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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4 Trusts That Still Improve Your Estate Plan after Tax Reform
Why bother with trusts when less than 1% of estates will pay estate or gift taxes? Many people are understandably, but mistakenly, thinking that way. Traditionally, tax savings were the primary reason to use trusts. But in 2018, individual estates worth up to $11.18 million are exempt from estate and gift taxes. Thanks to the […]
Winning Your Treasure Hunt for Lost Cash
You’ve probably seen the headlines about billions of dollars in lost money held by governments. They’re true, and some of the money might be yours. You don’t have to pay someone to find the money and return it to you. It’s easy to locate most of the lost money and have it returned. But a […]
How to Write an Ethical Will for Your Estate Planning
Your estate plan is part of your legacy, but your legacy should be more than financial assets, material possessions and legal documents. For more and more people, the final touch to their estate plans is what sometimes is known as an ethical will. Others have called it a legacy letter, heritage will, family philosophy statement, […]
8 Questions Your Children Need to Be Able to Answer
Many estate plans fail, and often not because of any flaws in the documents or the plans. Estate plan failures frequently occur in the implementation and execution. Especially important are actions taken by others, often your children. They’re likely to be the ones putting key parts of the plan into action, not you. To ensure […]
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How to Protect Your IRAs for Beneficiaries: A Simple Estate Planning Guide
How do you increase the odds your IRA will last for a long time? Be sure your beneficiaries know what they need to do! Many people have substantial balances in traditional IRAs. Often, a prime goal is for the IRA to help provide for the next generation or two. One way to do so is […]
Estate Planning Strategies for Changing Interest Rates
With interest rates rising (and expected to keep rising), it’s important to understand any effects on your retirement and estate. In our last issue, we reviewed three major estate planning strategies affected by rate changes. Here’s a look at some additional techniques worth checking out… Charitable lead annuity trust (CLAT) The CLAT is sort of the […]
6 Estate Planning and Trust Strategies Most Affected by Interest Rates Changes
It still comes as a surprise to so many retirees… The outcome of key estate planning strategies often hinges on fluctuations in interest rates. So clearly, changes in rates should sway the choice, or timing, of these strategies. Some estate planning strategies generate more benefits when interest rates are low, while others provide more benefits […]
Overcoming a Major Threat to Your IRA: Your Heirs
To increase the odds your IRA will last for a long time, be sure your beneficiaries know what they need to do. Many people have substantial balances in traditional IRAs. Often, a prime goal is for the IRA to help provide for the next generation or two. One way to do so is with a […]
