Estate Planning
Estate Planning is the process of determining how your wealth and assets should be transferred to the heirs of your choice: your children, grandchildren, friends, families, charitable causes, etc. and then deciding which legal tools and structures to use to best meet your estate planning goals.
Estate planning is not simply reducing or eliminating taxes and avoiding probate. Only after establishing how you want your estate’s assets to be distributed should you consider ways to reduce taxes and avoid probate. From there, good estate plans deal with a host of other issues. Now, with all but a few estates exempt from the federal estate tax, those other issues are, or should be, at the forefront of estate planning.
An estate plan is to ensure that you are taken care of the rest of your life and that your wealth is transferred to the people you want to have it. A good estate plan ensures these goals are accomplished with as much efficiency and as little cost as possible. An estate plan addresses the management and distribution of an individual’s property and financial obligations after he or she dies with financial tools such as wills, revocable living trusts and power of attorney.
For a comprehensive overview of Estate Planning, please start with our article:
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All the Ways You Can (Legally) Avoid Probate
Avoiding probate often is a major estate planning goal, but most people don’t learn all the strategies available. In probate, a deceased person’s estate is administered and distributed according to state and local law. The process ensures debts are paid and legal title to assets passes as the decedent wanted, or according to state law […]
The Four Ways You Can Make Tax-Free Gifts
Gift giving is an essential strategy in many estate plans. When done properly, gifts reduce lifetime income taxes and reduce or eliminate estate and gift taxes. Through gifts, you help loved ones today, and see the benefits of that help, instead of having them wait to inherit. To optimize gifts, know how to minimize gift […]
Cashing in on Congress’ $350,000 Retirement Shocker
To read the Special Report, please click the PDF below. […]
How to Insure Your Way to a Rock-Solid Retirement
The insurance decisions during and near retirement are some of the most important and complicated in your lifetime. Click the PDF below to discover a few simple ways to protect your assets and reduce your costs in all areas of insurance. […]
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Estate Planning for the Growing ‘Unmarried Population’
In last week’s edition of Retirement Watch Weekly, I presented Estate Planning for “Modern Families.” There’s a lot more ground to cover, so let’s dive right back in – starting with estate tax implications for single people. Under the estate and gift tax, singles do not have the advantage of the marital deduction. An unmarried […]
The Essential Guide for Retiring in the 2020’s
The insurance decisions during and near retirement are some of the most important and complicated in your lifetime. Click the PDF below to discover a few simple ways to protect your assets and reduce your costs in all areas of insurance. […]
The Foundations of a Great Estate Plan [Part 2]
Today we’ll pick up where we left off last week, with more tips to help you make the most of your estate plan. The first is a tricky topic, and sometimes highly charged. Should Heirs Get Equal Shares of the Estate? Parents have several different reasons for considering leaving unequal shares of their estates to […]
How To Build a Great Estate Plan
Everyone needs an estate plan, no matter how much or how little money is involved. For example, you need an estate plan even if you don’t expect to owe taxes on the estate. It is more important to decide who should receive the wealth, how much each should receive and when and how the wealth […]
