Anderson Advisors | Asset Protection & Tax Advisors Asset Protection, Estate Planning, and Tax Advisors Fri, 14 Jun 2019 21:47:23 +0000 en-US hourly 1 How to Protect Rental Real Estate from Lawsuits Tue, 11 Jun 2019 17:00:05 +0000 The post How to Protect Rental Real Estate from Lawsuits appeared first on Anderson Advisors | Asset Protection & Tax Advisors.


Investing in rental real estate can be an exciting and lucrative endeavor. Particularly in our current real estate climate, renting has become an attractive option for businesses, individuals and families in the wake of the recession.

Whether you own one small rental property or many large properties, all rental real estate investors must protect themselves from liability. Liability and legal responsibilities surrounding rental properties can be confusing or intimidating, especially if you are new to rental real estate or growing your business. This, however, by no means indicates that a new investment will be an unmanageable risk. With some knowledge and a few smart steps to minimize the risk, your investment can flourish safely. A foundational knowledge of the legal landscape will allow you to take control of liability and protect against a potentially devastating situation.

Protecting rental real estate from a legal perspective requires that you build boundaries around your assets to differentiate and distinguish between them. Boundary building will protect what happens in your personal life from your professional life, and can even help to contain various assets in your professional life from each other. Choosing the best kinds of legal boundaries available is the safest and most effective way to mitigate liability overall and protect you and your loved ones from the effects of potential lawsuits.


Considering Lawsuits Specific to Real Estate

The law recognizes real estate owners as guarantors, or the responsible party for the safety of tenants, visitors and other populations associated with a property. While this recognition within the law is intended to protect the populations of people inhabiting a premise or property, it also places a significant burden and liability on the property owner. Any injury on site, regardless of fault, tends to be the responsibility of the property owner when taken to court.

While the law intends this to protect the population from inhumane living or working conditions, it can also be applied to situations that are very challenging to foresee. If, for instance, an elderly man trips over a hole in the lawn of an office building, sustaining a head injury from the fall, the liability associated with his injury may become the responsibility of the party who owns the office building. In these kinds of unforeseen instances, on site injury liability can often quickly exceed the amount covered by insurance and a property owner may suddenly find his or her other personal or private assets at risk.

Creating boundaries between assets becomes useful in managing liability. To understand how to create these boundaries, it is important to understand inside and outside liability.


Inside Liability

Inside liability refers to the liability associated with the asset itself, or in other words, it is the risk of a lawsuit produced by a piece of real estate and the activities associated with it. Rental property will always inherently bring unavoidable inside liability with it. The dynamic nature of rental real estate increases liability and it is important to recognize just how uniquely complicated rental properties can be. This kind of business is dynamic because it involves many third parties, including buyers and sellers, as well as tenants and visitors, who all interact with the site. The property itself is also dynamic because the land, building structures and surrounding environment can all change in condition. All of these complex interactions generated by real estate creates potential inside liability that may be assumed by a property owner.

Outside liability

Outside liability refers to any potential risk that is not associated with an asset directly, but may threaten an asset. Most commonly, this form of outside threat comes from other parts of life or business that can become legally entangled with otherwise discrete activities. For instance, if you have a teenage driver who is at fault for a vehicular accident, the court will consider all assets for which you are the owner or proprietor in order to fulfill the financial responsibilities associated with the accident. Outside liability can be particularly threatening because we cannot predict exactly where it might arise from.

Here’s the good news: You are in control of what assets are susceptible to outside liability and how you contain assets. This means you can utilize the law to protect your assets and keep inside liability inside and outside liability outside.


Creating strong boundaries

Are Land Trusts Useful?

The most common and permeable property boundary recognized by the law is a land trust. A land trust may be an attractive option at first because it has a few enticing benefits, but is likely not the best option for rental real estate owners.

Simply speaking, a land trust means that the owner of a property transfers the title of a property to another party. The property owner maintains the overall management of the land, directing the trustee in all matters of affairs. This allows the property owner to remain anonymous while maintaining the ability to develop, sell and rent the property. To the public eye, however, the trust itself is listed as the holder of the property.

Land trusts are commonly used to maintain anonymity by wealthy land owners in purchases or corporations looking to buy large tracts of land for future development. This is commonly referred to as an “Illinois Land Trust.” Other forms of land trust include conservation land trusts or conservation easements, which are utilized to protect land from development or pollution.

A trust agreement can articulate the parameters of development or use, making it a reasonable legal avenue for land protection. One last form of land trust is a community land trust. This type of land trust is commonly used by non-profits or entities seeking to manifest low-income housing. This type of trust allows individuals to purchase a structure on a piece of land without purchasing the land itself, thereby decreasing the buyer’s overall purchasing cost.

Land trusts are economically attractive. In many states, land trusts are significantly cheaper than establishing an LLC or other form of protection. Additionally, land trusts have fewer specific regulations and are regulated under the state’s guidelines for trusts more generally. Individuals often find this freedom enticing because of its flexibility under the law.

This option, however, comes with a price. While land trusts may achieve some legal separation between you and a property, as well as anonymity from the public, they are more easily traced to their guarantor—the original individual who established the trust. This means the level of legal protection is minimal to potential outside liability. In the case of a lawsuit, a land trust may be considered a revocable trust and the guarantor may be responsible for giving up the property.


LLC’s and Rental Real Estate

A better option for creating appropriate legal boundaries between your assets is the use of an LLC. This option is often a greater financial investment, but much safer in the case of a lawsuit.

An LLC, or limited liability company, is a relatively new legal business distinction that incorporates some components of a partnership and some components of a corporation. LLCs are governed by ‘members’ who, like in a corporation, are not held personally responsible for debts or liabilities of the company. This is key in protecting rental real estate from potential lawsuits. Additionally, LLCs are recognized like partnerships under tax law. This is substantially less financially cumbersome and costly compared to corporations.

By investing in real estate as an LLC, you will successfully detach your personal assets from your rental real estate. When your LLC owns your rental real estate, you have effectively placed that property under the legal responsibility of the LLC, not you as an individual. Ultimately, this means you have created a safe boundary between your private life and the business associated with your rental real estate. The outside liability associated with your teenage driver now stays limited to your personal assets and the inside liability associated with your rental real estate is contained within the LLC.

LLCs and Multiple Rental Real Estate Sites

It may be even more useful to your business to create multiple LLCs associated with each rental real estate property you own. One of the issues with outside liability comes about when a lawsuit associated with one real estate site effects a second property or multiple sites.

