposes

To ensure that your wishes are carried out, and that your family is spared the burden of guessing — or arguing over — what you would decide, put those wishes in writing. Generally, that means executing two documents: 1) a living will and 2) a health care power of attorney (HCPA).

Unfortunately, these documents are known by many different names, which can lead to confusion. Living wills are sometimes called “advance directives,” or “health care directives.” And HCPAs may also be known as “durable powers of attorney for health care” or “health care proxies.”

Regardless of terminology, these documents serve two purposes: 1) to guide health care providers in the event you become terminally ill or permanently unconscious, and 2) to appoint someone you trust to make medical decisions on your behalf.

A living will expresses your preferences for the use of life-sustaining medical procedures, such as artificial feeding and breathing, surgery, invasive diagnostic tests, and pain medication. It also specifies the situations in which these procedures should be used or withheld.

An HCPA authorizes a surrogate — your spouse, child or another trusted representative — to make medical decisions or consent to medical treatment on your behalf when you’re unable to do so. It’s broader than a living will, which generally is limited to end-of-life situations, although there may be some overlap.

Put your plan into action

No matter how carefully you plan, living wills and HCPAs are effective only if your documents are readily accessible and health care providers honor them. Contact us with questions.

© 2017

If your elderly parent’s mental state is deteriorating to the point where he or she is unable to manage day-to-day activities, it may be time to make the difficult decision to have him or her declared incapacitated. But how do you know if such action is necessary?

2 key questions

Knowing the answers to these two key questions can help you determine whether it’s necessary to have a parent declared incapacitated:

1. What’s the difference between capacity and incapacity? The legal definition of “capacity” varies from state to state, but generally it’s the mental ability to adequately function. A person is presumed competent unless an adjudication process determines otherwise. That is, a judge must declare a person incompetent. Factors leading to such a decision will depend on the circumstances.

One barometer of whether someone is able to adequately function is the person’s ability to understand basic financial matters. Another is whether a person is able to attend to his or her own health needs.

2. What’s the role of a guardian/conservator? If you make the decision to have an incapacity determination and the judge agrees that your parent is no longer competent, the court will appoint a guardian/conservator. He or she will be responsible for managing your parent’s affairs.

More often than not, an incapacitated person’s child is appointed guardian/conservator, but the guardian/conservator doesn’t have to be a family member. In some states a person can designate whom he or she wants to act as his or her guardian/conservator.

The guardianship/conservatorship will specify if the guardian/conservator has been appointed for the management of all aspects of your parent’s life or a specific aspect of it, such as for solely financial matters. Whatever the decision, the guardian/conservator will owe a duty of care to your parent and will be held accountable by the court for showing that his or her actions are appropriate.

Estate planning strategies

An estate planning technique that may be worth exploring is to have your parent execute a durable power of attorney for property or a living trust. If your parent executes one of these documents, generally the agent or trustee named can manage your parent’s financial affairs.

Similarly, a durable power of attorney for health care, or health care proxy, can allow the agent named to make health care decisions on behalf of your parent. These documents can provide the criteria under which your parent will be considered incapacitated so that a guardianship/conservatorship proceeding isn’t necessary.

Deciding whether to have your parent declared incapacitated can be excruciating. If you’re in this situation, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us for guidance.

© 2016

If you have unadopted stepchildren, estate planning is critical to ensure that your property is distributed the way you desire. Stepchildren generally don’t have any inheritance rights with respect to their parents’ new spouses unless the spouse legally adopts them. If you have stepchildren and want them to share in your estate, one option is to adopt them. Another is to amend your estate plan to provide for them expressly.

Adoption considerations

Of course, estate planning isn’t the only reason to adopt stepchildren. Adoption also gives you all of the legal rights of a parent during your life. Before you adopt stepchildren, however, you and your spouse should consider the potential effect on their ability to inherit from (or through) their other biological parent’s relatives. In most states, when a child is adopted by a stepparent, the adoption decree severs the parent-child relationship with the other biological parent and his or her family.

That means the child can’t inherit from that biological parent’s branch of the family — and vice versa — through intestate succession. For example, if Tina is adopted by her stepfather, Mark, the adoption would terminate Tina’s intestate succession rights with respect to her biological father, Ed, and consequently, Ed’s family.

Most states provide an exception for certain “family realignments.” From the previous example, let’s suppose that Ed is deceased. Mark’s adoption of Tina wouldn’t sever the connection to Ed’s family. If, for example, Ed’s sister Emily dies intestate, Tina will be included in the class of heirs. In a state that doesn’t recognize a family realignment exception, however, Tina won’t be considered Emily’s heir.

Have a plan

If you wish to exclude stepchildren from your estate, in most cases it’s sufficient to do nothing. But some states permit stepchildren to inherit through intestate succession under certain circumstances.

To ensure your desired treatment of stepchildren, whether or not you adopt them, the best strategy is for you and your spouse to spell out your wishes in wills, trusts and other estate planning documents. As with most estate planning issues, relying on the laws of intestate succession can lead to unwelcome surprises. Contact us with questions on how the makeup of your family may affect your estate planning.

© 2016

When planning their estates, many people agonize over the negative impact their wealth might have on their children. To address these concerns, some people establish quiet trusts, also known as silent trusts. In other words, they leave significant sums in trust for their children; they just don’t tell them about it. An interesting approach, but is it effective?

A questionable strategy

Many states permit quiet trusts, but the risks associated with them may outweigh the potential benefits. For one thing, it’s difficult — if not impossible — to keep your wealth a secret. Even if your children are unaware of the details of your estate plan, their expectations of a future inheritance can encourage the same irresponsible behavior the quiet trust was intended to avoid.

A quiet trust may also increase the risk of litigation. The trustee has a fiduciary duty to act in the beneficiaries’ best interests. When your children become aware of the trust years or decades later, they’ll likely seek an accounting from the trustee and, with the help of counsel, may challenge any past decisions of the trustee that they disagree with.

A better alternative

The idea behind a quiet trust is to avoid disincentives to responsible behavior. But it’s not clear that such a trust will actually accomplish that goal. A better approach may be to design a trust that providesincentives to behave responsibly — sometimes referred to as an incentive trust. It provides an opportunity for you or the trustee to help shape the beneficiaries’ future behavior.

