6. Underutilized qualified plan opportunities business owners particularly leave a lot on the table here. Not only do they often fail to maximize the tax shelter offered by the right kind of tax-deductible plan, but fail to appreciate the extremely strong asset protection properties for them in such plans, particularly in Florida.
7. Overreliance on life insurance products. Like qualified plans, life insurance products, which include annuities, enjoy very strong protection from judgment attachment under Florida law. Unfortunately, these products are often extremely expensive versus investment alternatives, and can have extremely expensive income tax ramifications. Where there is legitimate need they surely have their place, but are not the panacea some salespeople would like them to be.
8. Personally-held business stock if you own an incorporated business, know that the stock (your business) is on the table if you are successfully sued. You may need to hand it over in a judgment. Having it just in your name (or with a piece to you and a piece to your spouse) is needlessly risky; T-by-E (see #2) is better, but a multi-member LLC is, by far, superior.
