November/December 2010

December Meeting: Kent Noard on Tax Updates

Plan to attend the Tuesday, December 7 meeting to hear Kent Noard speak on tax updates and reviewing your clients' tax returns. Kent's web site describes his background as follows:

Kent E. Noard is the principal of KLN Financial Group and has been in private practice since 1981, providing tax preparation and planning, and financial planning and consulting. He is an Enrolled Agent, enrolled to practice before the Internal Revenue Service. This allows him to represent clients before the IRS and the Franchise Tax Board. He is a member of the National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA) and the California Society of Enrolled Agents (CSEA).

Kent is also a Certified Financial Planner® and a member of the Financial Planning Association (FPA). He has served as President and Chairman of the Board of the Silicon Valley Society and is a former member of the National Board of Directors of the ICFP, one of the predecessors of the FPA.

Kent is an instructor and coordinator of the PFP Certificate program at the University of California at Santa Cruz Extension. The certificate program is accredited by the CFP Board of Standards, allowing students who complete the program to sit for the CFP examination. At UC Extension, he teaches the Income Tax Planning and Practicum courses, and has previously taught the Survey of Personal Financial Planning, Mathematics of Financial Planning and Employment Benefits and Retirement Planning classes. He has also taught classes on Individual Income Taxation in the graduate finance program at Golden Gate University and the undergraduate program at National University.

Prior to entering private practice, Kent was employed with the Internal Revenue Service. During his career with the IRS, he was a collection representative, an office auditor, a revenue agent, and the Assistant Tax Shelter Coordinator for the San Francisco District.

Kent has made presentations on taxes, tax planning, and financial planning to: DeAnza College Senior seminars, the Silicon Valley Chapter of the FPA, the FPA Northern California Regional Financial Planning Conference, the East Bay Chapter of the FPA, the San Francisco Chapter of the FPA, the East Bay Chapter of the Taxation Committee of the California Society of CPA’s, the Santa Clara County Estate Planning Council, and the Peninsula Estate Planning Council.

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October Meeting: Identity Theft

The October meeting featured Detective Sergeant Sherman Hall of the Atherton Police Department speaking on identity theft. Sherman is an Atherton/Menlo Park resident who has a background in computer forensics and high tech crime. He is a former member of the Bay Area REACT Task Force.

Identity theft is often in the news, in part because criminals are constantly finding new ways to steal your identity. California ranks 4th in the nation in reported identity theft cases with over 40,000 cases reported in 2009 alone. Sherman pointed out that the biggest problem for the victims of identity theft is usually the amount of time it takes to fix resulting problems. Top identity theft crimes include credit card fraud, employment-related fraud, government document or benefits fraud, phone and utilities fraud, and bank/check fraud.

Identity theft is popular among criminals because it is a relatively low-risk high-yield crime. The average bank robber gets $3,000 to $5,000 per robbery. It’s high risk, it's personal, and you are looking at 3-8 years in state prison or up to 10 years in Federal prison. On the other hand, the average identity theft costs over $90,000 to a business. It is low risk and anonymous. Offenders usually get probation or jail time of up to two years (if you have prior offenses).

Sherman recommended several strategies to reduce your risk of becoming the victim of identity theft.  You should protect your personal information, including your full name, date of birth, place of birth, sex, social security number, account numbers, address, phone number, driver’s license number, job title and employer.  Don’t keep your social security number or extra credit cards in your wallet.  Don’t put letters containing checks out for the postal carrier to pick up and when you drop letters into the post box, it’s best to do so before the last pick up of the day.  Don’t recycle papers that contain personal information.  Even old copiers can have data on them; have the hard drive removed when you sell the machine. Check your credit report at least once a year. You are entitled to an annual free credit report from each of the three major reporting services.  Go to www.ftc.gov (Consumer Information, then ID theft, Privacy and Security) to get information on how to do this.

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Two Ways to Get More Involved

Are you interested in getting more involved with the Financial Planning Forum? Both the Program Committee and the Membership Committee currently have openings for new members.

Program Committee: Plan Forum Programs

David Sacarelos, Program Committe Chair, is looking for volunteers interested in helping plan future Forum programs. The group will have an initial meeting on Thursday, January 20 between 12 pm and 1:30 pm at David's office, Seiler LLP, Three Lagoon Drive, Suite 400 Redwood City, CA 94065. You can contact David at dsacarelos@seiler.com.

Membership Committee: Enhance the Membership Experience

Joel Jakubson, Membership Chair, is looking for volunteers interested in looking at ways to enhance the membership experience for our current members, as well as ways of attracting new members to the Forum.  We plan to meet either in early December (the week after the regular December 7 meeting) or in mid-January after the holidays.  If you are interested in helping, or if you would like to provide your ideas, contact Joel at joel@jakubson.com or call him at (415) 309-1678.

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Renew Your 2010-2011 Membership

Have you renewed your membership yet this year? Renew your membership now by clicking renew membership> or by going to our web site www.financialplanningforum.org> and following the Renew Membership link. Show your support by upgrading to a Sustaining Member!

Upgrading to a Sustaining Member ensures you will be listed among the honor roll of Sustaining Members.  Benefits include:

• Expanded directory listing with profile and photo
• Special designation on web site
• Listed in the monthly newsletter
• Unique name badges
• A few surprises to come

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Upcoming Meeting Topics

January 25, 2011
     Linda Weathers, Realtor
     Short Sales and Loan Modifications

February 22, 2011
      Fiduciary Panel
      Fiduciaries:  What Type is Best for Your Client

March 22, 2011
      Russell Hancock                  
      President of Joint Venture Silicon Valley
      Silicon Valley and the Global Economy (tentative title)

April 26, 2011
      Charles Packer, Attorney
      Hopkins & Carley
      Estate Planning Updates

 May 24, 2011
       Emmett Carson, Ph.D.
       Silicon Valley Philanthropic Needs and the Silicon
        Valley Foundation’s Response (tentative title)

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