Senior Issues

Free Tax Help Available from the IRS

With tax season upon us, it’s easy to become overwhelmed preparing your filings. But despite the bad rap it gets, the Internal Revenue Service is trying to help people readying returns.

As part of its partnership with community organizations, the IRS is opening nearly 12,000 free tax preparation sites for people earning less than $49,000. While the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program offers free tax preparation services, the IRS also offers a Tax Counseling for the Elderly program for those 60 or older.

By bringing photo ID, valid Social Security cards and wage earning statements, taxpayers can be accommodated for free. For more information about the VITA and TCE programs, and locations, visit www.irs.gov or call 800-906-9887.

Value of a Community Bank

During Uncertain Times

By William J. Smigiel

As news on the financial industry continues to become more tumultuous every day, community banks remain solid. This has been the case throughout many of the ups and downs our nation’s financial institutions have faced over the years, but it is highly significant these days. It can be said that one of the many reasons community banks have remained steadfast is that they focus on cultivating relationships and that they take a more personal approach to service.

With everything going on these days; from news of bailouts and being “too big to fail,” to the continual news on the instability of larger banks and financial institutions, community banks largely avoid this negative attention. And, in light of the recent “Move Your Money” campaign touted by many in the national media, a strong belief in the solidity of community banks is growing across the country. Most community banks have made the right decisions and focused efforts in the correct direction. For many, community banks remain the most logical decision when choosing a place to put your money.

Creating relationships with customers keeps community banks strong in days when the level of unrest throughout the entire financial industry is so high, and when grassroots movements to leave the “big” banks are popping up in the news. Community banks aren’t subject to the scorn of being bailed-out with federal tax dollars; because most never made the questionable business decisions to necessitate a bail-out. Not only this, but the fact that community banks provide a face to their name goes leaps and bounds above what big banks will do if you think about it.

Community bank customers are loyal, and for good reason. They like that a bank has a familial feel and staff that know customers personally. It creates a tangible and solid reality for customers in a world where financial services can be downright frightening.

By providing these services and qualities, and remaining a physically solid institution in the community, it is possible for community banks to remain an advantageous choice that customers prefer over larger, big-name institutions. The overall quality of service is what I attribute to their many years of success and their ability to weather the current storm we see everyday in the financial news. I believe there is so much others can learn from community banks and that can be used to persevere in these uncertain times.

William J. Smigiel is Chairman and CEO, Liberty Bank for Savings. He is also past president, Polish Savings and Loan League; former director, Illinois League of Savings Associations; and former director, Chicagoland Association of Savings Institutions.

Don’t Let the Tax

Tail Wag the Dog

By Ellen Gay Moser, Attorney at Law

When we discuss estate planning, we often focus on saving taxes and avoiding probate. The primary focus should be on what you want to accomplish. What are your goals? Do you want to protect your family values? Do you want to decide who gets the kids? Don’t you want to express your wishes as to who gets what and when they get it?

Saving on taxes is an important goal, but you should not focus on that first. That is backwards or upside down planning. First, you must ask who will take care of me, my family, my finances, if I cannot. How will you provide for your family and maintain their lifestyle if you are disabled or deceased? Yes, doing tax planning is a must, just not the first thing to do.

If you want to protect your loved ones from predators, and well meaning friends and relatives, and prevent family hardship, prepare your estate plan with a Revocable Living Trust naming trustees to manage the money at your death and disability, plus a Pour Over Will designating guardians to raise your children and personal representatives to settle your estate.

Well meaning advisors have promoted protecting your assets by moving them offshore, or into domestic asset protection trusts, when you have not done basic estate planning with wills and trusts. When you die without a will you have no control over what happens to your kids and how or when your minor children or grandchildren take their shares.

Now is a good time to take a good look at your assets, how you have beneficiaries designated, and what you have planned for the protection of yourself and your family. Will your spouse and children pay taxes when they inherit your assets? Have you planned to minimize death taxes? Do your goals include planning to protect family members from divorcing spouses, creditors, lawsuits, or illness?

You have options. You can do nothing! You can do your planning backwards. You can accomplish your estate planning goals with the proper legal tools and advice from a qualified estate planning attorney. Ellen Gay Moser counsels individuals and families “to Protect Family Values for Generations.” Your plan can be designed with you and your goals in mind. If you want to find out how to plan the right way, plan to attend our next Estate Planning Seminar. Call 630-305-7540 or email egmoser@ gmail.com.