185: Are You Risking Everything? The Insurance Your Business Can't Operate Without
Absolute Trust Talk
Many business owners purchase insurance without truly understanding what they're buying or what critical coverage they might be missing. Host Kirsten Howe addresses this knowledge gap by welcoming Dean Myers, owner of Core Insurance Agency, to reveal the fundamental insurance coverage every business owner needs before opening their doors. Dean, who specializes in errors and omissions insurance for lawyers, accountants, doctors, and professional trustees, breaks down the three critical pillars of business insurance: workers' compensation, general liability, and property insurance. ...
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184: From One Direction to No Direction: What Liam Payne's Estate Teaches Us About Planning
Absolute Trust Talk
In this episode of Absolute Trust Talk, host Kirsten Howe examines the estate complications following One Direction member Liam Payne's tragic death in Argentina in fall 2024. At just 30 years old, Payne left behind a $32 million estate—but no will. His complex assets include performance income, solo artist earnings, brand deals, music publishing rights, and venture investments. Without estate planning, his 8-year-old son Bear becomes the sole intestate heir, inheriting the full amount at age 18. Kirsten analyzes the cascading problems: massive probate fees (at least $376,000 in...
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183: Beyond Borders: International Estate Planning Essentials for Families (Part 3)
Absolute Trust Talk
In this final installment of Absolute Trust Talk's international estate planning series, host Kirsten Howe concludes her conversation with estate planning specialist Janet Brewer, addressing one of the most common cross-border scenarios: U.S. citizens who own property abroad. Janet, with over 30 years of experience serving Silicon Valley's international clientele, explains why simply leaving foreign property to your US trust won't work, since most countries don't recognize trusts at all. This episode highlights the crucial distinction between countries that recognize trusts...
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182: Beyond Borders: International Estate Planning Essentials for Families (Part 2)
Absolute Trust Talk
In this second installment of Absolute Trust Talk's international estate planning series, host Kirsten Howe welcomes back estate planning specialist Janet Brewer to explore advanced strategies for families with cross-border connections. Building on their previous discussion of guardianship challenges, this episode focuses on critical tax considerations and financial hurdles faced by international families. Janet, a certified specialist with over 30 years of experience serving Silicon Valley clients, explains the unique tax opportunities available to visa holders with stock options and RSUs,...
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181: Beyond Borders: International Estate Planning Essentials for Families
Absolute Trust Talk
In this episode of Absolute Trust Talk, host Kirsten Howe welcomes estate planning specialist Janet Brewer to explore the unique challenges faced by immigrants and international families when planning for their future. Janet, with over 30 years of experience serving clients throughout Silicon Valley, brings her vast knowledge to address the specific concerns of non-resident aliens, visa holders, green card holders, and other international families with U.S.-based assets. As a member of the invitation-only Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), Janet regularly prepares estate plans...
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180: Divorce in Progress: Safeguarding Your Estate Plan Before It's Final (Part 2)
Absolute Trust Talk
In this episode of Absolute Trust Talk, host Kirsten Howe and associate attorney Jessica Colbert continue their discussion on estate planning during divorce proceedings with practical solutions. Following their previous episode on the potential problems that can arise if someone becomes incapacitated or dies during divorce, they now focus on preventative measures. The attorneys explain how to ensure your soon-to-be ex-spouse doesn't maintain control over your healthcare decisions or inherit your assets contrary to your wishes. They discuss the creation of new healthcare directives, powers of...
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179: Divorce in Progress: Safeguarding Your Estate Plan Before It's Final
Absolute Trust Talk
In this episode of Absolute Trust Talk, host Kirsten Howe and associate attorney Jessica Colbert discuss critical estate planning considerations during divorce proceedings. They explore what happens if someone becomes incapacitated or dies while their divorce is still pending, revealing potentially unwelcome consequences if proper planning isn't in place. The discussion highlights how existing estate plans typically name a spouse as the primary decision-maker and beneficiary—a designation most divorcing individuals would want to change immediately. Without written estate plans, the...
