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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September 2011
September 27, 2011 10:45 p.m. Your Retirement Finance Week in Review You probably noticed that I changed the delivery date of this week’s e-mail. I plan to move our weekly discussion to Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Many of you told me that your e-mail inboxes are crowded on Mondays and Fridays. Tuesday and Wednesday are better […]
Maximizing Tax-Free Gifts for Estate Planning
Stock prices are down. Real estate still is on the floor in many areas. Family members probably could use some financial help. The estate and gift tax exemptions are higher. Add those facts, and you find this is a great time to do spme Estate Planning and give away assets to loved ones, avoiding estate […]
The Estate Planning Tricks of Withdrawing Cash from 529 Plans
Tax-saving vehicles never are as straightforward as they seem. Section 529 college savings plans sometimes fall into that category. You need to consider a few Estate Planning tricks when taking distributions from the plans. The basics of 529 plans are simple. Anyone can put money in a plan for the benefit of someone else. There […]
What Your Will Can and Can’t Do for Your Estate Planning
A will is one of the most powerful documents you can write. A will can decide what happens to valuable property, even billions of dollars worth. It can decide who becomes the guardian of minor children, who controls a business or other entity, and how much of your wealth goes to the government. The will […]
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Reconsidering the Role of 401(k)s in Your Estate Planning
Classic Estate Planning advice to youngsters entering the workforce is that they should sign up for the employer’s 401(k) plan and begin saving money for retirement. It’s time to reconsider that advice. I’m not questioning the first part of the advice. Youngsters should begin saving as soon as they start earning money. The question is […]
Transferring Digital Accounts for Estate Planning
An overlooked area of Estate Planning is the transfer of digital information. More senior Americans spend a lot of time online than a few years ago, and this online activity is as much personal as for business and must be cnosdered in your estate planning. This needs to be factored into your estate plan. Provide […]
How to Fill Gaps in Your Estate Planning
Most estate plans are deficient. Even wealthy people who consult with high-priced lawyers have key gaps in their plans. I’m not even talking about people who don’t bother to develop an estate plan. I’m considering only people who developed plans. Too many of them have plans that aren’t going to meet their goals, preserve their […]
Finding Your Classic Estate Plan
Every estate is unique, but each estate can be put in a category with similar estates. Those similar estates are likely to have plans that share a number of common features. So, in this visit we present the classic categories and key elements of plans that fall into those categories. All estate plans. Every plan […]
