Things To Do In SW Florida

Q: My elderly mother lives with me and we have added “payable upon death” to all of her bank accounts, which are her only assets.  Although the account balances are coming to me at her passing, I am supposed to distribute amounts to other members of the family.  Will I have taxes to pay on these amounts?  The total amount will be less than $200,000.  – C.V., Apopka

A:  Because you are receiving the current value of your mother’s bank accounts on which your mother has already paid any tax that’s due, you will not owe any income or estate tax on the bank deposits you inherit from her. –  Sylvia C. “Chris” Presley

Q: I am on Social Security and have qualified dividend income from stocks. How are the dividends taxed?  –  No name given

A: The tax is dependent on how much dividend income you have. Qualified dividends are taxed at capital gains tax rates, which range from nothing to 20%. –  Gregg Collier

Have a question? E-mail askanexpert@fpafla.com. Include your name (only your initials will be printed), hometown and phone. Questions are answered by Certified Financial Planners from the Financial Planning Association of Central Florida. Answers are for educational purposes only; you should also consult a financial professional. Questions and answers may be edited for space considerations. read more

TALLAHASSEE — When Rod Buvens climbed to inspect the tile roof of the Estero home in 2019, he quickly found signs of damage.

Hurricane Irma had churned through the area about 18 months earlier, but there were still broken tiles on the roof’s windward side — the side that bore the brunt of the storm’s force. When Buvens tested other tiles, trying to lift them with three fingers, many were loose.

Hired by St. Petersburg-based United Property and Casualty to assess the homeowner’s claim, Buvens wrote an estimate for a full roof replacement, at $70,000. But that’s not what the homeowner received.

After seeing Buvens’ estimate, United Property and Casualty, known as UPC, sent engineers to the home. The engineers found six broken tiles but reported no damage. A final report — with Buvens’ name on it — said the claim wasn’t covered and the homeowner was owed $0.

Buvens’ 2019 case is the earliest known accusation that an insurance company manipulated a homeowners’ assessment to reject or lowball a claim, which if proven would be a potential felony under state law. read more

Ehab Mahmoud served on the Special Forces of the Egyptian Air Force from 1998 to 2010. In fact, since his active military days, Mahmoud has worked as both coach and competitor with skydiving teams in his home country, Qatar and in the United States. He still competes and just happens to hold the world record for most consecutive dead-center jumps.

All of this explains why opening a restaurant having no previous experience didn’t scare him at all.

He laughs.

“It has been crazy, for sure,” he tells me.

And how.

Since The Dough Show opened back in March, the business has been beyond brisk, with folks lining up — and enduring considerable waits — for something that’s unique ’round these parts: Egyptian pies. Comprised of an incomparably lovely and literally ancient Egyptian bread called feteer (ridiculously delicate layers of dough and ghee) that swaths about fillings both savory and sweet, they are the new superstars of East Orlando’s ever-growing international dining scene.

The neighborhood is a gold mine. And The Dough Show is a shiny, new nugget. read more