Retirement Watch Weekly
Trusts You Should Avoid
Trusts are hot, and the IRS has declared war on them. It has increased staff and is planning more audits of trusts. But most Retirement Watch readers can relax. Trusts put together by the scam artists are those the IRS is going after. These are trusts that purport to eliminate taxes without changing your use […]
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 […]
The Truth About Retiring Overseas
We’ve all heard and imagined the fantasies of living at least part of our retirement years overseas. You probably read articles and mail promotions describing overseas “retirement edens” and describing how you can live like a king on a couple thousand dollars a month. And of course, there are those fabulous tax breaks. It all […]
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 […]
Effective Estate Planning Strategies
Almost no estate plan is a lost cause. An estate can be improved when it appears to be too late. In fact, heirs and beneficiaries can make some smart moves to reduce taxes even after the loved one has passed away. Whenever you are dealing with someone else’s estate, you should be aware that a […]
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 […]
An Important Supplement to a Living Will
A document that is an essential element of every estate plan is one that gives directions for health care when you are unable to make decisions. Many people say they want to die with dignity and without running up a lot of costs for futile health care, sometimes called “heroic efforts.” But your wishes in […]
