I was sceptical: Another one in the Rich Dad’s series, and not even by the original author, Robert T. Kiyosaki. But I needed some information, and I needed it quickly.The lawyer I visited didn’t know too much about LLCs (limited liability corporations). In fact, I think he had no experience at all since he spent most of the time of my visit calling up colleagues and asking them my questions.Anyway, when I left I was as puzzled as before, but why not get a good summary written for actual people without all the complex details?I decided for that one, because it was an immediate hit for the keywords I searched for, and I had read some Rich Dad’s book before and found them interesting. I admit some principles get repeated a lot in the books I read, and I sense they get repeated in every book. But nevertheless my previous impression of the Rich Dad’s books were “sound information and making sense.”So I started reading (actually I listen to most books because I prefer audio) and found my thirst for information rewarded. Some parts are too long for my taste, especially the sections why you really shouldn’t do business as a proprietorship. I knew those parts cold since they seem to be repeated in every book about “founding your own [insert favorite form of corporation here]”. Also, the examples are nice but too basic and foreseeable in most cases.But the main practical points in founding a corporation (the standard and the s-corporation as well as the LLC) are nicely summarized and gave me a solid background for my decision.
September 24th, 2004 at 9:59 pm
I would definitely check with the Corporate division of whatever State you reside in instead of paying an attorney some hefty fees. For e.g, in Michigan, the fee to file is $50 - most lawyers and CPA’s charge anywhere between $400 to $800 to do nothing but fax over a simple one page Articles of Incorporation over. It literally has three lines to fill - name of LLC, name of resident agent (thats you), length of LLC (perpetual or 100 years) and your signature and date. Thats it!
You can get your EIN number directly from IRS for free. You will need that to open your bank account for your LLC.
You will also need an operating agreement for your LLC - boilerplate document that lawyers used from software. I think that Quicken has it in its Legal Software products for $49.
If you are a one person LLC then you really dont need the Operating Agreement. More than one - definitely need one on file.
Mark Ijlal
September 24th, 2004 at 10:02 pm
Try to go self route. Much cheaper than paying a lawyer couple of hundred dollars. Michigan charges $50 to form an LLC . CPA’s and lawyers charge around $400 to $800 for nothing more than faxing over a two page Articles of Incorporation. EIN - Employer Identification number is free from IRS and you can get it from IRS website. You only need an operating agreement for an LLC if you have a partner.
April 17th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
In my case it was a little bit different. My partner and I originally filed to become an LLC online, but we didn’t have a strong operating agreement. We met a Lawyer who met with us once, worked on by-laws and an operation agreement, and then met with us once again to hammer out the final agreement. She did charge $500 for it, which was painful, but it was a one time charge - we’re not planning on reforming an LLC every year or anything - and helped us think about all kinds of things, like, whats the legal status of the business stock if one of us dies. Also, we were fortunate because forming corporations had been her specialty at one time so she was pretty good. She did start with templates, but heavily customized theem for us. I guess I would just say if you do it yourself, do your homework first.