Newsletter SACRAMENTO ESTATE PLANNING COUNCIL serving Sacramento since 1953 Welcome to the May 2009 edition of the Sacramento Estate Planning Council s newsletter! President s Message A lot has been happening at the council since I last addressed you all. This year my focus was on participation. As part of the Sacramento Estate Planning Council you receive continuing education opportunities and professional recognition as a member of a specialized group. It is the participation within the group that is the greatest asset of membership. We meet professionals from other disciplines. Develop relationships and learn individual specializations for future client references. We work and share experiences with each other. These interactions give us the greatest knowledge base and expand our individual capabilities to that of the organization. This year we have had excellent events thanks to the hard work of your Board and Committees. We started off with our dinner meetings and the exceptional slate of speakers put together by Rebecca Gardner and Gina Lera then moved on to the nationally renowned speakers at the 2009 Technical Forum organized by Jeff Bertleson and his committee. Who can forget the fun we had at the Holiday Event organized by Kevin Smith-Fagen. We truly rocked the house that night. To see pictures of the Holiday Party click here. Michael Massey and Jeb Burton organized our local members to bring us up-to-date information on Taxation and Legislation. While Barbara Flanigan spread the word and exceeded our goals for new member registrations. The organization and work performed by your Board has been exceptional this year and I would like to say thank you to all of them. I would also like to say thank you to all of you who have participated. You have truly experienced the benefits and organization like ours can provide. Our last official meeting of the year will take place next week on May 13. It is our annual meeting and golf tournament at Haggin Oaks Golf Course. If you have not already signed up, please do so as Jonathan Lederer has organized another great event for you. Those of you who have not been fortunate enough to participate should truly attend this meeting and get to meet your fellow members of the council.
We will also be electing and formally introducing the Officers and Directors for the 2009-2010 fiscal year. Please come and meet them, talk to them and give them whatever suggestions you may have. We are here to serve you as members and need your input to do so. See you on the 13 th. Tony Delevati, President New Members MELISSA A. BORRELLI Melissa A. Borrelli brings a well-rounded experience in numerous legal disciplines to her Estate Planning and Business focus at Hanson Bridgett. In addition to assisting clients with a wide range of Business matters, including formation; restructure and maintenance of business entities; mergers and acquisitions; and succession planning, she also advises on related tax and transactional matters. Melissa's Estate Planning and Administration practice focuses on planning for individuals and families, including trusts, wills, durable powers of attorney, advance health care directives, education trusts, life insurance trusts, charitable trusts, and other charitable giving plans. She also assists clients with estate and trust administration, wealth preservation, succession, and other related matters. Kelly Payne Born in Sacramento, spent my childhood in Sacramento, Germany, and France. I graduated from
CSU Sacramento in 1990 with a BA in French (I thought I was going to be a teacher), then landed in the insurance business before going to law school and becoming a lawyer in 2007. I have a 14 year old daughter who keeps my life interesting. I currently work for a family law firm and am branching into estate planning as well. I also teach family law for MTI College's paralegal program. Damaris L. Perez Education: Bachelor of Arts, Business Economics University of California, Santa Barbara, 2000 Estate & Trust Taxation Provides consultation and compliance assistance involving fiduciaries and estate planning. Financial Institutions Provides tax and planning services for small community banks. Individual Taxation Provides tax consultation and compliance to high net worth individuals in tax planning and annual tax filings. Partnerships and S Corporations Provides tax consultations and compliance assistance concerning the use of "flow through" entities. Affiliations: American Institute of Certified Public Accountants California Society of Certified Public Accountants Sacramento Theatre Company Board Member