If water damage on one site far exceeds what insurance can cover, for instance, you may be required to use other assets available within the LLC to cover that liability. By establishing multiple LLCs, you are containing the liability of each site to itself, thereby mitigating the overall financial effect of a lawsuit.

Creating separate LLCs for each property is a financial investment and can be a limiting factor for some. Ideally, multiple LLCs will create the greatest protection between inside and outside liability, but you will have to determine if the mitigated risk is worth the financial investment.

Series LLCs

A new legal option in a number of states is a series LLC. A series LLC, or SLLC, operates fairly simply: An umbrella LLC holds a number of other “series” under it. Each series acts autonomously, essentially as its own LLC, and as a liability container. This separates the liability associated with that rental real estate property from the liability of any other series.

The great benefit of this model is that while it works to contain liability, it can be substantially less expensive because it is recognized as one taxable LLC. States that have recognized this distinction include Alabama, D.C., Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah, Wisconsin, Wyoming and Puerto Rico.

You Have Control

As a rental real estate owner, you have a lot of control over limiting and mitigating the effects of potential lawsuits. By creating strong boundaries that differentiate between your precious assets, you can effectively contain inside liability and protect against outside liability. In the event that a lawsuit does arise, you can protect yourself and your family from devastating financial losses.


For guidance and assistance in choosing the best structure for your business and limiting your personal assets’ exposure to liability, contact our team at Anderson Advisors for a consultation today.

3 Steps to Create an Invisible Investor Strategy



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How to Start a Nonprofit Thu, 06 Jun 2019 20:26:43 +0000 The post How to Start a Nonprofit appeared first on Anderson Advisors | Asset Protection & Tax Advisors.


There are many reasons for starting a nonprofit. Some individuals or groups may wish to support a charity or other cause that it is important to them. Other individuals may choose a nonprofit because it offers a variety of tax and legal benefits for some organizations.

How to Start a Nonprofit

  1. Create a Leadership Team for the Nonprofit
  2. Identify and Create a Mission Statement
  3. Discuss and Draft Bylaws for the Nonprofit
  4. Complete and File Nonprofit Articles of Incorporation
  5. Apply for 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Status
  6. Obtain Federal and State Licenses and Permits
  7. Write a Nonprofit Business Plan

How much money is required to start a nonprofit? In many states, the filing fees for nonprofit Articles of Incorporation and related documents are typically less than $200.

For example, the filing fees in California for a nonprofit corporation are:

  • Nonprofit Articles of Incorporation: $30
  • California charitable registration: $25
  • Statement of information: $20
  • California Franchise Tax Board exemption: $25 ($0 for exemption request)

By contrast, the filing fees in Texas for a nonprofit corporation are:

  • Certificates of Formation: $25
  • Consent of Registered Agent to Appointment: $5
  • Nonprofit Periodic Report: $5

In addition to state filing fees, the Internal Revenue Service charges an application fee of up to $850 to apply for 501(c)(3) status.

Of course, the filing fees to incorporate a nonprofit and obtain tax-exempt status are only a small portion of the money you need to operate a nonprofit organization. Starting and operating a nonprofit are two different matters.

Once you start a nonprofit, you need capital to pay expenses related to day-to-day operations. Common operating costs incurred by a nonprofit organization include:

  • Wages and employment benefits for the Board of Directors, officers, managers, office staff, and other workers
  • Utilities, rent, equipment leases, communications, office equipment, supplies, internet, and other fixed operating costs
  • Flexible expenses such as temporary employees, advertising, rental fees, cost of fundraisers, etc.
  • Expenses directly related to the purpose of the nonprofit, such as research costs, costs related to services provided by the nonprofit, and program fees

Most nonprofit organizations strive to keep overhead and operating expenses as low as possible so that they can invest the maximum amount of money into the organization’s purpose and mission.

Can I start a nonprofit organization with no money?

Generating funds to operate nonprofit organizations can be difficult when you first start a nonprofit. However, there are ways to raise money once you start your nonprofit. Examples of ways that charitable organizations can raise money include:

  • Themed charity events: lower costs by seeking donations from local vendors, donors, and companies
  • Individual donations from the community and online
  • Federal, state, corporate, and private grants
  • Memberships
  • Annual fundraising letters for charitable donations through direct mail
  • Viral fundraising campaigns
  • Yearly pledges to generate funds throughout the year

There are many ways to generate funds to operate charity organizations. However, before you can begin to help people, follow these steps to start a nonprofit.

How to Start a Nonprofit

It is not difficult to start a nonprofit. In some cases, the hardest part of starting a nonprofit is finding like-minded individuals. Once you find a group of individuals willing to invest their time and resources into a cause important to them, the remaining steps to start a nonprofit mainly involve complying with state and federal laws and rules governing nonprofits.

1. Create a Leadership Team for the Nonprofit

A successful nonprofit is built on a strong leadership team. The group should consist of individuals who share a common vision for the nonprofit organization and a strong commitment to the nonprofit’s mission. Most nonprofits begin with a small Board of Directors, including an Executive Director, and several volunteers. Once the organization is incorporated and has sufficient funding, the board members can begin hiring staff members and provide compensation for the Executive Director.

Finding directors for your leadership team usually involves looking within a group of people who are working together to promote a common interest or to achieve a common goal. It can help to search for individuals within the group who have specific skills that may benefit the nonprofit organization to serve on the Board of Directors.

For example, does someone in your group possess legal, accounting, marketing, fundraising, or other training that would benefit the nonprofit, especially as you are organizing and forming the nonprofit organization? If so, these individuals may be perfect candidates for the leadership team and Board of Directors.

2. Identify and Create a Mission Statement

The next step is to create a mission statement. Your mission statement typically answers three important questions:

  • What is the purpose of the nonprofit organization? —What is driving the organization’s work? What issues does the nonprofit address or who benefits from the organization’s work?
  • How does the nonprofit accomplish its purpose? — What specific steps or actions does the nonprofit take that address the issue or purpose?
  • Why does the nonprofit organization do what it does? — What is the real-world impact of the nonprofit’s work?

A clearly defined mission statement is vital for a successful nonprofit because the mission statement serves as a guide for all activities of the nonprofit organization while communicating the organization’s broader purpose to the public and potential donors. The mission statement is used by the nonprofit to formulate a tagline and funding pitch.

