While admitting he's an idealist, in his latest post, Mike Patton also calls himself a realist and sees a real problem, for the industry, when getting a commission comes before helping the client.

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DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
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No one need be extremely wealthy anymore to participate in charitable giving through donor advised funds (DAFs), but they can be, and some participants have endowed their DAFs with enough assets to easily support a foundation. Yet donor advised funds have become so easy to use, so liberal in what they accept as donated assets, and so great at helping donors vet organizations they’d like to gift to, that it’s tempting to abandon the idea of a foundation altogether.

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DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

A career of working with clients has taught us all that peace-of-mind planning trumps tax planning every time.

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DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

Charles Schwab Corp. announced Nov. 20 that it would sell its U.S. Trust unit to Bank of America for $3.3 billion in cash in a deal that should close in the second quarter of 2007, assuming it passes the necessary regulatory hurdles. Schwab said it would record a pre-tax gain of $1.9 billion on the sale, and that after-tax proceeds would amount to $2.5 billion.

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DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

The T. Rowe Price Program for Charitable Giving, a national donor-advised fund, has reduced its annual administration fee, effective September 1, 2006, by varying amounts on asset balances of $500,000 or more.

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DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

Advisors are hailing the recently passed pension reform legislation as a treasure trove of goodies that’s long overdue. The whopping 900-page legislation, called the Pension Protection Act of 2006, passed both the House and Senate and brings more certainty to defined benefit plan funding rules, while also enabling individuals to continue contributing at higher rates in their 401(k) and IRA retirement savings plans.

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DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

Careless treatment of retirement plan assets at the owner’s death could cost beneficiaries hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax-deferred growth. However, even those with moderate wealth can create a significant income stream for their beneficiaries by harnessing the power of the Stretch IRA strategy, a variant on the ordinary Individual Retirement Account. Not only does the Stretch IRA strategy offer tax-deferred growth, retirement income, and legacy planning benefits to retirees and their families, but the concept also provides opportunities to investment advisors who can knowledgeably implement it.

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DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

Your clients likely appreciate how you have helped them amass their nest egg. Feeling more secure, their focus may well shift to determining how to pass along those assets to their heirs. Many clients have concentrated wealth within retirement accounts that they will not need to spend during their lifetimes. It is your job to help your clients decide how to handle those assets. Should they just name their spouse, children, or a trust as beneficiary? What are the tax ramifications of passing on retirement accounts?

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DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

While giving may come from the heart, it's the advisor's job to see that his clients also do it with their heads

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DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

Forget the political uncertainty over the estate tax—every planner should know these 12 top tools of estate planning

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DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com