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:
Found 731 Articles.
Get access to our full article archive by subscribing to Retirement Watch and Retirement Watch Spotlight Series.
Experienced Estate Planning professionals know the assets most likely to cause problems with heirs are those estate owners treat routinely. Often, it is the commonplace assets the owner does not give much thought to that stir up emotions among at least some of the heirs. It is not a problem only of the rich. Sometimes […]
June 26. 2009 10:00 a.m. Highlighs from the Week I don’t usually comment on Federal Reserve’s actions or the statements that go along with its policy announcements. But this week’s announcement is worth a note. While the statement is very similar to the last statement, it definitely is more cautious and even pessimistic about the […]
Now, only the very wealthy have to worry about Estate Planning. Many Americans are starting to think that way. Congress will not let the estate tax expire in 2010. Instead, it is likely to enact a permanent law with an exemption equal to or exceeding 2009’s $3.5 million level. To many people that means their […]
Over the years we stressed to our members that Estate Planning is about much more than taxes. For many decades, people believed estate planning and estate tax planning were the same thing. That was understandable when the lifetime estate tax exemption was $600,000. Many “modest millionaires” who considered themselves middle class would be hit by […]
In my new Retirement Watch Spotlight Series, I’ll share my newest breakthrough strategies for protecting your assets and growing your portfolio, including how to prepare for the next market downturn. Click here now to learn more.
What is the key to making a family business last beyond the first generation? If you are a business owner you likely are familiar with the statistics that only a small percentage of businesses last much beyond the first generation, and a tiny percentage make it through the second generation to the third. The fate […]
The estate tax is due to expire after the end of 2009. Control of Congress and the White House have changed since that law was enacted, so it is a safe bet the estate tax won’t be allowed to expire. Congress might be too preoccupied with other matters to agree on the details and extend […]
Trusts are fairly simple. Lawyers and estate planners make them seem more complicated than they are. That’s too bad, because nonlawyers need to understand the different Types of Trusts and how they work to ensure they have effective estate plans. Trusts used to be for only the very wealthy or for special situations. But now […]
Short-Term vs. Long-Term March 26, 2009 12:00 p.m. The stock market indexes have been on a tear since March 9. It is quite a turnaround. January and February were among the worst months on record for the indexes. The decline finally ended with new 12-year lows on March 9. The markets were oversold at that […]
Log In
Forgot Password
Search