You must be able to condense the purpose of the nonprofit into a precise statement explaining why the organization exists, who are the individuals who benefit from the organization’s efforts, and how the organization serves these individuals. A nonprofit mission statement should be memorable and make a compelling argument for the need it fills.

Remember, your mission statement is not static. The statement must be reviewed and revised to accurately reflect the current purpose and vision of the nonprofit.

3. Discuss and Draft Bylaws for the Nonprofit

Nonprofit bylaws are essential for governing the operations of the organization. Bylaws are also required to obtain tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status. The Board of Directors should work together to develop bylaws that address crucial areas of nonprofit management and organization.

Nonprofit bylaws include, but are not limited to:

  • Name and location of the nonprofit organization
  • Formal mission statement and purpose
  • Appointment and election of a Board of Directors and officers
  • The definition of leadership and staff positions, including the duties and responsibilities assigned to each role
  • Compensation and indemnification of directors
  • Creation and operation of committees
  • Rules and procedures for conflicts of interest
  • Provisions related to obtaining and retaining tax-exempt status under 501(c)(3)
  • Amendment of the bylaws
  • Dissolution of the nonprofit

The bylaws for the nonprofit are the primary official document of the organization. The bylaws govern virtually all operations. Most nonprofits make their bylaws public to increase trust from supporters, potential donors, and beneficiaries by encouraging transparency and accountability.

Because a nonprofit’s bylaws are legally binding, it can be very helpful to retain professional assistance in drafting bylaws. The legal requirements for nonprofit bylaws can vary by state. A professional with experience in nonprofit matters can ensure that the bylaws comply with all federal and state requirements and include elements that can reduce the risk of legal issues and liability in the future.

4. Complete and File Nonprofit Articles of Incorporation

What forms do you need to file to create a nonprofit?

There are several reasons why starting a nonprofit organization should begin with filing Articles of Incorporation. Reasons for forming a business entity include:

  • The IRS typically requires incorporation to receive tax-exempt status under 501(c)(3)
  • Incorporating limits the personal legal liability of the offices and directors of the nonprofit
  • Incorporating often gives nonprofit organizations additional credibility

In most cases, an organization incorporates in the state in which it intends to offer services. The nonprofit also needs to register and apply for tax-exempt status in each state in which the non-profit organization wishes to conduct business.

The process of filing nonprofit Articles of Incorporation varies slightly by state, so it is important to research the process in your state or consult a corporate attorney or nonprofit attorney to ensure everything is legal. You can also visit for more information about nonprofit requirements for each state.

Most states provide the approved forms for incorporating a nonprofit to parties who request copies. Whether you obtain forms from the state or purchase forms, it is crucial that the articles include language required by the Internal Revenue Code to obtain tax-exempt status.


After registering with the state, a nonprofit can apply for tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service. Even though the process to obtain 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status can be time-consuming, it is important that a nonprofit organization takes the time to ensure that the process of applying for exempt status is completed correctly to avoid paying federal and state taxes.

Before applying for tax-exempt status, the nonprofit must:

  • File nonprofit Articles of Incorporation and register with the state in which the organization is doing business
  • Apply for and receive an employer identification number (EIN) from the Internal Revenue Service
  • Create and execute the organization’s bylaws
  • Check for state-specific tax-exempt requirements
  • Determine the type of 501(c)(3) status that applies to the nonprofit. The type of organization determines which IRS forms you need to complete and any specific requirements necessary for tax-exempt status.

Careful attention to detail is required when completing the IRS forms for exempt status. Denial of 501(c)93) status can result from failure to submit fees or filing forms that have: missing documents, inadequate programming schedules, incomplete financial schedules, or inadequate financial data.

It is crucial that the organization follows the tax obligations and tax policies for a nonprofit organization while it awaits approval as a tax-exempt organization. Compliance with all applicable sections of the Internal Revenue Code is essential, including financial reporting protocols and obligations for tax-exempt organizations. Working with a tax expert and accountants familiar with tax laws and accounting requirements for a nonprofit corporation can help avoid tax problems, now and in the future.

6. Obtain Federal and State Licenses and Permits

Depending on the activities of the nonprofit organization, tax-exempt corporations may require one or more federal and state licenses and permits. Even though the corporation has tax-exempt status as a nonprofit organization, that status does not exempt the company from other laws.

The Board of Directions or the officers may want to assign a committee to research federal and local laws to ensure that the company has all required permits and licenses to perform the services necessary to carry out the company’s mission and purpose.

7. Write a Nonprofit Business Plan

A nonprofit business plan is a roadmap for the organization. It contains short-term and long-term goals for the organization and how the directors intend to achieve those goals. While a business plan is not legally required, creating a nonprofit business plan has numerous benefits.

The benefits of creating a business plan when you form a nonprofit are numerous. A business plan:

  • Identifies goals for the charity and establishes milestones as a pathway for reaching those goals
  • Attracts potential donors, directors, board members, volunteers, and officers
  • Supports a grant proposal to explain the nonprofit’s mission in further detail
  • Helps the organization remain on track and focused on long-term goals

Sections of a nonprofit business plan include:

  • An executive summary
  • Organizational structure
  • Management and organizational team
  • Description of services and programs
  • Marketing plan
  • Operational plan
  • Capital structure
  • Financial plan
  • Summary
  • Appendix

The business plan can be tailored to the nonprofit organization. A plan should be reviewed periodically and updated to reflect the organization’s current position and goals.

How Long Does It Take to Start a Nonprofit?

In most cases, you can start a nonprofit in just a few weeks. Most state agencies process filings for nonprofits quickly. However, obtaining 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status can take up to a year. Depending on the type of nonprofit, the process of becoming exempt can be lengthy. As mentioned above, charitable organizations should operate as a nonprofit while waiting for their 501(c)(3) status to avoid any tax problems.

Why does it take the IRS so long to approve my 501(c)(3) application?

It may seem like it is taking forever for you to receive the determination letter from the IRS after filing your 501(c)(3) application. The reason it takes so long for you to receive your determination letter could be a backlog at the Internal Revenue Service, or it could be the result of a mistake on your application for tax exempt status.

