Here’s a fast fact: The percentage of U.S. children who live with an unmarried parent has jumped from 13% in 1968 to 32% in 2017, according to Pew Research Center’s most recent poll.

While estate planning for single parents is similar to estate planning for families with two parents, when only one parent is involved, certain aspects demand your special attention.

5 questions to ask

Of course, parents want to provide for their children’s care and financial needs after they’re gone. If you’re a single parent, here are five questions you should ask:

1. Have I selected an appropriate guardian? If the other parent is unavailable to take custody of your children should you become incapacitated or unexpectedly die, your estate plan must designate a suitable, willing guardian to care for them.

2. What happens if I remarry? Will you need to provide for your new spouse as well as your children? Where will you get the resources to provide for your new spouse? What if you placed your life insurance policy in an irrevocable trust for your kids to avoid estate taxes on the proceeds? Further complications can arise if you and your new spouse have children together or if your spouse has children from a previous marriage.

3. What if I become incapacitated? As a single parent, it’s particularly important to include in your estate plan a living will, advance directive or health care power of attorney to specify your health care preferences in the event you become incapacitated and to designate someone to make medical decisions on your behalf. You should also have a revocable living trust or durable power of attorney that provides for the management of your finances in the event you’re unable to do so.

4. Should I establish a trust for my children? Trust planning is one of the most effective ways to provide for your children. Trust assets are managed by one or more qualified, trusted individuals or corporate trustees. You specify when and under what circumstances funds should be distributed to your kids. A trust is particularly important if you have minor children. Without one, your assets may come under the control of your former spouse or a court-appointed administrator.

5. Am I adequately insured? With only one income to depend on, plan carefully to ensure that you can provide for your retirement as well as your children’s financial security. Life insurance can be an effective way to augment your estate. You should also consider disability insurance. Unlike many married couples, single parents don’t have a “backup” income in the event they can no longer work.

Review your estate plan

If you’ve recently become a single parent, it’s critical to review your estate plan. We’d be pleased to help you make any necessary revisions.

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As an individual, you’ve no doubt been urged to regularly check your credit score. Most people nowadays know that, with a subpar personal credit score, they’ll have trouble buying a home or car, or just getting a reasonable-rate credit card.

But how about your business credit score? It’s important for much the same reason — you’ll have difficulty obtaining financing or procuring the assets you need to operate competitively without a solid score. So, you’ve got to be vigilant about it.

Algorithms and data

Business credit scores come from various reporting agencies, such as Experian, Equifax and Dun & Bradstreet. Each agency has its own algorithm for calculating credit scores. Like personal credit scores, higher business credit scores equate with lower risk (and vice versa).

Credit agencies track your business by its employer identification number (EIN). They compile data from your EIN, including the company’s address, phone number, owners’ names and industry classification code. Agencies may also search the Internet and public records for bankruptcies, judgments and tax liens. Suppliers, landlords, leasing companies and other creditors may also report payment experiences with the company to credit agencies.

Important factors

Timely bill payment is the biggest factor affecting your business credit score. But other important ones include:

Level of success. Higher net worth or annual revenues generally increase your credit score.

Structure. Corporations and limited liability companies tend to receive higher scores than sole proprietorships and partnerships because these entities’ financial identities are separate from those of their owners.

Industry. Some agencies keep track of the percentage of companies under the company’s industry classification code that have filed for bankruptcy. Participation in high-risk industries tends to lower a business credit score.

Track record. Credit agencies also look at the length and frequency of your company’s credit history. Once you establish credit, your business should periodically borrow additional money and then repay it on time to avoid the risk of being downgraded.

Best practices

Business credit scores help lenders decide whether to approve your loan request, as well as the loan’s interest rate, duration and other terms. Unfortunately, some small businesses and start-ups may have little to no credit history.

Build your company’s credit history by applying for a company credit card and paying the balance off each month. Also put utilities and leases in your company’s name, so the business is on the radar of the credit reporting agencies.

Sometimes, credit agencies base their ratings on incomplete, false or outdated information. Monitor your credit score regularly and note any downgrades. In some cases, the agency may be willing to change your score if you contact them and successfully prove that a rating is inaccurate.

Central role

Maintaining a healthy business credit score should play a central role in how you manage your company’s finances. Contact us for help in using credit to help maintain your cash flow and build the bottom line.
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The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has released a final rule which should make it easier for smaller businesses to provide retirement plans to their employees. According to the DOL, the rule will enable more small and midsize unrelated businesses to join forces in multiple employer plans (MEPs) that provide their employees a defined contribution plan such as a 401(k) plan or a SIMPLE IRA plan. Certain self-employed individuals also can participate in MEPs.

