My name is Aaron Young and I’m the CEO of Laughlin Associates, Inc. I want to welcome you to our new blog. Blogs are one of the coolest tools available on the internet. They provide a way to have a sort of casual conversation with somebody that you might not otherwise have been able to visit with. It is my hope that a dialog can now be started between you and me. The messages that will be delivered here will attempt to give you a feel for what is going on at Laughlin and why we do the things that we do.

Before I go any further I had better review what it is that we do. Laughlin Associates has been in business since 1972. We set-up corporations, LLCs, and other business structures for people and then try to help those people to get the most “bang for their buck” out of those structures. We also provide virtual offices where we take mail and answer phones everyday for over 1200 companies.

Through the Compass Group, we offer a service that helps companies complete their required annual corporate records (things like minutes, resolutions, and annual meetings). This is a fun service to offer because almost every business owner needs it. It seems that all of us entrepreneurs have an aversion to doing paperwork. Who knew? Anyway, we can help with that, too.

We do lots of seminars. I think that 2008 will have seen nearly 100 different programs put on all over the western United States. The seminars are geared to give lots of specific information that you can take home and put right to use in order to reduce your legal liabilities, improve your tax position, and sharpen your competitive edge.

We have thousands of business owners that we count as customers and I often have the distinct pleasure and opportunity to hear some fascinating stories. As appropriate I will share some of those with you here from time to time. I will tell you about new products and services that we are thinking of offering and will hope to hear from you to know what kinds of services you would like us to organize. I guess that’s what I mean when I say that the blog can serve as a kind of conversation between us.

We are in an exciting time right now. Everything in the business world is a little scary and unsure. This is a good time to be in business for your self. Those with the courage to be creative and to look for opportunities will come out of this crazy time on top. These are the just the kind of people that are our clients. We are grateful to work with you and to help you to make progress as you pursue your goals and dreams. You guys really are the heroes of American business. It is an honor to know you.

Nevada has done it again. Passing ground breaking new asset protection rules that offer more protection for business owners.

As of September 2008, Nevada legislators have deemed that with a Nevada Corporation, your shares are protected by a charging order. If you are involved in litigation you could lose the shares of your corporation in order to satisfy a judgment. A charging order only gives a creditor the rights to any distributions or dividends paid out to the shareholders, not control over the company.

Nevada is the only state in the country offering this level of protection. So, how do you take advantage of this extra protection if you don’t live in Nevada? Don’t worry! 72% of the companies formed in Nevada are based in other states. Take advantage of this powerful asset protection tool today give one of our consultants a call at 1-888-388-2902. If you already have a Nevada Company, you should definitely give us a ring so that we can check and make sure that you are in good standing. If you’re incorporated in Nevada, you wouldn’t want to miss out on the tremendous asset protection benefits that Nevada offers!

I tell this story to new businesses that are wondering whether incorporating or forming an LLC is for them. It’s just an example, really, but it’s a farily common scenario, unfortunately. It helps put into perspective the risk of running a business and how important asset protection really is.

At the start of 2006, two businesses were started. Both companies opened a car wash. Both companies had 2 employees, rented space and had a marketing plan. After 1 year only one company was still in business. Why?

When Doug started Clean Wash, Inc., he incorporated his business. He wanted to make sure he protected his personal assets, and be able to take advantage of some additional tax savings. Two years later, Doug has two locations and a big contract to wash all the emergency vehicles for his county. Putting the Inc. behind his name gave him the liability protection and credibility he needed to be successful.

When Fred started Complete Detail, he decided to operate as a sole proprietorship. He looked into incorporating but decided to wait, because he was too busy landing a big contract with a luxury car dealer. Everything was going well until one day, he was washing a fleet of luxury cars and noticed the machines had scratched 15 vehicles. He offered to repaint the cars but that didn’t satisfy the dealer and he ended up in litigation. It cost him everything, he lost his business and most of his personal assets, to satisfy the judgment.

Forming a corporation or limited liability company isn’t for everybody, but if you have clients, rent space, have employees, own property, own a house, have inventory, or have assets then a 5 minute phone call to us is definitely worth it. You can also contact us online if you prefer. Just ask to speak with a consultant in the comments field!

Though various tax and economic relief proposals were introduced in Congress at the end of 2008, most did not pass. Legislators did manage to pass a law authorizing seven more weeks of unemployment benefits for out-of-work individuals (13 more weeks of benefits for individuals in states where the unemployment rate is above 6%).

On December 11, Congress did pass the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008, an emergency pension tax relief bill. The bill suspends for 2009 the requirement that retirees aged 70½ and older must take a minimum annual distribution from their retirement plans. The bill also eases funding requirements for pension plans in an effort to help cash-strapped businesses.

A look at the tax relief provisions that failed to pass in late 2008 will give you an idea of changes that are very likely to occur in 2009 when President-elect Obama takes office. Two provisions likely to pass: an extension through 2009 of 50% bonus depreciation for the purchase of new business equipment and a $250,000 limit on first-year expensing for the purchase of new or used business equipment.

Congress is also set to create a stimulus package in January comprised of middle-class tax cuts and billions of dollars in federal spending on infrastructure over the next two years.

Stay tuned and be sure to check back for what is likely to be a year with multiple changes to the tax code.