Mistakes are the most common reason for a delay in receiving exempt status. Detailed preparation is one of the best ways to avoid delays regardless of the type of nonprofit seeking exempt status. The Internal Revenue Service has compiled a list of the top 10 tips to reduce the waiting time to receive tax-exempt status for charity organizations:

  1. Always include the correct user fee. The user fee must be a money order or check payable to the United States Treasury.
  2. Corporations must include a complete copy of the nonprofit Articles of Incorporation filed with the state. For charity organizations that are not incorporated, the applicant must submit documents that demonstrate a similar organization such as bylaws, constitution, or articles of association. Remember: at least two members of the organization must sign the organizing documents. Trusts require the signature of the trustees. Verify that the organizing documents meet the organizational test under Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3).
  3. Include a detailed description of the specific activities the nonprofit will perform to achieve its purpose. A common mistake many applicants make is restating the organization’s mission statement. The information included with the 501(c)(3) request must include details of past, present, and planned activities.
  4. Do not leave any pages or information blank. Depending on the type of nonprofit organization, the required forms may contain additional schedules which must be completed in addition to completing the primary form.
  5. If a response requests supporting schedules or documentation, do not forget to include those documents with the form.
  6. Double check the ending date of your annual accounting period stated on the application. The ending date on the application should match the date on your financial statements, previously filed returns, and nonprofit bylaws.
  7. A lack of financial data can result in a delay in the approval of the tax-exempt status for a nonprofit organization. Verify that all financial data requested on Form 1023 and all schedules are included with the application.
  8. If the organization adopted a code of regulations, bylaws, or another document that describes or outlines the organization’s rules of operation, do not forget to include a copy with Form 1023.
  9. Do not forget to sign the documents. The forms require an original signature by a trustee, director, principal officer, or another authorized individual. The individual cannot be a representative, and the signature can be a stamp, electronic, or faxed signature.
  10. For each principal officer and director, include the person’s name, mailing address, title, position, and annual compensation.

It can be very helpful to have several individuals review the forms and all attachments before filing an application for tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service. Having several people review the application reduces the risk that one person overlooks an error before the package is mailed to the IRS.

What Are the Benefits of Forming a Nonprofit Corporation?

A group may work together to pursue a charitable purpose through an association or informal organization. However, there are distinct advantages to forming a nonprofit corporation versus an informal charitable organization.

For example, forming a nonprofit corporation means that the organization is a separate legal entity from the parties who formed the charity. The nonprofit organization can enter contracts and borrow money in its name. The fact that the charity is a separate legal entity protects directors and officers from personal liability for the organization’s liabilities and debts.

When you start a nonprofit, forming a nonprofit corporation can give you access to additional funding, including government, private, and grants. Some grants are only available for 501(c)(3) corporations. Incorporating also allows the charity to accept tax-deductible donations, which can increase donations from individuals and companies searching for tax deductions. Some nonprofit corporations receive discounts and exemptions from state sales and property taxes.

Like a corporation, a charity has additional credibility. Donors and companies may prefer to work with a charity that is a corporation than working with a charitable organization that has not taken steps to become tax-exempt.

Are You Ready to Start a Nonprofit?

Do you have a cause that you believe in and want to support? Are you a member of a group that believes it can make a difference in the lives of others in your community? If so, you may want to start a nonprofit to expand your efforts to help others. If you are ready to start a nonprofit, you can benefit from seeking assistance from a tax professional.

A tax lawyer can save your organization time and money by providing tax planning and support as you organize and incorporate your nonprofit and file for 501(c)(3) status. A group or individual is not required to retain an attorney or tax professional to file for tax-exempt status.

That being said, completing forms, filing various state and federal applications, and ensuring compliance with regulations and laws can reduce the time a charity has to focus on its mission and service to others. Hiring a tax professional to handle the legal aspects of incorporating the nonprofit allows you to focus on the mission of the charitable group instead of the legal aspect of setting up a nonprofit corporation.

If you have questions or require guidance with a nonprofit, contact Anderson Business Advisors at 800-706-4741 to speak with an experienced, qualified tax professional or business advisor.

3 Steps to Create an Invisible Investor Strategy



mission statement business plan Invisible Investor
11 Estate Planning Mistakes to Avoid Thu, 30 May 2019 22:22:17 +0000 The post 11 Estate Planning Mistakes to Avoid appeared first on Anderson Advisors | Asset Protection & Tax Advisors.


Planning for the end of your life can be difficult and requires careful consideration. To make matters worse, estate plans may have problems that are not apparent until it is too late. This can lead to overpaying taxes, losing control of what happens to your assets, and leaving your loved ones helpless. Here are some common estate planning mistakes that are important to avoid.

11 Estate Planning Mistakes to Avoid

  1. Not Having a Plan
  2. DIY Approach
  3. Failure to Implement Estate Tax Strategies
  4. Not Planning for Family, Heirs, and Descendants
  5. Outdated Beneficiaries and Assets
  6. Not Funding a Trust
  7. Choosing the Wrong Executor, Trustee, Co-Trustee, or Personal Representative
  8. Not Understanding Your Plan
  9. Failing to Consider the Impact on a Business
  10. Planning for Long-Term Health Care and Incapacitation
  11. Forgetting a Residuary Clause

One of the major issues facing estate planning is the estate and gift taxes that apply when assets are transferred to heirs and descendants. Until recently, the exemption amount allowed for federal estate taxes was $5 million. Estates with values over these amounts were taxed at the highest estate tax rate of roughly 40%.

Changes to Estate and Gift Taxes

The recent Tax Cuts and Jobs Act indexed the exemption to inflation and doubled the amount to a value of $11.4 million for single tax filers in 2019. Married coupled effectively each can use this exemption amount for a total of $22.8 million. These higher estate tax exemptions will exclude many estates from taxation. However, this higher exemption is set to expire after 2025, when the exemption will return to its previous level.

Be aware that gifts to others could potentially reduce the estate exemption. An individual can gift up to $15,000 per recipient each year. Married couples each can combine this amount for a total of $30,000 per recipient each year. Amounts over these will reduce the lifetime estate exemption. Your estate and gift tax exemptions are an important part of the estate planning process.

11 Estate Planning Mistakes to Avoid

Estate planning is a complicated process, and mistakes are easy to make. It’s highly recommended to consult with a professional estate planning attorney who can help you avoid the following mistakes.

1. Not Having a Plan

A major issue in estate planning is not having any plan at all. This means not having a will, a trust, or any other estate management tool. When someone dies without a will, or if their will is successfully contested, their estate and subsequent assets go through probate. This is where a court effectively decides how to handle the estate. The court bases its decisions on state and local laws, which can complicate the probate process.