With a quiet trust, you keep your beneficiaries’ inheritance a secret and hope that, without the negative influence of future wealth, they will behave responsibly. With an incentive trust, on the other hand, you provide positive reinforcement by communicating the terms of the trust, letting beneficiaries know what they must do to receive their rewards, and providing them with the help they need to succeed.

Questions on the benefits of either of these trusts? We can provide the answers.

© 2016

Many companies, especially smaller ones, minimize in-house training to cut costs. But the current business environment — with its hard-to-predict changes, external threats and regulatory demands — is causing some owners to rethink this strategy. A strong training program can not only help you attract and retain quality talent, but can also help you reduce operational risk.

Renewed emphasis

Today’s companies face many challenges beyond simply turning a profit. Many industries are highly regulated, and just about every type of business has become, in some sense, technology-dependent. This has brought a renewed emphasis on risk management.

One of the keys to managing operational risk is well-trained personnel at all levels. After all, no matter how carefully a business designs its policies, procedures and controls, they’re only as reliable as the employees entrusted to implement them.

2 examples to consider

Here are just a couple of examples of operational risks that can be reduced with good training:

1. Compliance. As mentioned, many businesses are now more heavily regulated. (This may change with the incoming presidential administration, but it’s hard to say when or how any deregulatory measures may occur.) Failure to comply with federal, state or local regulations can expose your company to penalties ranging from monetary fines, to rescission of loans or other contracts, to criminal liability. Train your employees to avoid breaking the rules and to spot compliance threats when they arise.

2. Cybersecurity. As companies’ reliance on technology and automation continues to increase, so does the risk of cyberattacks. Although the techniques cybercriminals use are becoming more sophisticated, many businesses also remain vulnerable to simple tactics, such as email phishing.

Phishing involves sending emails to employees or customers that appear to be from a legitimate source. By tricking recipients into clicking on links that install malware, cybercriminals can gain access to company assets or customers’ sensitive personal information. Teach your staff how to deal with suspicious emails and other technology-related threats.

On the lookout

It’s not enough to be aware of risks to your business at the ownership or management level. You’ve got to train your employees to be on the lookout, too. Please contact our firm for help.

© 2016

Smart timing of deductible expenses can reduce your tax liability, and poor timing can unnecessarily increase it. When you don’t expect to be subject to the alternative minimum tax (AMT) in the current year, accelerating deductible expenses into the current year typically is a good idea. Why? Because it will defer tax, which usually is beneficial. One deductible expense you may be able to control is your property tax payment.

You can prepay (by December 31) property taxes that relate to 2016 but that are due in 2017, and deduct the payment on your return for this year. But you generally can’t prepay property taxes that relate to 2017 and deduct the payment on this year’s return.

Should you or shouldn’t you?

As noted earlier, accelerating deductible expenses like property tax payments generally is beneficial. Prepaying your property tax may be especially beneficial if tax rates go down for 2017, which could happen based on the outcome of the November election. Deductions save more tax when tax rates are higher.

However, under the President-elect’s proposed tax plan, some taxpayers (such as certain single and head of household filers) might be subject to higher tax rates. These taxpayers may save more tax from the property tax deduction by holding off on paying their property tax until it’s due next year.

Likewise, taxpayers who expect to see a big jump in their income next year that would push them into a higher tax bracket also may benefit by not prepaying their property tax bill.

More considerations

Property tax isn’t deductible for AMT purposes. If you’re subject to the AMT this year, a prepayment may hurt you because you’ll lose the benefit of the deduction. So before prepaying your property tax, make sure you aren’t at AMT risk for 2016.

Also, don’t forget the income-based itemized deduction reduction. If your income is high enough that the reduction applies to you, the tax benefit of a prepayment will be reduced.

Not sure whether you should prepay your property tax bill or what other deductions you might be able to accelerate into 2016 (or should consider deferring to 2017)? Contact us. We can help you determine the best year-end tax planning strategies for your specific situation.

© 2016

Typically, much of the estate planning process focuses on money. But the most successful estate plans are founded on relationships. Building and preserving family wealth isn’t an end in itself. Rather, it’s a tool for promoting shared family values or encouraging family members to lead responsible, productive, healthy lives. Drafting a family mission statement can be an effective way to define and communicate these values.

Communicate clearly

Because each family is different, there’s no cookie-cutter formula for drafting a family mission statement. The most important thing is for the statement to clearly articulate your family’s shared values, whatever they may be.

Ideally, the mission statement will also create mechanisms for intrafamily communication and for putting the statement’s ideas into action. For example, the statement might call for regular family meetings. Or it may create a governance structure for managing the family’s wealth and making decisions about charitable giving and other endeavors.

Few families agree on everything. But facilitating communication and decision making in this way minimizes conflicts that can arise when family members don’t know what’s going on or feel they have no say. To make family meetings more efficient and effective, consider inviting outside advisors to lead or participate in the meetings.

Consider a principled approach

Many people today are moving away from a rules-based approach to estate planning and embracing a principles-based approach. Rather than conditioning a child’s inheritance on a rigid list of “acceptable” behaviors, for example, a principles-based approach allows greater flexibility for trustees and others to make decisions based on the values you wish to promote. If you feel a mission statement should be part of your overall estate plan, please contact us.

© 2016

Life insurance can be a powerful financial and estate planning tool, but its benefits may be reduced or even eliminated if you designate the wrong beneficiary or fail to change beneficiaries when your circumstances change.

Here are common pitfalls to avoid:

Naming your estate as beneficiary. Doing so subjects life insurance proceeds to unnecessary state inheritance taxes (in many states), exposes the proceeds to your estate’s creditors and ensures that the proceeds will go through probate, which may delay payment to your loved ones.

Naming minor children as beneficiaries. Insurance companies won’t pay life insurance proceeds directly to minors, which means a court-appointed guardian (who, if you’re divorced, could be your former spouse) will manage the funds until your minor-age children reach the age of majority. A better approach is to designate a trust as beneficiary. This allows you to determine who will manage the funds and how they’ll be distributed to your children.

Naming your former spouse as beneficiary. It’s unlikely that you’d do this intentionally. But if you get divorced and neglect to designate a new beneficiary, this could be the result (even if you’ve updated your will or trust).

For many people, the best strategy is to establish an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) to purchase and own a life insurance policy, and to designate the ILIT as the policy’s beneficiary. For more information on how to best address your life insurance policy in your estate plan, please contact us.

