Timing

Hotel mogul Leona Helmsley, the "Queen of Mean", famously said, "Only little people pay taxes". Frank McCourt, billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers hasn't paid Federal taxes in five years. Incorporate yourself in the Netherlands Antilles. Do all your banking through Switzerland. Establish trust funds for your household pets. You, too, can make millions and keep it away from Uncle Sam.

George Steinbrenner, owner of the NY Yankees, died yesterday. If his portrayal on "Seinfeld" is accurate, Steinbrenner was not a subtle man. Putting a chain saw to George Costanza's nap-accomodating desk in the Yankees' offices is typical reckless Steinbrenner. Not counting the Joe Torre and Joe Girardi tenures, going through 14 managerial changes in 12 years shows Steinbrenner's impulsiveness.

But "The Boss" had impeccable timing. He invested $200,000 in the Yankees back in 1973. Today, they are worth $1.1 billion. That's timing. By dying in 2010, the only year since 1914 with no Federal Estate Tax, Steinbrenner saved a whopping 45% of his estate from going to the IRS. Disregarding exemptions and arcane tax rules, that's about $450 million more to his heirs than if he held on until 2011. That's really good timing.

One wonders whether impulsive, reckless George Steinbrenner would have been one to stand still long enough for "estate planners" to plot ways around the tax laws. Then, typical of his impeccable timing, his time runs out in the one year that saves his heirs $450 million and Uncle Sam can't do a thing about it.

Timing is everything.