Trusts
Found 105 Articles.
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Big Benefits from an Overlooked Charitable Trust
Let’s take a strategy we developed last month, build on it, and turn it into something very powerful. In the “defective” grantor trust we discussed last month the grantor of the trust is taxed on all its income, but the trust is excluded from the grantor’s estate. The combination lets you leave more tax-free dollars […]
How to Beat Little-Known Estate Plan Traps
It’s the little things that often sabotage an estate plan. You can work with your estate planner to get the right gifting program, trusts, and other strategies. But a mundane detail or two still could undo a lot of your work. Whether the estate is a few hundred thousand dollars or millions of dollars, it […]
How to Leave More for Grandkids
Would you like your grandchildren to end up with only 20% of what you intended? That’s what happens in most cases. The government doesn’t want you to pass wealth directly to your grandchildren. It wants the money to stay in your estate, get it hit by estate taxes, go to your children, get it hit […]
A “Defective” Trust That Saves You Money
Sometimes when Congress closes one tax loophole it creates another. This is especially likely when Congress doesn’t coordinate the income and estate tax sections of the law. That’s how complicated the tax law is. And it opens up an opportunity for you with “grantor trusts.” A grantor trust in the income tax law is one […]
The Tax-Free Life Insurance Trust – An Estate Planning Strategy
There’s a big down-side to the boom in stocks and other financial assets. When the value of the assets you own goes up, so do potential estate and gift taxes. If you don’t take action, the IRS could end up with more of your estate than your loved ones. One easy way to handle the […]
How to Build a Better, Cheaper Life Insurance Trust for Estate Planning
You’ve probably seen the promotions for those tax-free “investments” that give a 10 to 1 return on your money. When you get past the initial pitch, you find that the investment is a life insurance policy that pays off for your heirs, not you. As part of the promotions, you’ll learn that the best way […]
Use Estate Planning to Build a Legacy (Trust)
Trusts aren’t just for the super wealthy anymore. IRS statistics show that the average trust has about $250,000 in it, not exactly Rockefeller territory. That’s because many people have learned that trusts can be useful for even middle class families. One way to use a trust is to build a legacy that will last for […]
Escape Hatches For Estate Planning Trusts
It doesn’t take much to ruin a great estate plan. Many great plans, completed with careful work and good intentions, turn to disasters because of one simple decision – the wrong trustee was selected. Instead of being grateful that their parents and grandparents worked hard to provide for them, heirs become bitter and even resentful. […]