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178: 3 Critical Estate Planning Lessons from Richard Simmons' Legacy Battles
Absolute Trust Talk
In this episode of Absolute Trust Talk, host Kirsten Howe examines the estate complications following Richard Simmons' death in July 2023. She details the ongoing legal dispute between Simmons' brother Leonard (named trustee) and Teresa, his housekeeper of 30 years who briefly served as co-trustee before a contested resignation. The conflict centers around approximately $1 million in personal property—primarily jewelry—that Teresa allegedly took when evicted from Simmons' home. While Teresa claims Simmons gifted her the jewelry in 2014, Leonard argues documentation proves otherwise....
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177: Inside the Heated Padres Inheritance Feud: What It Teaches Us About Sound Estate Planning
Absolute Trust Talk
In this all-new episode of Absolute Trust Talk, Kirsten Howe and her associates, Jessica Colbert and Ariana Flynn, delve into the complex estate battle surrounding the late San Diego Padres owner, Peter Seidler. The MLB team finds itself at the center of a legal dispute as Seidler's wife, Sheel, contends with his brothers over control of the franchise. With allegations of breached trust, fraud, and self-dealing, the case highlights the intricacies of estate planning for high-net-worth individuals and the potential pitfalls of ambiguous or informal documentation. While largely speculation,...
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176: Behind the Headlines: Gene Hackman's Estate Plan and What We Can Learn
Absolute Trust Talk
In this episode of Absolute Trust Talk, Kirsten Howe, managing attorney at Absolute Trust Counsel, and associate attorney Jessica Colbert examine the estate of beloved actor Gene Hackman. They meticulously analyze the available court records from Santa Fe County, New Mexico, and contrast them with California's probate procedures. The attorneys skillfully debunk sensationalized headlines about Hackman's will, explaining the mechanics of pour-over wills and why media claims about his children being "cut out" are potentially misleading. While much of the discussion is speculation, they provide...
info_outlineIn this episode of Absolute Trust Talk, Kirsten welcomes Walnut Creek Financial Planner Ora Citron into the studio. For Ora, financial planning is a way to make a difference for individuals in our community, directly and meaningfully, by taking responsibility for helping clients create a path to the future based on their personal goals.
During her discussion with Kirsten, Ora shares with listeners what financial planning really is, and hint, it’s not all about the money. Ora highlights that for a majority of her clients, financial planning makes a huge difference by relieving stress and creating clarity. Financial planners can bring new and different resources to the table. Ora and Kirsten also discuss the biggest misconceptions in financial planning, and Ora weighs in on complex and often misunderstood topics like social security and long-term care.
Later, Ora also shares that a large part of her focus, and a subspecialty of her firm, is working with women in transition. Whether it’s retirement, divorce, or widowhood, it’s important to educate women, relieving stress and creating clarity in very emotionally difficult times.
Big Three From Episode #06:
- Financial Planners bring new ideas to the table, things you have never even heard about.
- It’s not solely about the money
- Don’t leave your future to guesswork!
Time-stamped Show Notes:
2:36 – The Basics: What do financial planners do?
3:45 – What difference does financial planning make for a client?
4:40 – Retirement isn’t the only goal that a financial planner can help someone achieve
5:39 – Medicare, people know about it, but they don’t know these facts
6:35 – Why can’t someone just do it on his or her own? There is Google, right?
8:40 – Ora discusses the one piece of financial planning that is most critical to a financial planner’s success with clients
15:33 – Ora highlights a subspecialty of her practice – working with women in transition
16:44 – What’s makes working with women clientele different?
18:20 – Social Security planning is something that should not be dismissed. Here’s why…
26:14 – Ora discusses her approach to long-term care in financial planning
29:04 – Isn’t long-term care planning just for the wealthy?
30:52– Ora highlights the biggest misconceptions that she see’s with clients and in general
Episode #006 Freebie: Risk Tolerance Assessment
You’ve found a good financial planner, someone, you’re comfortable working with, but that’s only half the battle. You want to feel comfortable with what they are doing for you and your money. A crucial piece of successful financial planning is risk analysis because it defines the risk you’re willing to take with your money. Walnut Creek financial planner Ora Citron swears by one tool that she uses with her clients, Riskalyze. Riskalyze is an online questionnaire with practical questions to assess how comfortable you are with taking risks. It makes you think about what you would realistically do, how content you are with that and what adjustments need to be made in your financial plan, so you meet all of your goals. Ora is offering Absolute Trust Talk listeners exclusive access to this questionnaire so that you too can see where your risk tolerance lies.
Resources/Tools/Links mentioned in this episode:
The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis