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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How to Use a Trust to Save Your Inheritance from Your Heirs, Beneficiaries and Kids’ Mistakes
Too often inheritances aren’t handled well. The kids, no matter their ages, often aren’t prepared to handle the money. It might be dissipated by expenses, taxes, creditors, bad decisions, and more. This article recommends preserving your estate by giving it to a trust instead of outright to your children. It lists the advantages of trusts […]
Investors Set to be Surprised Again in 2018
Investors have been surprised by 2017. We’ve had stronger-than-anticipated global growth. Earnings growth exceeded expectations and interest rates haven’t increased as much as forecast. Global stock prices rallied beyond most projections, and bond prices recovered from their lows. Yet, markets indicate investors continue to expect weak growth in the economy, along with earnings growth and […]
6 Misunderstood IRA Rules and Strategies
IRAs aren’t the simple vehicles they seemed when they were new. Baby Boomers have reached the stages of life when the rules are more complicated and full of pitfalls. Here’s a guide to the top questions people are asking and mistakes many are making. Required minimum distribution mistake #1. Most taxpayers have to take a […]
Recent Changes in Estate Planning and Gift Tax Laws
Congress continues to debate whether or not to eliminate the estate tax, but other changes in the estate and gift tax law will take effect by January 1, 2018. The Treasury Department withdrew the controversial proposed regulations that would have eliminated or curtailed many of the strategies the wealthy use to reduce estate taxes. The […]
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5 Ways to Enhance Your Legacy with Beneficiary Bequests and Charitable Gifts and Trusts
Legacy planning can be a powerful part of your estate plan. Not all gifts are created equal, especially charitable gifts. You can leverage the benefits of your gifts, enhancing the financial security of yourself and your heirs while being philanthropic. Estate planners often refer to these strategies as planned gifts or planned giving. Often, gifts […]
Happy Thanksgiving 2017
Happy Thanksgiving 2017 I prepared this week’s Bob’s Journal early and in a different format because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Next week, I’ll be back to our regular journal entry. Once again, this has been a year of surprises, but none of them derailed the economy or the stock markets. One year ago, many analysts […]
An Overview of Estate Settlement for Executors, Trustees, and Beneficiaries
After someone dies, an executor is in charge of the estate. There are a lot of steps involved in the estate settlement process. This article gives an overview of the many steps involved with tips on how to handle them. Sometimes, an executor may not even be needed. The most obvious reason being if an […]
Estate Planning Strategy: How to Transfer Real Estate to Family, Heirs and Beneficiaries
Some assets require special Estate Planning. One such asset is what I sometimes call heirloom real estate, or family real estate. This is a property that’s been in the family for a while and that you’d like to continue in family ownership. Heirloom real estate includes vacation homes or other second homes, farms, a longtime […]
Asset Protection
Building a Legacy
Business Ownership and Succession
Digital Assets Estate Planning
Estate Planning Basics
Estate Planning Checklist
Estate Planning for Singles
Estate Planning Forms and Documents
Estate Planning Mistakes
Estate Planning Strategies
Estate Tax
Executors and Trustees
Family Limited Partnerships
Gifts and Gift Giving
Grandchildren
Heirs, Beneficiaries, and Children
IRAs & Your Estate
Power of Attorney
Probate
Trusts
Wills and Estate Planning
