The real estate GmbH as a supposedly clever tax saving idea

– Why smart private investors should give it a wide berth? – But woe, woe, woe! When I look at the end!!! (Wilhelm Busch, 1865)   Asset-managing LLCs are among the top topics of numerous podcasts penned by experts and professors. This construction is advertised, for example, with the fact that only 15% corporate income […]

Expensive replacement of fireplaces is often useless

– Why for many fireplaces and fireplace inserts nothing changes ? –   The fireplace as a backup when heating In times of so-called energy crises along with blackout dangers, fireplace stoves are coming back into fashion. Operators who are not familiar with the rules of the Federal Immission Control Ordinance (BlmSchV) are often misled […]

Federal Ministry of Finance: Insurance intermediaries secure zero return on life insurance policies

– Why the days of effortless money-making via life insurance are long gone –   Agents’ commissions fall The Life Insurance Reform Act (LVRG) not only lowers the guaranteed interest rate for life insurance policies from 1.75% to only 1.25% from 2015, but also the permitted inclusion of acquisition costs through zillmerisation from 4% to […]

Living will and health care proxy instead of care and rationing?

– How citizens can better protect themselves from caring coercion and arbitrariness at an early stage –   Federal and state ministries, as well as charitable organizations, offer a wealth of different forms to help people help themselves when setting up a patient’s will and health care power of attorney. § Section 1901a of the […]

The company pension scheme

If the company pension does not deliver what you were promised Every day we learn from politicians and the media that the statutory pension will at some point not be sufficient to maintain the accustomed standard of living in life after a professional career. Those of us who have taken out a company pension in […]

Brokers’ liability in the sale of used life insurance

– Obligation of the insurance broker to advise in the case of brokering in the secondary market for life insurance policies – An insurance broker was ordered to pay damages by the Higher Regional Court of Dresden (OLG, ruling of 29 February 2019, file no. 4 U 942/17) because he had not informed the policyholder […]

Repay fixed-interest loans early

When selling real estate, the bank loans are usually repaid by the seller so that the property can be transferred unencumbered in the land register – with the existing encumbrances, the property would normally be unsaleable. The repayment of the loans is seen – merely – as a precondition for the bank to release the […]

Early repayment of fixed-interest loans is often not permitted when selling real estate

Why there is often no justified interest in premature termination of the contract   When selling real estate, the bank loans are usually repaid by the seller so that the property can be transferred unencumbered in the land register – with the existing encumbrances, the property would normally be unsaleable. The repayment of the loans […]

bAV: How to optimize taxes and social security contributions

Company pension scheme: Tax burdens and social security contributions play an important role in the settlement of occupational pension entitlements. In the guest article, Dr. Fiala and Peter Schramm show optimisation possibilities. Severance pay for company pension schemes (bAV) as a tax-saving model The State Social Court of Baden-Württemberg (ruling of 24 March 2015, file […]