© 2016

The owners of many companies launch their enterprises with a business plan — a written document outlining the company’s strategic objectives and practical means of accomplishing them. Likewise, many owners leave their businesses via a succession plan, a written document outlining how the company’s ownership will transition.

Often, however, these two documents never cross paths, much less join toward a common goal. If this is the case with your business, and you’ve already identified your likely successor, mentoring can make your succession plan better by uniting it with your business plan.

Establish trust

One of the principles of mentoring is establishing a relationship based on mutual respect and trust. So, as your company evolves, you’ll need to ensure your successor is learning the skills and gaining the knowledge he or she will need to keep your business competitive and, ideally, take it to higher levels of success.

Let’s say, for example, that your company has always just sold widgets and is now expanding to help clients service the widgets. You’ll need to make both strategic and operational changes so that your successor and staff can handle a diversified business that’s both product- and service-based. Under a mentoring relationship, you can disclose these plans to your successor in a confidential setting and start laying the groundwork with him or her to move the business in the new direction.

Meet regularly

Another principle of mentoring is making a definite commitment of time and face-to-face contact. So meet with your successor often. The first days of running a company are particularly stressful. But coaching during the period leading up to the transition can help successors manage the pressures.

During this time, you can also provide a secure environment for your successor to apply these new abilities and assume more of your responsibilities. To maximize your mentoring efforts, have your successor meet monthly with key personnel to discuss current matters, growth and operations strategies, your and your competitors’ products and services, and industry trends.

Create an effective plan

These are but two of many principles of mentoring. Please contact our firm for more help maximizing the effectiveness of your succession plan.

© 2016

Nearly every business owner wants to grow his or her company. But with growth comes risk, and that can keep you from taking the steps necessary to move forward. Yet if you don’t think big and come up with a long-term strategic plan, you’ll likely continue to spin your wheels.

Eyes on profits and value

Public companies answer to investors who consider earnings per share and stock price to be key indicators of their return on investment. Maximizing earnings is a short-term goal, but building value requires a long-term focus.

Many small to midsize businesses, however, have only their ownerships’ vision to motivate them. You also may have to operate much leaner, with more limited staff and overhead. In doing so, you may sacrifice value-building opportunities.

For example, a company that fails to invest in marketing may lose market share to a competitor that aggressively advertises and offers promotions. Or a business that hires managers only from within or chooses candidates based primarily on minimizing salary expense may lose out on the professional expertise that comes with a more seasoned management team.

Systematic, formal planning

Some companies may be able to run “lean and mean” for a while. But, eventually, most businesses need to grow. And a reasonably ambitious, long-term strategic plan is the first step. It will allow you to communicate a nuanced, specific vision for growth down the organizational chart.

Planning should extend to employees, too. What’s each worker’s expected role in your strategic vision? This is why annual performance reviews are so critical. They’ll help you gauge whether each employee is meeting or exceeding management’s expectations — or whether he or she is truly contributing to your long-term plan.

The right goals

Again, don’t be afraid to think big. A tentative or half-hearted long-term strategic plan may leave you disappointed — and fail to truly motivate anyone. Please contact our firm for help choosing the right goals and putting them into a feasible, reasonable financial context.

© 2016

Employers who offer retirement savings plans are already helping their workforces. But not all employees take advantage of these plans. And many who do still don’t contribute enough to retire comfortably. As a business owner, you can help your employees even more — and drive plan participation — by providing proper education on retirement planning.

Here are five ways to go:

1. Teach them about the general concepts of investing. Many employees are unfamiliar with basic economic and investing concepts. Offer instruction on concepts such as:

• Compounding growth,
• Tax implications of different types of savings plans, and
• How much they need to save to reach a certain sum at retirement.

Providing such information can help your employees make informed decisions about their options.

2. Explain how the plan functions. For instance, do they need to enroll in the plan, or are they automatically enrolled? Once enrolled, how do they decide how much to contribute and how to allocate their money among different investments?

3. Provide information in various formats. Webinars or other online communication methods will resonate with some employees, while others will prefer printed material. By offering a mix of options, you’ll likely be effective in reaching different segments of your workforce.

4. Arrange face-to-face sessions. Even if your business offers printed and electronic materials, in-person sessions can go a long way in helping employees understand the plan. These sessions also provide an opportunity to reinforce the value of a retirement plan as part of the employee’s overall compensation package. If one-on-one sessions are impractical, consider small groups.

5. Offer information regularly. Providing consistent education is a great way to remind employees of the value of their retirement savings plans.

Remember, employees aren’t the only ones who benefit from proper retirement savings education. As participation increases, plan fees may diminish. And the more non–highly compensated employees sock away in a plan, the more its highly compensated employees can contribute. Please contact our firm for more ways to maximize the strategic value of your retirement plan.

© 2016

When drafting an estate plan, it’s critical to select the right trustee to carry out your wishes and protect your beneficiaries. It’s also important to establish procedures for removing a trustee in the event that circumstances change.

Failing to do so doesn’t mean your beneficiaries will be stuck with an inadequate trustee. But they’ll have to petition a court to remove the trustee for cause, which can be an expensive, time-consuming and uncertain process. Making the process more onerous is the fact that courts generally are reluctant to remove a trustee who was hand-picked by the trust maker.

Reasons for removing a trustee

Grounds for removing a trustee vary according to state law, but typically include:

• Conflicts of interest or lack of cooperation with beneficiaries,
• Insolvency or bankruptcy (if it would jeopardize trust administration),
• Mismanagement, fraud or other misconduct,
• Poor health, or
• Legal incapacity.

To avoid the need for court intervention, include procedures for removing a trustee in your trust agreement. You might allow beneficiaries to remove a trustee without cause if they’re dissatisfied with his or her performance. Or you might provide for removal of a trustee under specific circumstances defined in the trust agreement.

Provide a list of successor trustees

Your trust agreement also should include a list of successor trustees. If one trustee is removed, the next person on your list becomes the new trustee. Another option is to appoint a trust protector — a “super trustee” empowered to make certain decisions, including firing a trustee and appointing a new one. If you have questions regarding trustees, please contact us.

© 2016

Section 529 plans provide a tax-advantaged way to help pay for college expenses. Here are just a few of the benefits:

• Although contributions aren’t deductible for federal purposes, plan assets can grow tax-deferred.
• Some states offer tax incentives for contributing in the form of deductions or credits.
• The plans usually offer high contribution limits, and there are no income limits for contributing.