Settling an estate through probate is expensive and time-consuming. The court-appointed representative will receive a fee, usually a percentage of the estate, for acting as executor. This can leave your family and heirs without access to funds for months to years. You will also not have as much of a say in how your assets are dispersed. Those who have a family business they wish to pass on to descendants could leave their business in limbo.

Different states may have different approaches to settling estates through probate. Some states have adopted the Uniform Probate Code (UPC). If you have no plan, use only a will, or have mistakes in your will or other estate planning documents, then some or all of your assets could go through probate. Generally, the court-appointed administrator will compile the assets of the estate. Then, they will notify heirs, beneficiaries, and creditors and take other required steps. The administrator is also responsible for paying bills and liabilities of the estate, such as business expenses, taxes, or rent. The administrator will disperse the assets as required by state and local laws and file required tax returns for the estate.

Another issue with not having an estate plan involves the estate and gift tax exemptions for married couples. These exemptions are not automatically combined. While some estates will not reach the double exemption of $22.8 million for a couple, when the first spouse passes, you must make a portability election on their estate tax return in order to preserve the first spouse’s exemption of $11.4 million. The easy solution here is to create an estate plan with a professional advisor. You can try to do it yourself, but this can lead to missing important steps that might invalidate your wishes.

2. DIY Approach

The DIY or “do it yourself” approach is possible for basic estate plans. This route may save you costs in the short term, but if there are any mistakes it can be disastrous. You may not know the applicable laws and legal strategies that are necessary to properly prepare your estate. There are processes and loopholes that you may qualify for that you don’t know about. You might also miss important deadlines such as those for the appeals process. Furthermore, mistakes in your will or trust documents can invalidate your estate plans and may cause your assets to go to probate court, where others will decide how your estate is managed.

Those with complex estate plans involving insurance policies, retirement accounts, and multiple bank accounts or businesses should seek professional and experienced legal help. If you have assets in multiple states or other countries, the process becomes exponentially more difficult.

3. Failure to Implement Estate Tax Strategies

There are many tax strategies you can consider for your estate plan. These strategies can save a good deal of your hard-earned money from unnecessary taxes or fees. First, consider the $15,000 gift exemption per recipient each year. This can be used to transfer assets to heirs as part of an estate plan without deducting from the lifetime estate and gift tax exemption. This $15,000 exemption is doubled for married couples to $30,000 per recipient. Although many estates will not exceed the $11.4 million exemption level for a single filer, you should still plan to manage your estate in order to protect your assets from creditors and future situations.

Investors and those with real estate must pay taxes on capital gains, which is the difference between the cost of the investment and the profit made selling it. Assets may face capital gains tax as well as an estate tax. You can structure your estate to take advantage of a tax-free step-up in basis on certain property while avoiding estate tax.

There are also many trust options to consider as part of an estate plan. You could use an AB or ABC trust to maximize your federal and state exemptions while still providing for a spouse. Other options might include setting up a charity trust or selling some assets at a loss to offset capital gains.

4. Not Planning for Family, Heirs, and Descendants

The goal of end-of-life planning is to ensure your loved ones and descendants will be taken care of after your passing. Without taking the correct steps, your loved ones may be left with nothing while waiting for a court to go through the probate process. This could lead to months of not having access to funds tied up in the estate. In the case where a spouse might be depending on those funds for rent, bills, and food, this can be a big problem. You may also have pets that you wish to be cared for after you die. If you do not plan for them, they could end up going to a shelter. Estate planning is important if you want to have a say in what happens to your possessions after you leave this world.

Leaving an inheritance for your descendants may prove to be problematic. There are those who believe a large inheritance can actually be detrimental for descendants to receive. If you do not plan carefully, the assets you leave for an heir could be squandered or plundered by creditors or an angry divorcing spouse. Personal issues may complicate matters, for example, if an heir is addicted to drugs or has other issues that make you hesitant. You can use a trust to specify the conditions that a beneficiary must meet in order to receive the entire amount or just a portion. These conditions can range from drug testing to academic achievement requirements. If you structure the trust correctly, then it will be protected from creditors and spouses and provide for the descendant.

5. Outdated Beneficiaries and Assets

A common mistake with estate planning is failing to update beneficiaries and assets. Retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and trusts have one or more beneficiaries who will receive the assets when the owner passes. There are many reasons a beneficiary can become outdated. Relationship changes, such as divorce or marriage, as well as deaths and new additions to a family, may require a beneficiary change. Similarly, a trust with a charity as a beneficiary would need to be updated if the charity closed. The consequences of failing to regularly update and check beneficiaries could be your assets end up in probate with tax implications. You could also lose liability protection on some assets.

Assets will also require periodic attention to ensure they are accounted for correctly in your estate plan. This means making sure they are included in your will and any trusts. Don’t forget to include digital assets when creating your plan. What should happen to your social media accounts, pictures, and so on? If you do not plan your estate carefully, your assets could go through probate court, be taxed heavily, and go towards fees. This could leave your estate much smaller than it needs to be. There are legal ways to plan your estate so as to shield it from unnecessary taxes and fees. The worst thing you can do is complete an estate plan, file the documents, and then forget to update them.

6. Not Funding a Trust

A trust is a valuable estate planning tool that is very versatile. You can have a revocable living trust which allows you to make changes to terms and beneficiaries and even add or remove assets. The living trust will convert to an irrevocable trust after death. You might also consider creating an irrevocable trust while alive for the benefits they can provide, but you will not be able to change this type of trust easily.

After creating the trust documents, obtaining signatures, and paying fees and other costs, a common mistake is forgetting to fund the trust. This is when you re-title assets with the trust as the owner, such as changing the beneficiary of your life insurance policy to an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) to shield those funds from estate taxes. It can be a time consuming and laborious process, but a vital one, since any assets left out of the trust will be included in the estate and may go through the costly and slow probate process. If this happens, you will have wasted all the time and money spent on setting up the trust.


Another unfortunate mistake is when the wrong executor is chosen to manage your estate. There are plenty of horror stories where unscrupulous people have stolen from the estate they were managing for someone else. The person or people you select to handle your estate will have many responsibilities beyond dispersing your assets. They will also alert government agencies and submit a death certificate, notify creditors, pay liabilities, and much more. Be careful who you choose to handle any aspect of your estate and what power they will have. Pick someone you trust to manage your affairs in the way you intend. You may also want to consider age and health as important factors. There are companies that offer trust management services. These can be especially useful for family or dynasty trusts which can exist through multiple generations of a family.

