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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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Bob’s Journal (11/8/2018)

November 8, 2018

The markets tend to like midterm elections and divided governments, but this year could be different. So far, stock indices have had the best rally after midterm elections in over 30 years. Should we expect it to continue? Since 1946, after midterm elections, the S&P 500 averages a gain of 3.26% through the end of […]

Dear Reader (November 2018):

October 19, 2018

Almost everyone uses heuristic techniques. Unfortunately, the ways many people use them in their finances diminishes financial security. Heuristic is a fancy word for a short cut or rule of thumb. A formal definition is that it is a practical method for solving a problem, one that is not guaranteed to be optimal or perfect. […]

The Limits Of Forecasting

October 19, 2018

As Hurricane Florence approached and then pummeled the mid-Atlantic coast, Elaine and I studied weather forecasts. We weren’t expecting a direct hit from the storm, but a lot of rain and strong winds were possibilities. Each time the storm shifted, so did the forecasts. During the week, forecasts for our area shifted from three to […]

How to Secure Your Digital Legacy in Your Estate Plan

October 19, 2018

Almost all of us have digital assets that should be included in our estate plans. Technology and digital assets have become major parts of most of our lives, often more than we realize. A digital asset is any account, electronic device, or portion of a website that is password-protected. That covers a lot of ground. […]

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7 IRA Strategies to Consider for Year’s-End 2018

October 15, 2018

It is time for IRA owners to be proactive by planning and implementing their strategies for the rest of the year. There are many steps that can in-crease the after-tax wealth of your IRA.These actions can reduce income taxes,avoid penalties, increase after-tax investment returns and more. But you don’t want to be like most people […]

Avoid the Gift Tax Return Trap

October 15, 2018

You might need to file a gift tax return,even if you won’t owe gift or estate taxes.The IRS can impose penalties for not filing a gift tax return, even when no tax was due. The IRS began clamping down on unfiled gift tax returns a few years ago, because many people don’t know the gift […]

Avoiding the Major Mistake Made with Most Trusts

October 15, 2018

Many people leave money on the table and holes in their estate plans when they use the traditional approach to creating and planning trusts. The traditional approach is to name one trustee to manage every-thing about the trust. Sometimes this is a professional trustee, such as a bank or trust company, but it also could […]

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7 “Action Steps” Missing from your Estate Planning Checklist and Strategy: Part 2

October 5, 2018

No matter what your net worth is, an estate plan is always worth putting into place. It’s a legally binding document that spells out who gets your assets… It offers ways to limit the tax burden on your estate… And it helps your loved ones from having to deal with too many administrative nightmares after […]

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