In October 2018, the DOL issued a proposed rule to clarify when an employer group or association, or a professional employer organization (PEO), can sponsor a MEP. (A PEO is a company that contractually assumes some human resource responsibilities for its employer clients.) The final rule, effective September 30, 2019, is similar to the proposal, but not entirely.

The appeal of MEPs

According to the DOL, businesses that participate in a MEP can see lower retirement plan costs as a result of economies of scale. For example, investment companies may charge lower fund fees for plans with greater asset accumulations. By pooling plan participants and assets in one large plan, rather than multiple small plans, MEPs make it possible for small businesses to give their workers access to the same low-cost funds offered by large employers.

MEPs also let participating employers avoid some of the burdens associated with sponsoring or administering their own plans. Employers retain fiduciary responsibility for selecting and monitoring the arrangement and forwarding required contributions to the MEP, but they can effectively transfer significant legal risk to professional fiduciaries who are responsible for managing the plan.

Although many MEPs already exist, the DOL believes that previous guidance, as well as uncertainty about the ability of PEOs and associations to sponsor MEPs as “employers” under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), may have hindered the formation of plans by smaller employers. The final rule clarifies when an employer group or association or a PEO can sponsor a MEP.

Permissible MEP sponsors

Under the final rule, a group or association, a PEO, and self-employed people can qualify as employers under ERISA for purposes of sponsoring MEPs by satisfying different criteria.

Groups and associations: Among other requirements, groups and associations of employers must have a “commonality of interest.” This means that the employers in a MEP must either:

• Be in the same trade, industry, line of business or profession, or
• Have a principal place of business in the same geographic region that doesn’t exceed the boundaries of a single state or metropolitan area. (A metropolitan area can include more than one state.)

Thus, a MEP could, for example, comprise employers in a national trade group or a local chamber of commerce.

But the rule prohibits an employer group or association from being a bank, trust company, insurance issuer, broker-dealer or other similar financial services firm (including a pension record keeper or a third-party administrator) and from being owned or controlled by such an entity or its subsidiary or affiliate. Such entities can, however, participate in their capacities as employer members.

PEOs: The final rule requires PEOs to, among other things, perform “substantial employment functions” for their client-employers that adopt the MEP. In contrast to the proposed rule, the final rule includes a single safe harbor for all PEOs, regardless of whether they’re certified PEOs. And the new safe harbor includes only four criteria, rather than the proposed nine.

To be considered to perform substantial employment functions for its client-employers, the PEO must, for each client-employer that adopts the MEP:

1. Assume responsibility for and pay wages to employees, without regard to the receipt or adequacy of payment from those clients,
2. Assume responsibility to pay and perform reporting and withholding for all applicable federal employment taxes, without regard to the receipt or adequacy of payment from those clients,
3. Play a definite and contractually specified role in recruiting, hiring and firing workers, in addition to the client-employer’s responsibility for recruiting, hiring and firing workers, and
4. Assume responsibility for, and have substantial control over, the functions and activities of any employee benefit that the PEO is contractually required to provide, without regard to the receipt or adequacy of payment from those client employers for such benefits.

Self-employed individuals: So-called “working owners” without employees may qualify as both an employer and an employee for purposes of the requirements for groups and associations. Such owners must:

• Have an ownership right in a trade or business (including a partner or other self-employed individual),
• Earn wages or self-employment income from the trade or business in exchange for personal services, and
• Work on average at least 20 hours per week or 80 hours per month for the trade or business, or have wages or self-employment income from the trade or business that at least equals the working owner’s cost of coverage for participation by the owner and any covered beneficiaries in any group health plan sponsored by the group or association.

The determination of whether an individual qualifies as a working owner must be made when he or she first becomes eligible for participation in the defined contribution MEP. Continued eligibility must be periodically confirmed using “reasonable monitoring procedures.”

An open issue

When it issued the proposed rule, the DOL solicited comments on “open MEPs” or “pooled employer plans” — which are defined contribution retirement arrangements that cover employees of employers with no relationship other than their joint participation in the MEP. After reviewing the feedback, the DOL decided open MEPs deserve further consideration. It therefore issued, in conjunction with the final rule, a 16-page Request for Information. Responses are due October 29, 2019.

Unlike the DOL, the U.S. Congress has authority to amend ERISA and other laws that affect retirement savings. In May 2019, the House of Representatives passed legislation that would allow open MEPs. The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement and Enhancement Act of 2019, commonly known as the SECURE Act, hasn’t yet advanced in the U.S. Senate.

If you have questions on how the final rule might benefit your company’s retirement plan, please contact us. We’d be pleased to help.

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