Another option is choosing an overseas trust management company, which carries certain advantages and disadvantages. You will need to be careful to ensure you follow all federal and state laws. Some states do not recognize the validity of trusts managed in other states and may include those assets in your estate value anyway. A trustee manages a trust and will act to carry out the wishes you specify in the trust documents. The language and wording you use in the trust documents allow versatility and specification. You can also specify successor trustees in case a trustee becomes incapacitated or no longer wishes to run the trust.

8. Not Understanding Your Plan

Having an estate plan is important, but equally important is actually taking the time to study the plan and have an attorney clarify any parts you might not understand. Misunderstanding aspects of your estate plan can leave you acting contrary to what would be in your best interest. You might forget to fund a trust, file certain paperwork, let beneficiaries lapse, and so on. This can lead to future assets being excluded from the plan. You also may not be able to communicate the plan effectively to a spouse or heirs. Others may try to take advantage of any areas you don’t understand, and you may end up overspending or going through the estate planning process multiple times. You could wind up paying unnecessary taxes or have assets transferred to the wrong beneficiary.

Changes to laws, such as the recent Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, can drastically impact your estate plan and how you might want to arrange your assets. Not understanding your plan can lead to missing important changes and could put your assets in jeopardy. A professional tax attorney can help you understand your estate plan and what steps you will need to take to stay up to date.

9. Failing to Consider the Impact on a Business

A family business or a business that you wish to include in your estate requires careful management. There are bills, rent, payroll, and taxes to consider in addition to the normal business operations. The probate process can delay business decisions and leave your company in limbo for months. Not only that, but the business could be considered part of the estate if the right steps are not taken. This could subject the business to the high estate tax requiring assets to be liquidated or the business to be sold to make the payment.

Instead, you could place the company in trust or utilize another method to minimize taxes and to pass the business on to the right person. In the case of partnerships, you could consider buy-sell agreements which formalize a plan if an owner dies. Some company plans allow partners to buy the deceased partner’s stock. It may also be a good idea to consider life insurance policies for owners to pay for the stock buybacks. In some situations, there are tax strategies to consider which can defer or lower taxes.

10. Planning for Long-Term Health Care and Incapacitation

A will is a useful and necessary document for estate and end of life planning. However, this is not an all-inclusive document. What happens to your estate and assets if you become incapacitated? In the case of mental illness or unconsciousness, who will manage your affairs and make medical decisions? It can be a lengthy process to obtain court permission for action through the legal system. Instead, you can include wording in a trust that allows the trustee to step up and start managing right away. The trustee can also ensure your spouse or loved ones are taken care of according to your wishes. You may also consider a healthcare power of attorney or a limited power of attorney. Giving anyone a general power of attorney over your affairs can be problematic, so be wary of this route.

A major problem for the elderly is the high costs of medical care in the United States. Those who pursue assisted living or other long-term care facilities often lean on government aid for these services, especially when on a limited retirement income. Without an estate plan, the assets you wanted to leave for your heirs may end up going towards medical bills and related costs. An irrevocable trust could help protect certain assets from being considered by Medicare and thus allow more of your estate to be passed on in the manner you wish. Talk to a professional estate advisor about the differences between an irrevocable and revocable trust.

11. Forgetting a Residuary Clause

Another common mistake is to forget to include a residuary clause in your will. A residuary clause is a component of a will that can be included to act as a back-up for any assets that are missed or not included in the will at the time of death. Without this clause, or if an asset is contested, then the asset may fall under intestacy law and probate. If you do not have a will, or if you are using other estate planning tools, you may still want to draft a will. You can use this will and the residuary clause as a catch-all for those assets not accounted for elsewhere. The best way to ensure your assets are protected is to consult with a professional attorney to set up your estate plan.

Estate Planning Mistakes to Avoid

The end-of-life planning process can be an unpleasant subject for some, but it’s vitally important. Estate planning mistakes can lead to expensive and time-consuming probate processes, higher taxes, fees, and assets not going where you intended. Not having a plan or attempting to do it yourself can lead to errors that can invalidate your legal documents and lead back to probate and a loss of control. You might also miss important tax saving strategies and have your assets subject to high estate tax and other issues.

The basics of estate planning include using a will and trusts and perhaps even powers of attorney to ensure you are covered for any situation, from incapacitation to death. Proper planning allows you to take care of your loved ones and provide an inheritance to your heirs. However, it is easy to forget to fund a trust or update beneficiaries. This is common when the estate plan is not understood or forgotten. It is also important to consider what will happen to your business. Mistakes can lead to your business being sold to pay high taxes and fees. Another common estate planning mistake is failing to consider long-term health care or incapacitation and the impact on your estate. Finally, make sure to include a catch-all will with a residuary clause. It is in your best interest to consult with an estate planning lawyer to carefully plan for every element of your estate and how you want your assets to be handled after you leave this world.

3 Steps to Create an Invisible Investor Strategy



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Top 5 Bookkeeping Tips for Real Estate Investors Tue, 21 May 2019 22:44:55 +0000 The post Top 5 Bookkeeping Tips for Real Estate Investors appeared first on Anderson Advisors | Asset Protection & Tax Advisors.


Bookkeeping. It’s not the first topic that comes to mind when you’re looking to invest in real estate; however, it is an essential part of managing and owning property. It may even be the most important part, as good bookkeeping can keep a company in the black. Keeping accurate books isn’t complicated, but it can be time consuming. The most important factor a good bookkeeping system can help you understand is your return on investment (ROI). Positive ROI factors, or gains, are monthly income, appreciation or gains, and tax write-offs. Negative ROI factors include maintenance bills, damages, mortgage payments, and taxes. Any real estate investment is going to have its share of both positive and negative ROI factors, and you should be as prepared as possible, should the unexpected occur.

Understanding these factors and tracking them diligently can help keep your real estate business profitable. An organized bookkeeping system should allow you to track net profits and losses, annual gain or loss, analyze business property value, determine successful business plans, prepare annual taxes quickly and easily, generate data, and more. Listed below are the top five bookkeeping tips for novice real estate investors.

 1. Keep Your Business and Personal Accounts Separate

 One of the most important aspects of real estate investment bookkeeping is to keep all business expenses completely separate from your personal expenses. If you are an LLC, this is a legal requirement. Even if you’re not an LLC, keeping your personal expenses and your business expenses together is not a great idea. Should you be audited by the IRS, the IRS will have to look through all of your personal expenses as well as your business expenses for evidence regarding your tax claims, which can be a harrowing experience.

A good place to start is by opening a separate bank account and a credit card in the name of the business or property, as this makes accounting easier. You can track cash flow in and out of your property’s account, and thoroughly track month-to-month revenue, which helps you gain a better understanding of your business’ needs. You can use this information to generate reports, which we will discuss the importance of later in the article. Most importantly, by creating a separate bank account, your personal assets and tax documents will not come under fire in the event of an IRS audit.

2. Track Your Expenses by Creating a Book and Supporting Documents

 Tracking all of your expenses and setting up your ‘book’ can be time consuming at first, but you will reap the rewards later on. A book is a record (be it soft or hard copies) of every financial transaction your business makes. A book can easily be kept using an Excel spreadsheet. If you create your own bank account for your business (see tip #1) and have a debit card or credit card for your business, it is easy to track your expenses online and place them into your Excel spreadsheet. You can also utilize helpful software systems like Quickbooks to keep track of rent payments and your expenses.

Supporting documents consist of all of the receipts, or proof, of every financial transaction notated in your book. Like your book, supporting documents can either be hard copies, like a filing cabinet, or soft, computerized copies. Whether hard or soft, your supporting documents should be organized per annum.

A good way to get started is to create annual files for the following: proof of expenses, bank statements, credit card statements, tax return documents, insurance documents, contracts, leases, and other property documents. If you are keeping hard receipts, be sure to write the purpose for the receipt on top of the receipt with the date of purchase, if it is not already stated, so you know what you were spending money on and when.

Supporting documents provide evidence in the event of a tax audit by the IRS that you the expenses you claimed for your business are valid. Although there are advantages and disadvantages to hard copies, having mobile bookkeeping is convenient because you can keep your records up-to-date in real time, as they occur. Although the set-up of a book can be time consuming, the upkeep of your book should be quick and easy.

3. Track and Itemize all Income and Expenses

Keeping track of monthly costs and profits is essential for a successful business. Each profit or cost must be accounted for and categorized correctly. The IRS actually defines different expense categories to aid in itemization:

  • Advertising
  • Auto and Travel Expenses
  • Cleaning and Maintenance
  • Commissions
  • Insurance
  • Legal and Other Professional Fees
  • Management Fees
  • Mortgage Interest Paid to Banks, etc.
  • Other Interest
  • Repairs
  • Supplies
  • Taxed
  • Utilities
  • Depreciation Expenses
  • Other

It is important that you file your expenses under one of the categories listed above, as it will be easier to prove these expenses to the IRS should you be audited. Anything that doesn’t quite fit into a category can be filed under the ‘other’ category. Finances should be tracked monthly, and then filed into annual folders. This is where soft copies of documents come in handy; categorizing receipts can happen instantly on a mobile device, as opposed to sitting down and creating a spreadsheet for a large amount of receipts later. Waiting to figure out net profit at the end of the month creates a larger margin for error.

Another important item to track the interest on loans. You need to track the monthly amount that you owe, payment due dates, any changes in interest rates, and the amount of time until the loan is paid off in entirety. Additionally, you should be aware of any expenses that can be deducted from taxes and provide evidence for any write-offs. Working with a good team of financial advisors can help you understand potential tax breaks and perks.

4. Make Sure your Book Matches your Bank Account

Although this seems like a no-brainer, you’d be surprised at how many errors can occur between your book and your bank account. The process of matching your books to your bank account is called bank reconciliation. Making sure your receipts match the amount debited from your account is imperative. Mistakes happen, and companies can overcharge you, or even charge you twice! This can occur more often than you think and can help your business save a lot of money by catching errors. Another way bank reconciliation helps your investment business is by double-checking your books and making sure that you recorded everything correctly and making sure your bank balances match with the cash flow from your profits and losses. Bank reconciliation is, essentially, a triple-check to ensure that all of your numbers are correct. Although it can appear tedious, this triple-check is essential to any well-run investment business. Bank reconciliation catches errors and helps you visualize your true state of financial affairs.

5. Generating Solid Profit-Loss Reports

After creating a book with supporting documentation, opening bank accounts to track expenses, itemizing profits and losses, and bank reconciliation, you’re ready to create accurate reports. Reports are a quick reference point to determine how well your business is running. A profit-loss report is a quick reference for all income and expenses, and any profit (or loss) that may have occurred as a result. This report can be generated monthly, quarterly, and annually, and will very clearly display the profitability or depreciation of your business.

Your profits and losses report should include operating earnings, or the profit made before income and tax. Operating earnings is not to be confused with net income, which is the sum income after taxes and expenses. From this data, you can generate all kinds of visual displays, like graphs, which can clearly show fiscal trends from year to year. You can also learn invaluable things, like objects of expenditure, or looking at which items cost more money, which will help to save you money in the future. Some profits and losses reports include sales volume as well, or the number of total units (in this case, real estate) sold during a particular time period.


Getting started in real estate investing can feel overwhelming but following these tips will get you started on the right track. Although correct bookkeeping can feel tedious at first, it will make your business run smoothly, and aid you in decreasing errors and increasing profit. Perhaps the most important thing to track, however, are your goals for the future. Real estate is a long-term, not short-term game, and identifying where you want to be in five to ten years from now can help you get achieve your goals. Keep in mind that the best businesses are built with a good foundation.

Anderson Advisors are here to help you maintain profitability in your business, from bookkeeping to tax advice. For advice regarding your specific circumstances, please reach out to our experienced and knowledgeable team at 1-800-706-4741, or send us an e-mail We will use our years of experience to guide you in establishing your real estate investments and assist you in making well-informed business decisions for you and your property.

3 Steps to Create an Invisible Investor Strategy



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How to Invest in Real Estate and Maximize Tax Deductions Fri, 17 May 2019 23:14:24 +0000 The post How to Invest in Real Estate and Maximize Tax Deductions appeared first on Anderson Advisors | Asset Protection & Tax Advisors.


There are plenty of ways, some less obvious than others, to maximize your tax deductions as a real estate investor, but choosing the best strategies requires research, knowledge, and guidance. From the very beginning, you should make sure to keep meticulous records of all of your investments and expenses, and wherever you are in the process of real estate investment, you can likely improve your record keeping system. When you are ready to file your taxes, you will need to submit itemized deductions to most optimally minimize your tax liability. Although standard deductions are tempting because they are faster, itemized deductions with support can be much more financially beneficial.

