| The ETF - Managed Portfolio Solution |
| Wednesday, May 1, 2013 |
| Marc J. Lane Investment Management, Inc. has been providing portfolio management solutions for high net-worth individuals since 2002. Historically, those services have only been made available to our clients with over $500,000 to invest. But now we are offering a competitive solution for clients with investable assets of $100,000 or more. These portfolios |
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| Time to Thwart the Sales Tax Gambit |
| Monday, April 1, 2013 |
| Over the past three years, Illinois courts have heard one claim after another that cities and towns outside the Regional Transit Authority's six-county territory have illegally lured businesses whose headquarters are within the RTA's taxing authority to set up satellite offices merely to reduce the sales taxes they owe. Adding to the controversy, the |
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| The Federal Reserve, Interest Rates, and Your Income Requirements |
| Friday, March 1, 2013 |
| Today we find ourselves in what arguably is the most difficult environment for income investors in our nation’s history. Yields on both stocks and bonds have been on the decline for the past three decades. Add to this the fact that as the baby boom generation now approaching retirement is swelling the ranks of income seeking investors. In competing with one |
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| Collaborative Startup Communities Bolster Entrepreneurship—But for How Long? |
| Friday, February 1, 2013 |
| Collaboration is the name of the game for the entrepreneurial community in 2013. Startup incubators and accelerators are cultivating the seeds of new business that might not otherwise sprout in the wake of decreased venture capital funding for early stage companies, a decline that PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association predict |
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| Why Fair Pay is Key to a Sustainable Recovery |
| Wednesday, January 2, 2013 |
| Illinois' 97th General Assembly goes out of business on Jan. 8. Between now and then, it may tackle more divisive issues of moral consequence than any of its recent predecessors. The reform of the state's debt-ridden public employee pension system, the expansion of casino gambling, the legalization of same-sex marriage and the approval of medicinal |
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| Consider Taking Advantage of Opportunities in 2012 – Your Taxes May Rise in 2013 |
| Saturday, December 1, 2012 |
| As of this writing, it’s difficult to speculate as to what U.S. income tax rates will be in the year 2013. This has become especially apparent due to the effect of the so-called “fiscal cliff” and the results of the November elections.
The “fiscal cliff” is actually the result of the Budget Control Act of 2011, a law passed to stave off the crisis |
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| Barack Obama's Presidential Library Belongs at U of C |
| Thursday, November 1, 2012 |
| In this political season, it comes as no surprise that objections are being raised over nascent efforts to snag an eventual Barack Obama library and museum for the University of Chicago, where for 12 years the U.S. president was a lecturer in constitutional law.
Skeptics predict that the institution would be celebratory, not scholarly, and that its |
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| Chicago's Cultural Plan: A Plea for Restraint |
| Monday, October 1, 2012 |
| Kudos to Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Michelle Boone, Chicago's cultural commissioner, for inviting public debate around their ambitious campaign to revamp and strengthen the city's arts and culture scene. Cultural Plan 2012, the first such program in 25 years, lays out no fewer than 200 proposed initiatives to amp up cultural participation and convert creativity |
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| Weather and Politics |
| Tuesday, September 4, 2012 |
| According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, July 2012 was the hottest month on record for the continental United States. Surely, approaching autumn days will provide some very welcome cooler weather for much country. But with Republicans just having convened in Tampa, and Democrats set to gather in Charlotte this week, there is no |
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| 2012 Mid-Year Tax Update |
| Wednesday, August 1, 2012 |
| At the Law Offices of Marc J. Lane, P.C., we strive to keep you informed about helpful planning topics each month. This month we are discussing a topic near and dear to everyone’s heart: taxes.
The following is a summary of the most important tax developments that have occurred in the past three months that may affect you, your family, your |
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| EPA Rule Would Spell End of the Dirty Coal Age |
| Monday, July 2, 2012 |
| The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is mulling a common-sense rule that, for the first time, would set caps on the carbon pollutants that future fossil fuel-fired power plants may lawfully emit. Carbon dioxide emissions from new plants would be limited to 1,000 pounds per megawatt-hour. This would essentially provide the unceremonious end to the age of |
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| Time for State Lawmakers to Pass Budgeting 101 |
| Friday, June 1, 2012 |
| Illinois is billions of dollars in the red, yet the state's legislators inexplicably continue to deny themselves the right to know how much the measures they consider would cost or save taxpayers.
In other states, “fiscal notes,” which estimate the costs or savings and the revenue gain or loss of proposed laws, are indispensable tools for legislators, |
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| IRS Promotes Use of Program-Related Investments |
| Tuesday, May 1, 2012 |
| The seeds of change are taking root in the nation’s Capital. This past month, the IRS released proposed regulations that would add nine new examples of investments which qualify as “program-related investments” (PRIs) for private foundations.
Having the ability to make PRIs is advantageous for private foundations, which are required to make “qualifying |
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| Illinois' Tax Credit Windfall at Risk |
| Monday, April 2, 2012 |
| Last Friday Illinois, joining Michigan, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania, inked a deal with the Obama administration to speed up regulatory review of plans for offshore wind farms in the Great Lakes, which had been dogged by cost concerns. Illinois Governor Pat Quinn applauded the agreement, noting that developing offshore wind energy would “promote |
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| An Intellectual Property Audit: The First Step in Protecting Your Valuable Assets |
| Thursday, March 1, 2012 |
| Last month, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Census Bureau released survey results on the importance that businesses place on various forms of intellectual property (IP). John Jankowski, lead author of the report in NSF’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, stated:
In today’s global economy, much of a business’s |
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| Eradicating food desert key to Chicago's competitiveness |
| Wednesday, February 1, 2012 |
| Chicagoans have reason to applaud an impressive 39% drop over the past five years in the number of city residents living in its “food desert,” those low-income neighborhoods where affordable and nutritious food is hard to come by. Yet 1 in 7 residents, 124,000 of them children, still live in communities without readily available fresh food.
The evidence is |
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| Social Enterprises: A New Business Form Driving Social Change |
| Tuesday, January 3, 2012 |
| Many mission-driven organizations, both nonprofits and for-profits, are becoming “social enterprises” that embrace market-based strategies in the pursuit of their social purposes. New business models and even entity forms are emerging to help the social entrepreneur drive positive social change. Lawyers have new opportunities to aid their clients in |
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