Prepaid tuition plans

With this type of 529 plan, if your contract is for four years of tuition, tuition is guaranteed regardless of its cost at the time the beneficiary actually attends the school. This can provide substantial savings if you invest when the child is still very young.

One downside is that there’s uncertainty in how benefits will be applied if the beneficiary attends a different school. Another is that the plan doesn’t cover costs other than tuition, such as room and board.

Savings plan

This type of 529 plan can be used to pay a student’s expenses at most postsecondary educational institutions. Distributions used to pay qualified expenses (such as tuition, mandatory fees, books, supplies, computer equipment, software, Internet service and, generally, room and board) are income-tax-free for federal purposes and typically for state purposes as well, thus making the tax deferral a permanent savings.

The biggest downside may be that you don’t have direct control over investment decisions; you’re limited to the options the plan offers. Additionally, for funds already in the plan, you can make changes to your investment options only twice during the year or when you change beneficiaries.

But each time you make a new contribution to a 529 savings plan, you can select a different option for that contribution, regardless of how many times you contribute throughout the year. And every 12 months you can make a tax-free rollover to a different 529 plan for the same child.

As you can see, each 529 plan type has its pluses and minuses. Whether a prepaid tuition plan or a savings plan is better depends on your situation and goals. If you’d like help choosing, please contact us.

© 2016

Many companies reach a point in their development where they have to make an important decision: Innovate themselves or acquire a competitor? Of course, it isn’t always an either/or decision. Nonetheless, business owners should consider the pluses and minuses of both approaches.

Innovating to grow

Innovation is a broad term that encompasses many strategies — all of which are intended to help the company achieve goals such as boosting profits, improving cash flow, or diversifying products or services. Common strategies are:

• Research and development of new products,
• New market penetration via geographic expansion or enhanced product/service offerings, and
• Increased productivity resulting from internal improvements or enhancements.

Each strategy takes time, effort and capital. Understandably, business leaders can be hesitant to devote such vital resources to innovation initiatives and risk decreases in productivity and profitability.

Combining companies

For companies that don’t want to bet the farm on internal development, acquisitions can be appealing. If you’re looking to expand a product line, for example, it might be more time- and cost-effective to buy a competitor that already offers the goods you want.

Your acquisition target has already done the hard work — including funding, testing and creating the product or service and building a client base. By buying this competitor, you may incur less risk than you would by investing your own capital and building the product from scratch. The same holds true for geographic expansion and productivity improvements.

But business combinations come with their own risks. To fully benefit from any acquisition, your company needs to “stick the landing” — efficiently integrate operations and retain divisions and employees capable of ensuring that innovations continue to pay off. For many buyers, that’s a tall order.

Considering your options

In an ideal world, companies would devote resources to innovation and also make the occasional acquisition to bolster their standing in particular markets. But most companies don’t have the luxury to do both simultaneously. Please contact us for help examining the risks and potential rewards associated with each option.

© 2016

A shared family vacation home can be a great place for family bonding. And a little estate planning can go a long way toward avoiding conflict and keeping the home in the family.

Who owns it and how?

All family members must understand who actually owns the home. Family members sharing the home will more readily accept decisions about its usage or disposition knowing that the decisions come from those holding legal title.

If the home has multiple owners — several siblings, for example — consider the form of ownership carefully. There may be advantages to holding title to the home in a family limited partnership (FLP) or family limited liability company (FLLC) and using FLP or FLLC interests to allocate ownership interests among family members. You can even design the partnership or operating agreement (or a separate buy-sell agreement) to help keep the home in the family.

What about the future?

What happens if an owner dies, divorces or decides to sell his or her interest in the home? It depends on who owns the home and how the legal title is held. If the home is owned by a married couple or an individual, the disposition of the home upon death or divorce will be dictated by the relevant estate plan or divorce settlement.

If family members own the home as tenants-in-common, they’re generally free to sell their interests to whomever they choose, to bequeath their interests to their heirs or to force a sale of the entire property under certain circumstances. If they hold the property as joint tenants with rights of survivorship, an owner’s interest automatically passes to the surviving owners at death. If the home is held in an FLP or FLLC, family members have a great deal of flexibility to determine what happens to an owner’s interest in the event of death, divorce or sale.

Let’s talk about it

There are many ways to own and share a family vacation home. We’d be pleased to help you and your loved ones keep yours in the family for generations to come.

© 2016

Has your small business procrastinated in setting up a retirement plan? You might want to take a look at a SIMPLE IRA. SIMPLE stands for “savings incentive match plan for employees.” If you decide you’re interested in a SIMPLE IRA, you must establish it by no later than October 1 of the year for which you want to make your initial deductible contribution. (If you’re a new employer and come into existence after October 1, you can establish the SIMPLE IRA as soon as administratively feasible.)

Pros and cons

Here are some of the basics of SIMPLEs:

• They’re available to businesses with 100 or fewer employees.
• They offer greater income deferral opportunities than individual retirement accounts (IRAs). However, other plans, such as SEPs and 401(k)s, may permit larger annual deductible contributions.
• Participant loans aren’t allowed (unlike 401(k) and other plans that can offer loans).
• As the name implies, it’s simple to set up and administer these plans. You aren’t required to file annual financial returns.
• If your business has other employees, you may have to make SIMPLE IRA employer “matching” contributions.

Contribution amounts

Any employee who has compensation of at least $5,000 in any prior two years, and is reasonably expected to earn $5,000 in the current year, can elect to have a percentage of compensation put into a SIMPLE. An employee may defer up to $12,500 in 2016. This amount is indexed for inflation each year. Employees age 50 or older can make a catch-up contribution of up to $3,000 in 2016.

If your business has other employees, you may have to make SIMPLE IRA employer “matching” contributions.

Consider your choices

A SIMPLE IRA might be a good choice for your small business but it isn’t the only choice. You might also be interested in setting up a simplified employee pension plan, a 401(k) or other plan. Contact us to learn more about a SIMPLE IRA or to hear about other retirement alternatives for your business.

© 2016

If you invest, whether you’re considered an investor or a trader can have a significant impact on your tax bill. Do you know the difference?

Investors

Most people who trade stocks are classified as investors for tax purposes. This means any net gains are treated as capital gains rather than ordinary income.

That’s good if your net gains are long-term (that is, you’ve held the investment more than a year) because you can enjoy the lower long-term capital gains rate. However, any investment-related expenses (such as margin interest, stock tracking software, etc.) are deductible only if you itemize and, in some cases, only if the total of the expenses exceeds 2% of your adjusted gross income.

