An Individual Cash Account is an account that is owned by one person.

A Joint Account is owned by two persons. A joint account indicating a "right of survivorship" allows the funds in the account to pass to the surviving co-owner without going through probate when one of the co-owners dies. With a joint account, the owners have access to the funds in an emergency or, for that matter, at any time.

The account can hold:

• Stocks, Preferred stocks
• ADR's (American Depository Receipts) to purchase foreign stocks
• Bonds  (corporate, municipal, treasuries)
• Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
• Mutual Funds
• Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS)
• Option contracts (puts and calls)
• Warrants, LEAPS
• Almost any other type of security or investment publically traded.

The requirements and information that must be provided by the person(s) opening the account includes:

• Account holder must be at least 18 years old
• Social Security number or a Tax Identification number
• Drivers license number and the state it was issued in
• Citizen and residency status
• Employment information
• Your contact information
• Investment Objectives
• Risk Tolerance

A Business account is one of the following;

1) Corporate Account. A corporate account is an investment account established and registered in the name of a business. It can be invested in stocks, bonds, ETF's, options and mutual funds. The information required to open a corporate account is 1) Social Security Number of Tax ID number of authorized agents. 2) Citizenship and residency status of authorized agents. 3) Your contact information. 4) Notarized corporate resolution.

2) Partnership Account. A partnership account is an investment account established and registered to multiple owners who have entered into a partnership agreement. The account can be invested in stocks, bonds, ETF's mutual funds and options. The information required ot open a partnership account is the same as a corporate except you need to provide a partnership agreement.

3) Sole Proprietor. A sole proprietorship account is an investment account established for unincorporated single-owner businesses. The account can be invested in stocks, bonds, ETF's mutual funds and options. The information required to open a partnership account is the same as a corporate except you need to provide a sole proprietorship form.

UGMA/UTMA Uniform Gift to Minor or Uniform Transfer to Minor Accounts

A Custodial Account is established on behalf of a minor, under the age of eighteen. Assets placed in the account are considered an irrevocable gift, become the property of the child, and must be used for the benefit of the child.

The Uniform Gift to Minors Act (UMGA) established a simple way for a minor to own securities without requiring the services of an attorney to prepare trust documents or the court appointment of a trustee. The terms of this trust are established by a state statute instead of a trust document.

The Uniform Transfer to Minors Act (UTMA) is similar, but also allows minors to own other types of property, such as real estate, fine art, patents and royalties, and for the transfers to occur through inheritance. UTMA is slightly more flexible than UGMA.

The account can hold:

• Stocks
• Bonds
• ETFs
• Mutual funds
• Cash

The required information required to open the account includes:

• Social Security number or Tax I.D. number of the custodian and minor.
• Drivers license number and state of issue of the custodian
• Citizenship and residency status of custodian and minor
• Employment information of custodian

What is a Trust Account?
A trust is an arrangement created either by a will or by an inter vivos declaration by which trustees take title to property for the purpose of protecting or conserving it for the beneficiaries under the ordinary rules applied in chancery or probate courts. A trust can be useful if you want to make sure that a particular beneficiary does not get unconditional control over your funds. For example, many people specify in living trusts that the bank deposit (or other property or assets) will pass to the named beneficiaries only when they reach a certain age or graduate from college. A living trust also can cover a variety of assets, not just bank accounts. And if you become ill and incapacitated, a living trust can allow someone else to manage your financial affairs.

What is a Revocable Living Trust?
A revocable living trust is an arrangement created by a written agreement or declaration during the life of an individual and can be changed or ended at any time during the individual's life. A revocable living trust is generally created to manage and distribute property. Many people use this type of trust instead of (or in addition to) a will.

How do you set up or establish a Trust?
An attorney can help you establish a trust. Trusts can help families avoid probate and infighting because the trust will have in it what assets go to whom. Once the trust is set up, all of the investment accounts will be retitled into the name of the trust with the date it was established. 

• Brokerage accounts (re-titled in the name of the trust)
• Investments inside the account are also re-titles (stocks, bonds, etc.)
• Property (re-titled in the name of the trust)
• Bank accounts (re-titled in the name of the trust)

What documentation is required for a Revocable Living Trust?

• Social Security number or Tax ID Number
• Drivers license number and state of issue
• Citizenship and residency status
• Employment information
• Your contact information

• Social Security number or Tax ID number
• Driver's license number and state of issue
• Your contact information
• Letters of Testamentary
• Original death certificate
• Notarized original

What is a Traditional IRA?
A Traditional Individual Retirement account is an IRA account that holds pre-taxed assets that are tax-deferred until distributed.

Who can establish a Traditional IRA?
A person can set up and make contributions to a traditional IRA if:

• You (or, if you file a joint return, your spouse) received taxable compensation during the year, and
• You were not age 701/2 by the end of the year.

You can have a traditional IRA whether or not you are covered by any other retirement plan. However, you may not be able to deduct all of your contributions if you or your spouse is covered by an employer retirement plan. All contributions must be made before April 15th of the current tax year.

How can a Traditional IRA be set up?
You can set IRA accounts with banks, brokerage firms, credit unions, mutual funds or other financial institutions.