Craig Stoker Craig Stoker has helped thousands of people analyze risk and purchase proper insurance protection for their assets, property, and businesses. His career has spanned 29 years and has taken him from Georgia to California. He spent 7 years as a Farmers agency owner and another 11 years in Farmers management recruiting and training Farmers agents. Craig is the founder and president of Stoker Insurance Solutions, an independent property and casualty insurance brokerage, in El Dorado Hills, CA. He has received numerous industry and company awards, including 3 selections into Farmers elite President s Council. While Craig is pleased with his professional accomplishments his greatest joy is his love for Janie, his wife of 29 years and their five children, 1 daughter in-law, 3 sons-in-law, seven grand children, and his English Bull Dog, Samson. His faith in God has been an essential part of his life. Craig attended Brigham Young University where he studied Animal Science. He served a twoyear mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Atlanta, Georgia from 1977 to 1979. He has received professional designations from The American College as a Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU). He is a Certified Insurance Consultant (CIC) through the National Alliance for Insurance Education and is currently studying to become a Certified Risk Manager (CRM). In his downtime, Craig devotes many hours of service through his church and the Sacramento (Downtown) Rotary Club. He loves to travel with his wife and family, particularly to sunny beaches with warm, turquoise water and a beautiful and relaxing place to read. He enjoys golf and the outdoors and has a budding interest in animal and bird conservation. Paul A. Johnson
Paul Johnson is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER in Folsom, CA. He has been with Smith Barney since 2005. Born and raised in Sacramento, Paul graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a Master of Business Administration degree. He is also a graduate of the College for Financial Planning, earning the Chartered Retirement Plans Specialist(sm) designation. Paul is an Adjunct Faculty Member at both William Jessup University in Rocklin, CA and at the University of Phoenix. He teaches various economics and finance courses. Paul, his wife Shelley, and their two active toddlers live in Fair Oaks, CA. Bill Altavilla Bill Altavilla is a Planned Giving Consultant specializing in estate and charitable tax planning. He works with many individuals and charitable organizations to help them attain their philanthropic, fundraising and endowment goals. Bill consults with many attorneys and CPAs to ensure planning strategies are appropriate for clients, and how to best design a plan for their situation. In addition, he gives seminars to educate individuals and professionals. These seminars include topics for continuing education credits for professionals, including Attorneys, CPAs, CFPs, and Enrolled Agents. Bill's background includes corporate controller and Executive Vice President of Planning Support services for a national financial services company prior to his current position. He has been in the planning and analysis field for over 20 years. Bill graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara with his B.A. in Business Economics and from National University with his M.A. in Business Administration. Bill has been married for over 10 years and has three grown children and enjoys golf.
John L. Guth John Guth graduated from the University of Southern California in 1967 with a degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting. He passed the CPA exam but, rather than practicing as a Certified Public Accountant, went on to Loyola Law School. John graduated in 1970. He is authorized to practice before all California Courts as well as the United States Supreme Court. In 1990, John was designated as a specialist in Estate Planning, Trusts and Probate Law by the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California. He has continued his education and has maintained his status as a specialist. After graduating from Law School, John served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Central District of California. In 1975, he went into private practice in Marysville and later in Yuba City. He recently opened a second office in Roseville. John, his wife Maureen, their four children and six grandchildren all reside in Yuba City. John is a regular speaker to the Yuba Sutter Bar Association and to other organizations on the subject of estate planning. He is also actively involved in the community and his church. He has been involved in the formation of three non-profit organizations, Yuba- Sutter Friday Night Live, Yuba-Sutter Right to Life committee, and Christ the King Retreat Center. He remains on the Board of Directors for two of these organizations. Although John has been practicing law now for 38 years, he is still very enthusiastic about his work, in particular, solving estate planning problems. His top priorities are helping clients maintain or re-establish family harmony, and helping them avoid unnecessary taxes and expenses.