Traders

Traders have it better in some situations. Their expenses reduce gross income even if they can’t itemize deductions and not just for regular tax purposes, but also for alternative minimum tax purposes.

Plus, in certain circumstances, if traders have a net loss for the year, they can claim it as an ordinary loss (so it can offset other ordinary income) rather than a capital loss. Capital losses are limited to a $3,000 ($1,500 if married filing separately) per year deduction once any capital gains have been offset.

Passing the trader test

What does it take to successfully meet the test for trader status? The answer is twofold:

1. The trading must be “substantial.” While there’s no bright line test, the courts have tended to view more than a thousand trades a year, spread over most of the available trading days, as substantial.

2. The trading must be designed to try to catch the swings in the daily market movements. In other words, you must be attempting to profit from these short-term changes rather than from the long-term holding of investments. So the average duration for holding any one position needs to be very short, generally only a day or two.

If you satisfy these conditions, the chances are good that you’d ultimately be able to prove trader vs. investor status. Of course, even if you don’t satisfy one of the tests, you might still prevail, but the odds against you are higher. If you have questions, please contact us.

© 2016

No estate plan is complete without considering long-term care (LTC) expenses and how to pay for them. LTC insurance is an option, but these policies can be expensive. One solution is to use a total or partial tax-free exchange of an existing life insurance policy or annuity contract.

Reviewing the history

For many years, Internal Revenue Code Section 1035 has permitted taxpayers to exchange one life insurance policy for another, one annuity contract for another, or a life insurance policy for an annuity contract without recognizing any taxable gain.

In the late 1990s, the U.S. Tax Court approved partial tax-free exchanges. A partial exchange might involve using a portion of an annuity’s balance or a life insurance policy’s cash value to fund a new contract or policy. In order for the transaction to be tax-free, the exchange must involve a direct transfer of funds from one carrier to another.

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 expanded Sec. 1035 to include LTC policies. So now it’s possible to make a total or partial tax-free exchange of a life insurance policy or annuity contract for an LTC policy (as well as one LTC policy for another).

Funding LTC costs

Partial tax-free exchanges can work well for standalone LTC policies, which generally require annual premium payments and prohibit prepayment. A partial tax-free exchange not only provides a source of funds for LTC coverage but also offers significant tax benefits.

Ordinarily, if the value of a life insurance policy or annuity contract exceeds your basis, lifetime distributions include a combination of taxable gain and nontaxable return of basis. A partial tax-free exchange allows you to defer taxable gain and, to the extent the gain is absorbed by LTC insurance premiums, eliminate it permanently.

If you’re concerned that LTC costs might deplete your funds, thus allowing less wealth to pass to heirs, contact us. We can help you determine whether one of these strategies may be an option for you.

© 2016

If you recently redeemed frequent flyer miles to treat the family to a fun summer vacation or to take your spouse on a romantic getaway, you might assume that there are no tax implications involved. And you’re probably right — but there is a chance your miles could be taxable.

Usually tax free

As a general rule, miles awarded by airlines for flying with them are considered nontaxable rebates, as are miles awarded for using a credit or debit card.

The IRS partially addressed the issue in Announcement 2002-18, where it said “Consistent with prior practice, the IRS will not assert that any taxpayer has understated his federal tax liability by reason of the receipt or personal use of frequent flyer miles or other in-kind promotional benefits attributable to the taxpayer’s business or official travel.”

Exceptions

There are, however, some types of mile awards the IRS might view as taxable. Examples include miles awarded as a prize in a sweepstakes and miles awarded as a promotion.

For instance, in Shankar v. Commissioner, the U.S. Tax Court sided with the IRS, finding that airline miles awarded in conjunction with opening a bank account were indeed taxable. Part of the evidence of taxability was the fact that the bank had issued Forms 1099 MISC to customers who’d redeemed the rewards points to purchase airline tickets.

The value of the miles for tax purposes generally is their estimated retail value.

If you’re concerned you’ve received mile awards that could be taxable, please contact us and we’ll help you determine your tax liability, if any.

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If you run your business as an S corporation, you’re probably both a shareholder and an employee. As such, the corporation pays you a salary that reflects the work you do for the business — and you (and your company) must remit payroll tax on some or all of your wages.

By distributing profits in the form of dividends rather than salary, an S corporation and its owners can avoid payroll taxes on these amounts. Because of the additional 0.9% Medicare tax on wages in excess of $200,000 ($250,000 for joint filers and $125,000 for married filing separately), the potential tax savings from classifying payments as dividends rather than salary may be even greater than it once would have been.

IRS audit target

But paying little or no salary is risky. The IRS targets S corporations with owners’ salaries that it considers unreasonably low and assesses unpaid payroll taxes, penalties and interest.

To avoid such a result, S corporations should establish and document reasonable salaries for each position using compensation surveys, comparable industry studies, company financial data and other evidence. Spell out the reasons for compensation amounts in your corporate minutes. Have the minutes reviewed by a tax professional before being finalized.

Prove a salary is reasonable

There are no specific guidelines for reasonable compensation in the tax code or regulations. Various courts, which have ruled on this issue, have based their determinations on the facts and circumstances of each case. Factors considered in determining reasonable compensation include:

• Training and experience,
• Duties and responsibilities,
• Time and effort devoted to the business,
• Dividend history,
• Payments to non-owner employees,
• Timing and manner of paying bonuses to key people, and 
• Compensation agreements.

Ascertain the right mix

Do you have questions about compensation? Contact us. We can help you determine the mix of salary and dividends that can keep your tax liability as low as possible while standing up to IRS scrutiny.

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Did you know that the estate of director John Hughes donated the family’s Illinois mansion to a nonprofit hospital? After allowing another charity to use the home for a fundraising event, the hospital sold the home and used the proceeds to expand its campus.

In this instance, two organizations were able to enjoy this gift. If you’re considering donating real estate to charity, beware of these four potential tax traps:

1. When you donate real estate to a public charity, you generally can deduct the property’s fair market value. But when you donate it to a private foundation, your deduction is limited to the lower of fair market value or your cost basis in the property.
2. If the property is subject to a mortgage, you may recognize taxable income for all or a portion of the loan’s value. And charities might not accept mortgaged property because it may trigger unrelated business income tax. For these reasons, it’s a good idea to pay off the mortgage before you donate the property or ask the lender to accept another property as collateral for the loan.
3. Failure to properly substantiate your donation can result in loss of the deduction and overvaluation penalties. Generally, real estate donations require a qualified appraisal. You’ll also need to complete Form 8283, Noncash Charitable Contributions, have your appraiser sign it and file it with your federal tax return. If the property is valued at more than $500,000, you’ll generally need to include the appraisal report as well.
4. If the charity sells the property within three years, it must report the sale to the IRS. If the price is substantially less than the amount you claimed, the IRS may challenge your deduction. To avoid this result, be sure your initial appraisal is accurate and well documented.

Before taking action, consult us to ensure that you avoid these traps.

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The prospect of leaving your company in the hands of someone else likely brings mixed emotions. You’ve no doubt spent a substantial amount of time and a great degree of effort in getting your enterprise to where it is today. So, as the saying goes, parting will be such sweet sorrow.

Yet, when it comes to creating and executing a succession plan, decisive action is critical. You’ve got to respect the importance of timeliness — not only for you and your family, but also for your successor and employees. So here are two key questions to answer.

1. When’s your target date?

By designating your departure date far enough in advance, you’re more likely to pick the right successor, as well as facilitate a smoother transfer of power.

In some industries, it can take years to appoint and train a qualified successor and effectively work through the many management, ownership and organizational issues. But don’t choose a date too far away, because your successor-to-be may get tired of waiting.

2. How will you break the news?

Maybe it’s many years away, maybe it’s sooner than that. But don’t wait too long to reveal to staff when you’re leaving the company and whom you’ve selected as a replacement. Giving everyone ample notice (as long as one to two years) will allow plenty of time for employees to voice their concerns about your successor and the transition as a whole.

Break the news gently to gain their support for the new boss while giving employees good reasons to stay with your company. If disagreements arise, discuss the issues openly. Seek compromise by enabling your successor to exercise his or her newfound decision-making authority but staying involved as a consultant to ensure he or she doesn’t alienate staff.

Need some help?

Coming up with — and carrying out — a succession plan can be among the most difficult things a business owner ever does. Please contact us for help assessing the financial and operational viability of your plan.

© 2016

Many expenses that may qualify as miscellaneous itemized deductions are deductible only to the extent they exceed, in aggregate, 2% of your adjusted gross income (AGI). Bunching these expenses into a single year may allow you to exceed this “floor.” So now is a good time to add up your potential deductions to date to see if bunching is a smart strategy for you this year.

Should you bunch into 2016?

If your miscellaneous itemized deductions are getting close to — or they already exceed — the 2% floor, consider incurring and paying additional expenses by Dec. 31, such as:

• Deductible investment expenses, including advisory fees, custodial fees and publications
• Professional fees, such as tax planning and preparation, accounting, and certain legal fees
• Unreimbursed employee business expenses, including vehicle costs, travel, and allowable meals and entertainment.

But beware …

These expenses aren’t deductible for alternative minimum tax (AMT) purposes. So don’t bunch them into 2016 if you might be subject to the AMT this year.

Also, if your AGI exceeds the applicable threshold, certain deductions — including miscellaneous itemized deductions — are reduced by 3% of the AGI amount that exceeds the threshold (not to exceed 80% of otherwise allowable deductions). For 2016, the thresholds are $259,400 (single), $285,350 (head of household), $311,300 (married filing jointly) and $155,650 (married filing separately).

If you’d like more information on miscellaneous itemized deductions, the AMT or the itemized deduction limit, let us know.

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Many businesses use independent contractors to keep payroll taxes and fringe benefit costs down. But using outside workers may result in other problems. The IRS often questions businesses about whether workers should be classified as employees or independent contractors for federal employment tax purposes.

If the IRS reclassifies a worker as an employee, your company could be hit with back taxes, interest and penalties. In addition, the employer could be liable for employee benefits that should have been provided but weren’t. Audits by state agencies may also occur.

The key is control

So, how can you safeguard your use of independent contractors? Unfortunately, no single factor determines a worker’s legal status. The issue is complicated, but the degree of control you have over how a worker gets the job done is often considered the most important factor. Little or no control indicates independent contractor status.

The IRS looks at a number of other issues, including:

Tools and facilities. Employers usually give tools, equipment and workspace to employees, while contractors invest their own money in these items.

Hours. Employees generally have set schedules, while contractors are allowed greater flexibility. (However, the IRS recognizes that some work must be done at specific times.)

Important steps

With those guidelines in mind, here are some tips:

1. Clarify the relationship with a written independent contractor agreement. Include details, such as the services the contractor will perform, the term of the agreement and how much you’ll pay. Include statements that the individual is an independent contractor and will pay federal and state taxes.
2. Give contractors leeway over how they perform their duties. Resist the urge to supervise them the way you oversee employees.
3. Send each contractor (and the IRS) a Form 1099 showing non-employee income if you pay him or her $600 or more in a calendar year.
4. Maintain good records. Keep an independent contractor’s taxpayer ID number and other information required by the IRS, but also keep items that can help prove the person is self-employed. For example, retain business cards, letterheads, invoices and advertisements from independent contractors.

In many cases, proactive planning can help secure independent contractor status. Contact us if you have questions about worker classification.

© 2016

Paying the proper amount of tax by the annual federal income tax filing deadline isn’t enough to avoid interest and penalties; you must also meet requirements for paying tax throughout the year through withholding and/or quarterly estimated tax payments. If you have income from sources such as self-employment, interest, dividends, alimony, rent, prizes, awards or the sales of assets, you may have to pay estimated tax.

The rules

Generally, you must pay estimated tax if both of these statements apply:

1. You expect to owe at least $1,000 in tax after subtracting tax withholding and credits, and
2. You expect withholding and credits to be less than the smaller of 90% of your tax for the year or 100% of the tax on your previous year’s return. There are special rules for farmers, fishermen, certain household employers and certain higher-income taxpayers.

If you’re a sole proprietor, partner or S corporation shareholder, you generally have to make estimated tax payments if you expect to owe $1,000 or more in tax when you file your return.

Making the payments

Payments are spaced through the year into four periods or due dates. Generally, the due dates are April 15, June 15, Sept. 15 and Jan. 15, unless the date falls on a weekend or holiday.

Estimated tax is calculated by factoring in expected gross income, taxable income, taxes, deductions and credits for the year. The easiest way to pay estimated tax is electronically through the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System. You can also pay estimated tax by check or money order using the Estimated Tax Payment Voucher or by credit or debit card.

If you’d like assistance determining whether you need to pay estimated tax or calculating your payments, contact us.

© 2016

When looking to manage benefits costs, employers have many ideas to consider. One in particular is whether and how to offer health care insurance to their employees’ spouses.

The Affordable Care Act doesn’t require spousal coverage. It only requires coverage for dependent children. But many employees may frown on seeing spousal coverage suddenly become expensive or vanish entirely. So this is a question warranting careful forethought.

2 established ways

Essentially, there are two established ways of saving money on spousal coverage: 1) rationalizing the expense through a cost-sharing surcharge, or 2) eliminating coverage altogether through a “spousal carve-out” policy.

Few employers appear willing to lower the boom on spousal coverage by eliminating it (also known as an “absolute carve-out”) — especially when spouses lack access to coverage through their own employers. Forcing workers’ spouses to seek coverage on the individual market, possibly at a very high cost, would likely embitter the affected employees, potentially increasing turnover.

Potential variations

But it doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing proposition. One variation on the surcharge approach is to give a monetary award to employees whose spouses switch from your plan to the spouse’s employer’s plan.

Or you could have a spousal carve-out program with an escape hatch. Such an arrangement would allow the spouse to remain on your plan if the price the spouse would have to pay for coverage under his or her own employer’s plan exceeds a specified threshold.

Still another approach is to require employed spouses whose own employers offer coverage to enroll in those plans in order to receive benefits under your plan. This way, yours becomes the secondary plan, incurring only the portion of claims not covered by the spouse’s employer’s plan (the primary plan).

Worthy contemplation

Unfortunately, there are no quick and easy ways to keep health care plan costs in check. But policies that ensure you aren’t paying the medical bills of employee spouses who could be getting coverage through their own employers are certainly worth contemplating.

© 2016

If you go on a business trip within the United States and tack on some vacation days, you can deduct some of your expenses. But exactly what can you write off?

Transportation expenses 

Transportation costs to and from the location of your business activity are 100% deductible as long as the primary reason for the trip is business rather than pleasure. On the other hand, if vacation is the primary reason for your travel, then generally none of your transportation expenses are deductible.

What costs can be included? Travel to and from your departure airport, airfare, baggage fees, tips, cabs, and so forth. Costs for rail travel or driving your personal car are also eligible.

Business days vs. pleasure days

The number of days spent on business vs. pleasure is the key factor in determining if the primary reason for domestic travel is business. Your travel days count as business days, as do weekends and holidays if they fall between days devoted to business, and it would be impractical to return home.

Standby days (days when your physical presence is required) also count as business days, even if you aren’t called upon to work those days. Any other day principally devoted to business activities during normal business hours also counts as a business day, and so are days when you intended to work, but couldn’t due to reasons beyond your control (such as local transportation difficulties).

You should be able to claim business was the primary reason for a domestic trip if business days exceed personal days. Be sure to accumulate proof and keep it with your tax records. For example, if your trip is made to attend client meetings, log everything on your daily planner and copy the pages for your tax file. If you attend a convention or training seminar, keep the program and take notes to show you attended the sessions.

Once at the destination, your out-of-pocket expenses for business days are fully deductible. These expenses include lodging, hotel tips, meals (subject to the 50% disallowance rule), seminar and convention fees, and cab fare. Expenses for personal days are nondeductible.

We can help

Questions? Contact us if you want more information about business travel deductions.

© 2016

Tread carefully if you and your spouse have similar trusts

When spouses have similar irrevocable trusts for each other’s benefit, they can be subject to the “reciprocal trust” doctrine. It prohibits tax avoidance through trusts that 1) are interrelated, and 2) place both grantors in the same economic position as if they’d each created trusts naming themselves as life beneficiaries.

What not to do

Suppose that your and your spouse’s estates will trigger a substantial tax bill when you die. You transfer your assets to an irrevocable trust that provides your spouse with an income interest for life, access to principal at the trustee’s discretion and a testamentary, special power of appointment to distribute the trust assets among your children.

Ordinarily, assets transferred to an irrevocable trust are removed from your taxable estate (though there may be gift tax implications). But let’s say that two weeks later your spouse establishes a trust with identical provisions, naming you as life beneficiary. This arrangement would violate the reciprocal trust doctrine, so the transfers would be undone by the IRS and the value of the assets you transferred would be included in your respective estates.

In this example, the intent to avoid estate tax is clear: Each spouse removes assets from his or her taxable estate but remains in essentially the same economic position by virtue of being named life beneficiary of the other spouse’s estate.

Create two substantially different trusts

To avoid unintended tax consequences, trusts should be designed to avoid the reciprocal trust doctrine. There are many ways to accomplish this, but essentially the goal is to vary factors related to each trust, such as the trust assets or terms, trustees, beneficiaries, or creation dates, so that the two trusts aren’t deemed “substantially similar” by the IRS. If you and your spouse have separate trusts, allow us to review them to ensure they don’t invoke the reciprocal trust doctrine.

© 2016

4 pillars of robust business growth

Many businesses start life small and simple. But with growth comes the need for a stronger company infrastructure and increased operational sophistication. As you pursue a more robust business, focus on these four pillars:

1. Organizational management

Implement a formalized system for measuring performance that begins with written job descriptions and training. Issue a clearly written handbook of company policies. Give employees regular and constructive feedback.

Taking these steps is not only necessary — it also serves to motivate, compensate and reward staff members. Strong organizational management is particularly key to attracting and retaining goodemployees, who typically desire an objective and well-balanced performance evaluation system.

2. Business processes

At the core of your business are its processes. The more you can systematize and document them, the more easily you can train your staff to follow them for increased efficiency, productivity and quality.

Professionalizing your business processes also involves streamlining operations in mission-critical areas. These include sales and marketing, finance, human resources, and customer product and service delivery.

3. Strategic planning

For new businesses and many small ones, business planning discussions occur randomly and informally. But, as your operations become increasingly complex, you’ve got to make strategic planning a regular and formalized activity.

Hold regular strategic planning meetings. Update your written business plan and communicate your strategic goals companywide. Doing so will keep employees in the loop and empower them to make effective decisions and act in alignment with your stated objectives.

4. IT systems

There’s no way around it: Advanced technology runs today’s businesses. Yet, as a company’s operations grow, it can struggle with a conglomeration of outdated and disconnected hardware and applications.

