News & Press

Barjes Angulo Qualifies for Million Dollar Round Table's "Court of the Table"

New York Life Leads Million Dollar Round Table for the 6th Consecutive Year, click here.

2016 Four Under Forty Award

Barjes is one of the recipients of Advisor Today’s 2016 Four Under Forty. The award goes to outstanding NAIFA members who achieve excellence in the financial industry before the age of 40, click here.

El Diario Artículo

Barjes Angulo Profesional de Servicios Financieros New York Life Insurance, click here.

NAIFA Client Cast

Through our affiliation with NAIFA, our clients have access to weekly podcasts about interesting and relevant financial topics. To listen to your first NAIFA Client Cast podcast, click here.

Barjes Angulo Honored with Entrepreneurial Excellence Award

Barjes was honored by the Latino Leaders in New York City on October 8, 2014 as a leader in the Latino Entrepreneurial Market. To see his photo and read a little about his award, visit page 75 of the magazine.

Barjes Angulo Featured as a Leader in the Latino Community for New York Life

Our Blog

Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust

Posted on June 8th

An irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) can be a useful vehicle to hold life insurance policies outside the grantor’s taxable estate. When an insured owns a life insurance policy on his/her life, the insured controls and has ownership rights over the life insurance, but the policy will be included in the insured’s taxable estate. However, by giving up control and ownership over coverage held within an ILIT, death proceeds may be removed from the grantor's estate, reducing the grantor’s estate tax obligation and providing numerous other benefits. Although there are many advantages of using an ILIT, generally, the trust is appropriate when the grantor would like to utilize the gift tax annual exclusion amount to pay policy premiums, remove life insurance from the estate, leverage the generation-skipping tax (GST) exemption, and to provide asset protection for trust beneficiaries.

Posted on May 21st

The use of asset protection strategies has gained the attention of wealthy Americans over the years as the legal system has become increasingly subject to unwarranted litigation. As a result, creditor protection can play a significant role in planning for many individuals.

Posted on April 25th

Effective January 1, 2018, the Tax Act amended the deduction limitations under Internal Revenue Code §162(m) for executive compensation. The specific changes include: (1) elimination of the “qualified performance-based” pay exception to the $1 million deduction limitation on compensation for “covered employees” and (2) expansion of the scope of §162(m) so that more companies and individuals are now subject to the limitation. These changes present several technical and/or practical challenges for companies subject to §162(m) as they await further IRS guidance on these issues.

Posted on April 14th

The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 extended prior law for certain income tax rates; however, it also increased income tax rates on upper income earners. Specifically, an inflation adjusted top income tax bracket of 39.6% applies in 2017 to income above $470,700 for married couples filing jointly or $418,400 for single taxpayers.

Posted on March 11th

The permanent versus term life insurance debate has gone on for years, as if it were possible to say that one type of coverage is better than the other. But when it comes to insurance, one size doesn’t fit all.

Posted on February 24th

To limit the appeal of an out-of-state move, states with higher income, sales, and/or property taxes are exploring ways to reduce the impact of the new limit on the federal income tax deduction for state and local taxes (“SALT”) on their individual residents.

Posted on February 16th

Each state has its own rules for establishing or terminating income tax residency; some use an objective test that counts days spent in the state, while others apply a subjective test that looks at the individual’s overall state connections. The issue becomes more complicated if a family retains ties with the old state, such as splitting residency between spouses or maintaining a child in a school...

Posted on February 2nd

The new tax reform legislation enacts a 20% income tax deduction based on the “qualified business income” of an owner of a business structured as a sole proprietorship or pass-through entity. If the deduction can be fully utilized, it will result in a marginal rate on qualified business income of 28% for a typical taxpayer and 29.6% for those in the top tax bracket. Yet, the deduction is subject to numerous requirements...

Posted on January 10th

The need for cash in any successful business has always been strong. Cash may not be readily available today for financing sales or operational lines of credit. A lack of cash can add risk to your business because you can become more dependent on others.

Posted on December 22nd

Irrevocable trusts are core legacy planning tools that serve a multitude of planning purposes, such as providing liquidity for estate expenses and financial security for the grantor’s family, including the lifetime support of a spouse (with indirect support of the grantor through spousal distributions). When spouses or other related parties create trusts for the benefit of each other, however, they must proceed cautiously to avoid violation of the so-called “reciprocal trust doctrine,” which can defeat the legacy planning benefits of the irrevocable trusts by “unwinding” the trusts and causing inclusion of the trust assets in the donor’s estate or attributing gifts made by others to the grantor.

Posted on November 20th

Impending tax reform and questions regarding the future of the estate and GST tax create substantial incentives for acquiring life insurance as a means of creating certainty and stability for a long-term trust plan. While tax law changes may come and go, the family legacy remains protected. Ensuring proper treatment of the trust for generation skipping transfer (“GST”) tax purposes, however, is critical to fulfilling these long-term legacy planning objectives.

Posted on November 8th

Regardless of your level of wealth, the failure to establish an estate plan can be detrimental to your family. A properly structured estate plan helps ensure that your family and financial goals are addressed during your life, if incapacitated, and after your death. The following provides an introductory discussion regarding essential planning individuals should consider, as well as an overview of lifetime gifting strategies and longterm trust planning.

Posted on October 23rd

Supplemental life insurance for retirement planning (“SLIRP”) uses a life insurance policy structured to generate a tax-deferred cash flow during retirement. This technique may be extremely useful for those wishing to explore additional options to supplement traditional retirement income sources. Note, however, that all life insurance decisions should be made with a view toward death benefit protection needs.¹

Posted on September 17th

A power of attorney is a document that allows a person (known as the "Principal") to appoint another person or organization to handle his or her affairs while he or she is unavailable or unable to do so. The person or organization the individual appoints is referred to as an "Attorney-in-Fact" or "Agent."