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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Why Beneficiaries Overpay Taxes on Inherited IRAs
The most frequent, most expensive mistakes with IRAs occur when it’s time to pass the IRAs to the beneficiaries. Sometimes the fault is with the original owner. Sometimes the fault is with the beneficiaries. In either case, the mistakes cause the tax-deferred compounding of the IRA to be lost. Income taxes are paid earlier than […]
Shrewd Strategies for Shifting Ownership of a Small Business
One of the more difficult estate planning problems is transferring a small business in a way that maximizes after-tax value. Unfortunately, many business owners don’t handle the transition well. Planning for a small business transition should begin at least five years before the transition might occur. You should take the key steps that make a […]
Roth IRAs Are Compelling Estate Planning Tools
Roth IRAs can be powerful additions to your estate plan, regardless of your age. Most people focus only on lifetime income taxes when discussing roth iras. Roth IRAs can be powerful tools that help meet your Estate Planning goals, leaving your heirs with more after-tax wealth. An IRA will be included in your estate whether […]
Bob’s Journal for 4/18/19
The interest rate changes of the last few years tell an interesting story and provide lessons for later in 2019. One reason stocks and bonds appreciated following the financial crisis and especially from 2016-2018 is that the Fed tightened monetary policy much less than investors expected. After years of the Fed doing less than expected, […]
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“3 Ways to Get A Retirement Raise” Conference Call 04/17/19
Welcome to my first subscriber conference call: 3 Ways to Get A Retirement Raise. AGENDA: “Ask Bob Anything”: Live Q&A 3 new ideas for growing your retirement nest egg and giving yourself the “raise” you deserve The upcoming law that attacks a key, longstanding retirement strategy: Bob explains major new changes making their way through […]
“3 Ways to Get A Retirement Raise” Conference Call 04/17/19
I sat down with my subscribers for a conversation on, 3 Ways to Get A Retirement Raise. Click on my image below to listen to the conference call.
Bob’s Journal for 4/11/19
Closed-end mutual funds can increase your portfolio returns, but investing in them has an extra layer of risk. There’s a key distinction between closed-end mutual funds and the better-known open-end mutual funds. An open-end fund doesn’t have a fixed number of shares issued. Instead, at the end of each day, the fund company tallies the […]
Will and Estate Planning Checklist Helps to Protect Heirs
Are you taking advantage of all the tools available to get your property to the next generation or other beneficiaries at a minimum cost in expenses in taxes? You are if you have taken or considered each of these factors. Do you have an up-to-date will? If you have minor children, does the will name […]
