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:

• What is Estate Planning – A Comprehensive Overview

Estate Planning Strategies

How Interest Rates Affect Your Estate Planning

Publication: Retirement Watch Weekly

Interest rates were expected to rise the last couple of years. Instead, rates declined. They declined again to open 2016. Interest rate changes matter to your estate plan. Some strategies are better when rates are low and others when rates are higher. Especially when your estate might be taxable or you don’t want to shelter […]

Estate Planning Mistakes

Estate Planning Gaps Can Be Fixed

Publication: Retirement Watch Weekly

Is your estate plan good enough to get the job done? Odds are it isn’t. Many estate plans have gaps and deficiencies, even plans that are developed by wealthy people in consultation with high-priced lawyers and other experts. When you’ve taken the time and gone to the expense of working on an estate plan, you […]