Contributions:
As soon as you establish your traditional IRA, contributions can be made to it. The general limit is  $4,000 ($5,000 if you are age 50 or older.

Contributions must be in the form of money (cash, check, or money order). Contributions can be made to your traditional IRA for each year that you receive compensation and have not reached age 70 1/2. For any year in which you do not work, contributions cannot be made to your IRA unless you receive alimony, nontaxable combat pay or file a joint return with a spouse who has compensation.

Contributions must be made by due date. Contributions can be made to your traditional IRA for a year at any time during the year or by the due date for filing your return for that year, not including extensions. For most people, this means that contributions for 2007 must be made by April 15th, 2008, and contributions for 2008 must be made by April 15, 2009.

Withdrawals
You cannot keep funds in a traditional IRA indefinitely. Eventually they must be distributed. If there are no distributions, or if the distributions are not large enough, you may have to pay a 50% excise tax on the amount not distributed as required.

Required minimum distribution (RMD). The amount that must be distributed each year is referred to as the required minimum distribution. If you are an owner of a traditional IRA, you must start receiving distributions from your IRA by April 1 of the year following the year in which you reach age 70 1/2. April 1 of the year following the year in which you reach age 70 1/2 is referred to as the required beginning date.

There are other rules and requirements for IRA accounts that are to numerous for this area. For additional information, please visit the investor resources area of this website.

What is a Roth IRA?
A Roth IRA is an individual retirement plan that must be designated as a Roth IRA when it is set up. Unlike a traditional IRA, you cannot deduct contributions to a Roth IRA. But, if you satisfy the requirements, qualified distributions (below) are tax free. Contributions can be made to your Roth IRA after you reach age 70 1/2 and you can leave amounts in your Roth IRA as long as you live. Just like a traditional IRA, the investments inside of a Roth IRA grow tax free which can make a big difference in how your investments grow or cash can compound.

Contributing to a Roth IRA
If you are married filing jointly and earn less than:

• $156,000, then you can contribute up to $4,000 ($5,000 if you are age 50 or older).
• If you earn at least $156,000 but less than $166,000, then the amount you can contribute is reduced as explained under the Contribution limit reduced (not shown here).
• If you earn more than $166,000 then you cannot contribute to a Roth IRA.

There are other scenarios that apply. The above is the filing jointly or qualifying widow(er).

Compensation includes wages, salaries, tips, professional fees, bonuses, and other amounts received for providing personal services. It also includes commissions, self-employment income, and taxable alimony and separate maintenance payments.

A qualified distribution is any payment or distribution from your Roth IRA that meets the following requirements.

1. It is made after the 5-year period beginning with the first taxable year for which a contribution was made to a Roth IRA set up for your benefit, and
2. The payment or distribution is:
   a. Made on or after the date you reach 59 1/2
   b. Made because you are disabled
   c. Made to a beneficiary or to your estate after your death, or
   d. One that meets the requirements listed under the First home under Exceptions in chapter 1 (up to a $10,000 lifetime limit).

There are other rules and limitations that apply to the Roth IRA including minimum distributions, distributions to beneficiaries, early distributions, and more. Goto the investors resources area of this website for additional information.

What is a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP IRA)?

A simplified employee pension (SEP) is a written arrangement that allows your employer to make deductible contributions to a traditional IRA (a SEP IRA) set up for you to receive such contributions. Generally, distributions from SEP IRAs are subject to the withdrawal and tax rules that apply to traditional IRA.

Your employer or labor union or other employee association can set up a trust to provide individual retirement accounts for employees or members.

The contributions limits are generally $4,000 per year (or $5,000 if you are over 50 years of age).

What is a SIMPLE Plan? or SIMPLE IRA?

A SIMPLE IRA plan is an IRA-based plan that gives small employers a simplified method to make contributions toward their employees' retirement and their own retirement. Under a SIMPLE IRA plan, employees may choose to make salary reduction contributions and the employer makes matching or non-elective contributions. All contributions are made directly to an Individual Retirement Account or Individual Retirement Annuity (IRA) set up for each employee (a SIMPLE IRA). SIMPLE IRA plans are maintained on a calendar-year basis.

There are a lot of rules and requirements that govern SIMPLE IRAs. For additional information please visit the investor resources area of this website.

What is a Rollover IRA?

A tax-deferred rollover occurs when you withdraw cash or other assets from one eligible retirement plan and contribute all or part of it within 60 days to another eligible retirement plan. The key to remember is DO NOT CASH THE CHECK otherwise you will be taxed on the amount. You should consult with retirement accounts department of the firm that holds your existing IRA or the new Rollover IRA that you are you are transferring (rolling) the money into.

Typically, the way to rollover your money into an IRA Rollover account is to:

1. Complete a new IRA Rollover account form at the firm you are transferring the money into.
2. Your past employer might have some additional paperwork for you to complete.
3. The firm you are opening up the Rollover IRA at will in most cases will send the paperwork to your past employer or to whomever is holding it and make sure that the account is transferred over properly.

For more information, please visit the investor resources area of this website.