Retirement Watch Weekly
Is the “QTIP Trust” Right for Your Estate Plan?
As we’ve seen, it is easy to cut your estate taxes to zero, especially if you’re married. All you have to do is leave everything to your spouse. Your estate gets an unlimited marital deduction for all property left to your spouse. So having your spouse inherit everything eliminates taxes on your estate. Despite the […]
Diversification Shows Its Power with More to Come
Diversification is more important than it has been in some time. I expect the power and importance of diversification to continue and even increase. Fortunately, our portfolios have been diversified, and it has been paying off, as you will see in this month’s Portfolio Watch. Investing seemed easy when all investors had to worry about […]
Recent Tax Changes You Should Know
The IRS has been busy the last few months. Some of its work is of special interest to people in or near retirement. Recently, the IRS ruled that the health portion of genetic-testing kits qualifies as medical care under the tax code. Typically, part of the report from a genetic-testing kit summarizes a person’s ethnic […]
Original Medicare vs. Medicare Advantage: Which is Right For You?
One of the most controversial aspects of Medicare is the ability to choose between original Medicare and Medicare Advantage. Some of the controversy is ideological, because some people are philosophically inclined to either favor or oppose Advantage plans. But much of the controversy exists because the right choice depends a lot on individual circumstances and […]
Don’t Be Scared By Those Estimates of Retirement Medical Spending
The biggest financial worry of retirement happens to be among the most manageable and easiest to conquer. Surveys routinely show that Ameri-cans are most concerned about retirement medical expenses. Even high net worth individuals say they’re worried post-career medical care will deplete their assets. It’s no wonder. Every year we’re faced with fresh estimates of […]
7 Critical Year-End Actions to Take with IRAs and 401(k)s
This is not the year to procrastinate about year-end retirement account and tax planning. In the last weeks of every year, I receive a stream of emails from readers asking about transactions they are considering by the end of the year. In most cases, even if they can analyze the situations and decide on the […]
Supreme Court Shuts Down a State Scheme to Tax Out-of-State Trusts
States have been aggressively trying to expand their tax bases, and their efforts aren’t always successful. The U.S. Supreme Court recently shut down an attempt by North Carolina, which other states have fully or partially replicated, to impose income taxes on what are essentially out-of-state trusts. In the case, the trustee resided in Connecticut, the […]
Digital Estate Planning: How to Organize and Protect Your Digital Assets and Transactions
Your estate plan is incomplete if it doesn’t have arrangements for your digital life, including accounts, files, trans-actions and more. Technology is taking a greater role in our lives, even for those who consider themselves Luddites. It took a while, but estate law finally is just about caught up to technology, and it’s essential to […]