Michael Altobell I joined Moss Adams Wealth Advisors in September 2009 and will be serving the Sacramento and Stockton offices. Our focus is to develop and implement comprehensive personal financial plans. We custom design and manage our client portfolios based on the results of the planning process with the objective of taking the least amount of risk in obtaining our clients long term goals. My experience in the financial services field spans 14 years. I began my career with Wells Fargo Securities in San Francisco. After a few relocations to the Sacramento area, I worked for Charles Schwab & Co. as an investment consultant for three years. For the past nine years I worked for a small, boutique financial advisory firm in Roseville serving high net worth individuals and small business owners. In May 2007, I obtained the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER designation. I was raised in Napa and then attended St. Mary s College in Moraga where I studied finance and economics. I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration in 1994. I also met my wife, Dawn, at St. Mary s. She is a teacher at Holy Family School. We have two sons, Nick (8) and Andy (5), both whom keep us very busy with sports and school events. I enjoy golfing, relaxing with family and friends, and staying active with my boys. Colin T. Smith Colin T. Smith is an associate attorney with Drobny Law Offices, Inc. He earned his J.D. from
Thomas Jefferson School of Law in 2006, where he was awarded the Trustees Scholarship for Outstanding Academic Achievement and graduated cum laude. After law school, Mr. Smith earned his LL.M. in taxation from Boston University School of Law. Prior to attending law school, Mr. Smith received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. While earning his degree he also participated in four years of varsity football, winning two Ivy League championships. In his free time, Mr. Smith enjoys many of the same activities he pursued as a child growing up in the Sacramento area, including snowboarding trips to Tahoe, visiting San Francisco, participating in and watching all types of sporting events, and spending time with his family and friends. Gerald Weiss Gerald (Gerry) R. Weiss CFP, EA has a BS & MS from the University of Michigan and is a graduate of the University of California Berkeley Personal Financial Planning certificate program. Gerry is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP R ), a Register Investment Adviser in CA & NV, and an Enrolled Agent. Gerry started his practice in 1999 in the Bay Area, offering fee-only financial planning encompassing portfolio & rental real estate analysis, stock options, retirement, estate, and 529 education savings. Gerry has written several articles on retirement planning for the 2/01 and 3/03 issues of the Journal of Financial Planning and has been quoted in articles in BusinessWeek magazine 10-14-02 p160 Housing: A Shelter for Your Savings and CNNMoney online 10-17-02 on the topic of Real Estate vs Stocks, the 5-18-03 Tri Valley Herald on ROTH IRA s, and Investment News on AMT tax proposals 11/5/2007. His clientele range from young and mid age professionals to retirees. He continues to provide financial planning advice to existing clients and their referrals. In 2002 Gerry became an enrolled agent and began orientating his practice to the tax area. During the tax season he prepares primarily Federal and Multi-State 1041 trust, 709 gift, 1040 individual, and small business 1120-S &1065 LLC tax returns. In addition, he provides year around tax planning, and represents clients to the IRS and FTB primarily in the areas of audits and appeals. Gerry likes to use the IRS e-services for near instant account and transcript access. He is also a frequent contributor to answering tax questions on the National EA association and CA Spidell webboards. Gerry & his wife recently moved to El Dorado Hills, keeping existing offices in the Bay Area and Northern NV. They have three sons located in the San Diego area. In his time off, Gerry likes daily fitness and seasonal Sierra skiing.
n Tse Stephen Tse, a native of Hong Kong, graduated from C.K. McClatchy High School as a foreign student in 1966. He earned his B.Sc. degree from California State University, Sacramento (CSUS) in 1970. After getting married the same year, he returned to Hong Kong and worked in the family s restaurant chain business, before buying a seat in the stock exchange in Hong Kong and traded on the floor of the Exchange. Coming back to Sacramento in 1983, Stephen joined Dean Witter (now Morgan Stanley), and was a vice president and investment advisor for 10 years. In 1993 he joined Merrill Lynch and started its new Roseville office with seven other brokers. Currently Stephen is a Vice President, and Wealth Management Advisor at Merrill Lynch. He also earned a professional designation as a Certified Financial Planner (CFP ) certification awarded by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., Denver, Colorado. Stephen handles investment portfolios for high net worth individuals, corporate pension plans, family foundations, and off-shore trusts. Stephen also has published articles in the Business Journal, Comstock s Magazine, Sutter Hospital Foundation s newsletter, ALF newsletter, and monthly Travel Corner of Sacramento Capitol Club Network News newsletter. He has been married for 36 years and has two grown children, grandfather of 5 healthy and beautiful grandkids. He took up golf and joined North Ridge Country Club in 2003. Stephen believes helping others will give you inner joy and life-long happiness. Aydee S. Ferguson Aydee Sandoval Ferguson joined Sutter Health as a Planned Giving Officer in January of 2009. Prior to joining Sutter Health, Aydee served as a Financial Advisor and Sales Director with Wells Fargo Investments in Dallas, Texas, specializing in the areas of financial planning and estate planning. Prior to that, Aydee served as a Financial Advisor with Merrill Lynch. Aydee
lives in Sacramento, California, with her husband Craig and their two sons, Theodore and Alexander. At Sutter Health Aydee specializes in charitable estate planning. She provides her expertise as a resource for financial and estate planning professionals and their clients. Aydee is a graduate of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.