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Christopher Wilcox
McCormick Klessig & Associates
PO Box 66
522 Clermont St.
Antigo, WI 54409
715-627-4302
cwilcox@mccormickklessig.com
www.mccormickklessig.com
About Our Firm:
 McCormick-Klessig & Assoc., Ltd. provides individuals, families, small and medium sized businesses with complete coverage of personal and business risks in all product lines: Commercial Personal Life Accidental and Health ( including group products).
QUOTES from the Masters...
On Problem Solving On Results
"Neil Armstrong once said, 'You only have to solve two problems when going to the moon: first, how to get there; and second, how to get back. The key is don't leave until you have solved both problems.'" -– Jim Rohn

"Any jackass can kick down a barn but it takes a good carpenter to build one." -- Lyndon B. Johnson

"Stop talking about the problem and start thinking about the solution." -– Brian Tracy

"Problems are good, not bad.  Welcome them and become the solution.  When you have solved enough problems, people will thank you." -– Mark Victor Hansen

 "Always focus on accomplishments rather than activities." -- Brian Tracy

"There are some things you don't have to know how it works – only that it works. While some people are studying the roots, others are picking the fruit. It just depends on which end of this you want to get in on." -– Jim Rohn

"As we act 'right,' our right results are guaranteed." -– Mark Victor Hansen

"The reward of a thing well done is to have done it." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Estate Ideas

Looking Ahead...Wills and Trusts... 

The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA 2001) made numerous changes to the federal estate tax.  These changes are being phased in from 2001 to 2010, culminating with the repeal of the estate tax in 2010.  The complicating factor for your estate planning purposes, however, is that the entire Act will automatically terminate, or "sunset," at the end of 2010 unless a future Congress extends its provisions.  If the Act sunsets, 2001 tax rules will then apply in 2011, as if the EGTRRA 2001 had never become law, meaning that the federal estate tax will be reinstated in 2011.

What impact does the repeal of the federal estate tax for one year in 2010 have on wills and trusts?

Estate Tax Repeal...

Provisions in wills or trusts may divide property based on tax provisions.

For example, in order to take full advantage of the unified credit, a will may specify that an amount equal to the unified credit equivalent be placed into a credit trust at the first spouse's death.

Since the Act repeals the estate tax for 2010, wills and trusts should be reviewed to determine that property will be distributed as intended if the estate owner dies in 2010 when there is no federal estate tax.

Transfers in Trust in 2010...

Any transfer in trust in 2010 will be treated as a taxable gift unless the trust is wholly owned by the donor or the donor's spouse under the grantor trust rules.

This may mean, for example, that transfers in trust that are not currently treated as taxable gifts, such as annual exclusion gifts and qualified transfers for educational or medical expenses, will not qualify for the gift tax exclusion in 2010 if, for example, the holder of a Crummey power (other than the donor's spouse) is treated as the owner of a portion of the trust.

Your estate plan, including wills, trusts and life insurance, should be periodically reviewed to ensure that it continues to meet your needs and objectives.
 

MESSAGES from the Masters...
PERSISTENCE by Les Brown

I believe there are three kinds of people. There are winners, who know what they want and understand their potential and the possibilities. They take life on. Next are losers, who don't have a clue as to who they are. They allow circumstances to shape their lives and their self-image.

I believe there is a third group as well. This consists of potential winners whose lives are just slightly out of alignment. I call them wayward winners. It may be that they just need to learn how to be real winners. Perhaps they've hit a bump or two that has knocked them off course and they are temporarily befuddled. A failed relationship, a lost job, financial problems, unformed goals, a lack of parental support, illness...many things can send us off course temporarily.

Wayward winners are not lost souls; they just need some tweaking and coaching and nudging to get them back on course. A map might be nice. Many of these wayward winners are easily identifiable because they are always searching.

Right now, there are many wayward winners out there braving rain, sleet and snow because they too still believe that they have untapped talents. They attend motivational seminars and listen to inspirational tapes and they plunge onward, believing that sooner or later they will find their way again.

Other wayward winners have temporarily given up. They are damaged and disoriented, their confidence badly eroded. They tend to drift through life numbly. The friends and relatives and loved ones of wayward winners see that they are out of sync and wonder why they can't be satisfied, why they don't settle down. They wonder how people who have such obvious abilities and great potential can be so disoriented and unsure.

It is difficult for others to understand the rawness of a broken heart or the aching emptiness of an unguided spirit. You and I know. We have been there. Wayward winners know that there are possibilities out there, but too often they feel locked out from them. Some are afraid to risk any more because of what they have risked and lost already.

I know now that as difficult as it may be for you wayward winners to do, it is necessary to continue to test yourselves. Even though you have been hurt before, it is the only way to grow. We all have the capacity to change, to lead meaningful and productive lives by awakening our consciousness.

You know there are going to be tough times as you go about changing your life, so brace yourself and you will be able to handle them. When you get into your seat on an airplane, what is the first thing they tell you to do? Fasten your seat belt. Brace yourself for the turbulence.

When you decide to move your life to the next level of accomplishment, you must fasten your mental and spiritual seat belts because it is going to be a while before you reach that comfortable level again. You will reach it, but you must endure the turbulence of change in order to grow.

Try this technique to help you through the difficult times of change and growth. Find four reasons why you cannot succumb to your fears and your troubles. Find those deep sources of motivation that can lift you out of the turbulence and above the clouds. You must change your life because, for example:

You have not yet tapped the talents given you. 
You want to leave something more for your children. 
You want to live life rather than letting life live you. 
You want to do what makes YOU happy. 

It is in these rocky early moments of bringing change to your life that you discover who you are. In the prosperous times, you build what is in your pocket. In the tough times, you strengthen what is in your heart. And that is when you gain insight into yourself, insight that leads to self-mastery and an expansion of your consciousness as a life-force in both your personal and professional lives. 
 

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The purpose of this newsletter is to provide information of general interest to our clients, potential clients and other professionals.  The information provided is general in nature and should not be considered complete information on any product or concept described.  For more complete information, please contact my office at the phone number above.

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