Supporting a professionalized, process-oriented business environment requires integrated IT systems. Employees can more easily access operational information and improve productivity with connected technology.

Growing pains

Every business, no matter how large or small, goes through growing pains. Please contact us for help managing your growth in a measured and financially savvy manner.

© 2016

3 strategies for tax-smart giving

Giving away assets during your life will help reduce the size of your taxable estate, which is beneficial if you have a large estate that could be subject to estate taxes. For 2016, the lifetime gift and estate tax exemption is $5.45 million (twice that for married couples with proper estate planning strategies in place).

Even if your estate tax isn’t large enough for estate taxes to be a concern, there are income tax consequences to consider. Plus it’s possible the estate tax exemption could be reduced or your wealth could increase significantly in the future, and estate taxes could become a concern.

That’s why, no matter your current net worth, it’s important to choose gifts wisely. Consider both estate and income tax consequences and the economic aspects of any gifts you’d like to make.

Here are three strategies for tax-smart giving:

1. To minimize estate tax, gift property with the greatest future appreciation potential. You’ll remove that future appreciation from your taxable estate.

2. To minimize your beneficiary’s income tax, gift property that hasn’t appreciated significantly while you’ve owned it. The beneficiary can sell the property at a minimal income tax cost.

3. To minimize your own income tax, don’t gift property that’s declined in value. Instead, consider selling the property so you can take the tax loss. You can then gift the sale proceeds.

For more ideas on tax-smart giving strategies, contact us.

© 2016

Business owners may be able to see substantial tax savings faster by conducting cost segregation studies. These studies identify property components and their costs, allowing you to maximize current depreciation deductions by using shorter lives and speeding up depreciation rates available for the qualifying parts of the property.

Depreciation rules

Buildings generally are depreciated over 27.5 years (residential rental) or 39 years (commercial) using the straight-line method. This recovery period applies to real property, which includes buildings as well as structural components such as walls, concrete floors, paint, windows, ceilings and HVAC systems.

You may be able to write off some parts of a property faster than 27.5 or 39 years by separating the parts that aren’t structural. In some cases, you can use a 5-, 7- or 15-year rate of depreciation. There are no hard-and-fast rules for distinguishing personal property eligible for accelerated depreciation from structural components that are depreciated as part of a building. Various factors come into play, including how the property is affixed to the building, whether it’s designed to remain in place permanently, and how difficult it would be to move or remove.

Examples of personal property that can qualify for a faster depreciation deduction include:

• Decorative fixtures,
• Cabinets, shelves,
• Movable wall partitions, and
• Carpeting.

You can also depreciate the allocated portion of certain capitalized indirect or overhead costs — such as architectural and engineering fees. And land improvements that you can isolate with a cost segregation study include parking lots, sidewalks, fences and landscaping.

Consider a cost segregation study when you buy, build or remodel — or when you’ve done so within the last few years. Be aware that the overall benefits may be limited in certain circumstances, such as when a business is subject to the alternative minimum tax or located in a state that doesn’t follow federal depreciation rules. Passive activity loss rules can also defer benefits.

A cost segregation study can be an excellent way for gaining faster write-offs on real estate and construction projects. Contact us to help determine whether you can benefit.

© 2016

Review your powers of attorney at least every 5 years

Powers of attorney are critical components of an effective estate plan. After you’ve executed powers of attorney, it’s important to review them periodically — at least every five years and preferably more frequently — and consider executing new ones.

2 types

A sound estate plan should include two types of powers of attorney:

1. Financial power of attorney. Also referred to as a power of attorney for property, this document appoints someone to make financial decisions or execute transactions on your behalf under certain circumstances. For example, a power of attorney might authorize your agent to handle your affairs while you’re out of the country or, in the case of a “durable” power of attorney, incapacitated.
2. Health care power of attorney. This document, which also may go by other names, appoints someone to make medical decisions on your behalf in the event an illness or injury renders you unconscious or otherwise incapacitated and unable to make decisions for yourself.

4 reasons to review

Here are four reasons to review your powers of attorney regularly:

1. Your wishes may have changed.
2. The agent you designated to act on your behalf may have died or otherwise become unavailable. Or you may no longer trust the person you chose.
3. If you designated your spouse as your agent and later divorced, you probably want to designate someone else.
4. If you’ve since moved to another state, your powers of attorney may no longer work the way you intended. Certain terms have different meanings in different states, and states don’t all have the same procedural requirements. Some states, for example, require durable powers of attorney to be filed with the local county recorder or some other government agency.

Liability concerns

Even if nothing has changed since you signed your powers of attorney, it’s a good idea to sign new documents every few years. Because of liability concerns, some financial institutions and health care providers may be reluctant to honor powers of attorney that are more than a few years old. We’d be pleased to review your powers of attorney today and, if necessary, assist in executing new ones.

© 2016

Please go home: The problem businesses face with presenteeism

What keeps business owners up at night? Many would say sluggish productivity or escalating expenses. An employee coming to work every day usually doesn’t make the list. But a staff member who never takes a day off can cause problems by showing up sick, distracted or too stressed out to be effective. There’s a name for this problem: presenteeism.

What’s the issue?

The premise of presenteeism is simple. Employees who aren’t feeling well — for whatever reason — don’t perform well. They may:

• Work more slowly,
• Struggle concentrating or making decisions,
• Take more frequent breaks,
• Make more mistakes, or
• Need to repeat tasks until they’re completed correctly.

But it may not end there. When employees come to work while suffering from communicable diseases, such as a cold or the flu, the problem can grow exponentially. One worker coughs on two people who get sick, and they cough on four people who get sick, and so on.

Is there a cure?

Because presenteeism can stem from a gamut of sources, companies must be on guard for dips in productivity. When one occurs, managers should know how to discuss the matter with the potentially affected employees.

Your benefits program may hold the key. Both the employee and your organization may be better served if the worker takes advantage of available benefits — such as paid sick days, an employee assistance program or leave of absence — that will help him or her deal with the outside stressor causing presenteeism.

It’s also important to emphasize wellness. Many companies now offer formal wellness programs to encourage actions such as engaging in exercise, getting an annual physical and learning about healthy living.

What’s the number?

It’s much easier to detect presenteeism when you’re measuring productivity. Choose the right metrics and don’t underestimate this potentially costly threat to your profitability.

© 2016