Generally speaking, taxes are meant to only come out of the profit you have accrued from assets like real estate in a year. The process of maximizing tax deductions is really a process of determining what you actually made in a year and informing the IRS of the expenses you had to manage, so that you are not held accountable for an income you did not receive. Furthermore, real estate investors have special opportunities to take advantage of other tax benefits specific to real estate property like depreciating assets and avoiding capital gains taxes.

Let’s take a look at some deduction opportunities you should be aware of when filing taxes as a real estate investor:

Interest Deductions

Interest deductions are often the best way to maximize tax deductions. Depending on how you paid for your real estate, you may be paying interest from several sources. This may be interest paid on a mortgage, loan, credit line, points or loan origination fee, etc. While you cannot deduct the portion of payment you are making toward the principal, you can deduct the portion you pay in interest on your taxes. This may be a significant amount. For example, if you are paying a monthly mortgage of $1,000 and $700 of that is going toward your principal, while $300 is paid in interest, this monthly payment of $300 is tax-deductible. Over a year of paying $300 a month, this will accrue to $3,600 of tax-deductible expenses.

Points and loan fees are also deductible. While you cannot deduct the amount that you paid as a down payment, you can deduct any fees associated with taking out the loan.

Other often forgotten interest deductions include interest paid on any unsecured loans or credit card lines used for expenses related to your real estate. Unsecured loans can be tricky to deduct and often require the assistance of an accountant or lawyer. Deducting these expenses, however, can be lucrative. The general idea is that any interest paid on a loan used toward the property is deductible. Any interest paid on a credit line that was used to pay for associated costs to a rental property is also deductible. If you purchased a new oven for a property with a credit card, the interest paid on the monthly payment is tax-deductible.

Pass-through deduction

The pass-through deduction is probably the most exciting and newest deduction on the list. While it is not specifically for landlords or real estate investors, the deduction comes through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and applies to any individual who has business income that is reported on their personal tax return, such as LLC’s, sole proprietorships or partnerships. This pass-through deduction is a 20% deduction on taxable business income. The deduction will be effective from the beginning of 2018 and will expire in 2026. It is applicable in a straightforward way for incomes up to $157,500 or $315,000 for joint filers. Incomes over these figures get a little interesting and will likely require a professional to help determine how each specific situation can benefit.

Maintenance and Materials deductions

The IRS distinguishes any expense that is ordinary and necessary for the overall function and well being of a rental property as tax-deductible. This includes expenses that you as the owner pay toward materials and maintenance done to the building, as long as it is not considered improvement of the property structures.

When maintaining your property, there are a few ways to navigate the tax system. As a rule of thumb, replacing or repairing just what was damaged that year will be tax deductible in its entirety in that year. For example, if you replace a section of roof that is leaky or repair a section of a ceiling from water damage, the entire cost can be deducted. If the maintenance you do is an improvement to a property, it will be filed as a depreciation deduction instead.

Depreciation deductions

The depreciation of a property is the recognition of wear and tear on a building over time and treating this like a yearly expense. There are two ways depreciation can come into play for a real-estate owner. The first involves the house or structures as an asset. For residential rental properties, the property is considered to depreciate or wear down in 27.5 years and for some commercial buildings the IRS recognized depreciation to occur over the course of 15 years. To calculate the depreciation value, you take the value of the building and divide it by 27.5 years (or 15 depending on your IRS distinction). That amount is tax deductible. It is important to note that this deduction is applicable only to property that you own for over a year.

The second way depreciation comes into play involves an improvement or update to a property. The IRS makes a distinction between maintenance and improvement by qualifying improvement as something that enhances an asset, restores an asset or adapts an asset to another use. So, if you decided to replace the entire leaky roof instead of just the portion of leaky roof that needed immediate attention, you will not be able to deduct the entire cost of the repair because this is considered an improvement to the building. Instead, the cost of the roof will be divided by 27.5 years (the number of years
the IRS recognizes a property to depreciate over time) and just that much will be eligible each year for tax deductions for 27.5 years.

Property tax deductions

Property taxes are often substantial, particularly if you live in an urban area, and they are deductible. Property taxes can be deducted both for your private residence and any rental property you own. It is important to note that if you purchase a property and agree to pay outstanding property taxes, this will be included with the overall cost of the property and not included in deductible property taxes. Under new tax changes effective January 2018, the total deductible state and local tax deductions on income tax, inclusive of property tax, is now limited to $10,000 a year. You should verify the property tax rate you are responsible for and can deduct.

There are several ways to benefit more effectively from your tax deduction. By prepaying property taxes, you may be able to collect on property tax deductions sooner. Also, be aware that if you invested in a property this year, you may have paid deductible taxes in the original paperwork, even if you were billed later for taxes. This separate tax bill is an adjustment, not a final amount. Be sure you are including all taxes you paid on a property to maximize the deduction.

1031 exchanges

A 1031 exchange is one of the smartest ways to simultaneously bypass taxes and grow a real estate business. If it is time to sell a property, filing a 1031 exchange allows you to use all of the profit from the sold property to buy another property tax free. You can immediately reinvest the profit from one property into another and pay no taxes on the reinvested property. In order to qualify for this, there are several rules that must be abided by, including being a long-term investor as opposed to a short-term investor or house flipper. This means you must own the property for over a year. In addition, the property must be a “like-kind asset”, meaning that it is a similar kind of property, and be of equal or greater value to the relinquished property. You must identify your replacement property within 45 days of selling your relinquished property. You must additionally close on the replacement property within 180 days and, unfortunately, you cannot touch the money you are reinvesting. If you plan ahead, however, this option can be enormously beneficial to a growing business.

Putting it all into practice

From the onset, keeping track of expenses and profit will always be a benefit in maximizing tax deductions, so that you are set up to determine a thorough list of itemized deductions. By maintaining these records, it will become much easier to find ways in which the costs associated with your real estate assets can be deducted and maximized. There are surprising places to find and squeeze out greater deductions and it is worth the effort and time to find these places. Getting help and support from a professional to ensure that your taxes are properly prepared, and deductions are maximized is also a smart action to take.

Our team at Anderson Advisors would be happy to set up a consultation with you to ensure that you are saving the most in taxes and taking advantage of every opportunity to minimize your tax liability. Contact us today!

3 Steps to Create an Invisible Investor Strategy



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