Tax Day Approaches: Bankers Urge NYers to Review Their Finances & Update Their Planning

NEW YORK, NY (04/07/2009)(readMedia)-- As New Yorkers put the finishing touches on their 2008 tax returns in advance of next week's April 15th tax deadline, Michael P. Smith, President and CEO of the New York Bankers Association (NYBA), and Garry M. Garnet, NYBA Trust Marketing Committee chair and Vice President of Capital One Bank, urged Empire State residents to take a long hard look at long-term financial planning issues. Smith and Garnet reminded members of the media that NYBA has financial planning professionals across the state ready to help them with stories they may be working on for their readers, viewers and listeners.

"As April 15, that most infamous day of the year, fast approaches, it is not only a time to look at family finances from last year. It is also an ideal time for people to reexamine, or look at for the first time, long-term financial planning issues," Smith said. "Filing tax returns is obviously crucial but so, too, is addressing one's financial future."

Smith reminded all media news outlets - television, radio, newspapers, magazines, websites and blogs - that in these times of economic uncertainty and worry, stories that examine personal and family financial planning issues are an important service for their readers, viewers and listeners.

"Currently, families across New York are pulling together their financial records. We urge them not to put them away as soon as their tax returns are completed," Garnet said. "Now is the time to also think about long-range financial planning issues - trusts, estate planning, tax planning, insurance, long term care for loved ones, educational goals for children and grandchildren. Today is the perfect time to address these crucial issues that all too often get put off until tomorrow."

Garnet noted that the President's federal budget calls for continuing the estate tax at 2009 levels, rather than seeing it phased out in 2010 as current law anticipates.

"The estate tax - often referred to as the 'death tax' - is a key component in many families' long-range financial planning. While the issue is in flux, subject to the whim of Washington lawmakers, now is definitely the time to be looking at this issue with appropriate planning experts," Garnet said.

NYBA's updated media resource guide, "Financial Planning Professionals: Leaders in Their Field," provides sources for the media on issues such as trusts and estates, financial planning, retirement planning, wealth management, tax planning, and elder law.

"The individuals from throughout the state listed in the resource guide are truly leaders in their field," Garnet said. "They are available to talk to members of the media on the record or for background to provide the kind of expert analysis journalists seek when presenting stories on estate, tax or financial planning, trusts or other important financial issues."

A copy of the resource guide can be found online at the New York Bankers Association website (www.nyba.com), or by clicking http://www.nyba.com/public/Trust%20Media%20Kit%202009.pdf. Please feel free to contact the financial planning experts listed in the resource guide at your convenience.

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