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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The Little-Known Estate Planning Advantages of Revocable Trusts
Many estate planners recommend revocable Living Trusts to their clients. Often simply called living trusts, the tool has been around for centuries. Despite its longevity, many people don’t realize the many advantages of using living trusts in their estate plans. Usually living trusts are recommended as a way to avoid probate, and they are one […]
Estate Planning Strategies for Navigating the Kiddie Tax
Shifting assets and income to your children and grandchildren can provide many benefits, including tax benefits. That’s why Congress set up hurdles to keep you from enjoying all the potential tax benefits. When planning gifts of investments to your loved ones, be aware of the kiddie tax. This tax was created in 1986 to reduce […]
Do you have investment advice other than the portfolios?
I’ve always recommended that investors simplify matters by consolidating their mutual funds at either a discount broker or at one or two fund companies. Many of these firms also let investors save money by offering to trade funds with no transaction fees (NTF programs). I regularly list the funds I recommend in each investment category […]
Do you tell me when to sell my investments?
Absolutely. There’s no point in generating positive returns if you don’t keep your profits. I follow each recommendation I make and give specific sell advice. I continue to provide updates on long-term recommendations until I say to sell them. When I think it is close to the time for selling an investment, in each issue […]
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How do I get started following your recommendations? Should I sell my current investments and immediately adopt your portfolios?
I’m rarely in favor of wholesale changes in a portfolio. Take the time to look at how your portfolio is structured now and how you think it ideally should be structured. Decide which of my recommended portfolios is for you and see how close your current asset allocation is to my recommendations. If your allocation […]
What if I have less than $10,000 to invest?
I recommend that you get started with a Core Portfolio first, and develop a Managed Portfolio as your investment portfolio increases. If you don’t have enough assets to assemble my True Diversification portfolio, I suggest you start with one of the all-weather balanced funds I recommended earlier. I don’t recommend many funds in this category. […]
How can I follow your recommendations with my 401(k) plan?
The most important contributor to investment performance is your asset allocation. Usually it is more important to be in the right type of fund than in a specific fund. So you can follow my recommendations by using whatever funds your 401(k) allows in each category. If your 401(k) does not offer consistently good funds or […]
What is the biggest mistake you see in portfolios you review?
Most investment portfolios are much too complicated. It is not unusual for an investor to own more than a dozen mutual funds that were accumulated over the years and then forgotten. Also, most investors have their money disbursed over several mutual fund companies and brokers. In these situations, most of the time that is put […]
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