"BMS" <mcfared[at]comcast.net> wrote:

- quote -

Don't! Give up I mean.

I know a lot of financial planners set up as
sole-proprietors and have insurance set up to cover any
liability issues. This liability issue should probably be
your biggest concern about setting up the type of entity to
use. Limited Liability Company, Corporation or
Sole-proprietor.

So talk about this with others in your field, lawyers and
then accountants.

Expenses should be fully deductible under Sole-proprietor
even if they exceed income. You need to talk to a tax
person to get an idea on how different items are deducted
and capitalized to give you expenses.

Good luck on your new business.

Bill Brunell

<< -------------------------------------------------> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org > << ------------------------------------------------->

You will need to speak with an attorney who can explain to
you the rules applicable to your state regarding
professional liability and your ability to effectively use
the corporate shield laws. No form of entity, that I'm
aware of, will protect licensed professionals a professional
wrong, but there are several entities that will allow you
some level of liability protection for nonprofessional acts,
or acts by your agents.

In your particular situation I would recommend you consider
a Single Member LLC - SMLLC. It is usually fairly easy and
inexpensive to set up. For tax purposes it is a disregarded
entity - you would still file a Schedule C as though you
were a Sole Proprietor, but you might get some liability
protection.

As your business grows you might want to consider
reorganizing as another type of entity. Going from a SMLLC
to just about any other entity is really pretty easy.

Of course, there are a myriad of issues that could apply to
you, but you haven't listed anything in the way of details
that would help us to help you. We don't know what state
you are in, what broker/dealer you are affiliated with, or
what your long range plans are.

I can tell you a few things, though:

1 - when you affiliate with a broker/dealer, it will be YOU
that gets paid, not the company;

2 - if you expand your business and intend to share your
profits from the financial planning business be advised
that you can only share profits with licensed people, to
do otherwise is a felony and will result in the loss of
your license - among other possible penalties.

3 - your broker/dealer may have rules about how you can
organize and still affiliate with them, you should check
with them to see what their rules are.

Good luck,
Gene E. Utterback, EA

<< -------------------------------------------------> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org > << ------------------------------------------------->

"BMS" <mcfared[at]comcast.net> wrote:

- quote -

Don't! Give up I mean.

I know a lot of financial planners set up as
sole-proprietors and have insurance set up to cover any
liability issues. This liability issue should probably be
your biggest concern about setting up the type of entity to
use. Limited Liability Company, Corporation or
Sole-proprietor.

So talk about this with others in your field, lawyers and
then accountants.

Expenses should be fully deductible under Sole-proprietor
even if they exceed income. You need to talk to a tax
person to get an idea on how different items are deducted
and capitalized to give you expenses.

Good luck on your new business.

Bill Brunell

<< -------------------------------------------------> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org > << ------------------------------------------------->

- quote -

road, is this the best route or should I look into something else?

- quote -

<< -------------------------------------------------> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org > << ------------------------------------------------->