Category: Estate Planning
The Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare” has had an impact on the taxes of investment income but estate planning techniques can reduce it. The intention of the Affordable Care Act was to increase the number of recipients of health insurance without increasing costs. While the accomplishments of the Act are often debated it appears the […]
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is charging that kickbacks for sales agents are common in the annuities industry and should be considered before making a purchase. The purchase of an annuity is a common approach to offsetting the expense of retirement as it becomes more difficult to save sufficiently for later years. An annuity can help […]
An elderly woman decided to handle the issue of heirs by sending a clear message with shredded money and accounts. An 85-year-old nursing home resident decided to send a loud and clear message to her heirs when 950,000 Euros and saving accounts books were found in tiny pieces on her bed when she died. It […]
Let’s cut right to the chase: one of the most common estate planning mistakes is simple to avoid and usually the result of sheer forgetfulness. It has nothing to do with the will or estate taxes. It’s the beneficiary designation. People forget to make changes as their life circumstances change. It’s quite common for ex-spouses […]
Just because you have large sums of money to pass to your heirs does not mean that you don’t have problems to address besides how much tax you don’t want to pay. Whether they are adult children or grandchildren, having heirs with behavioral problems, mental illnesses, a problem with drugs or chronic unemployment creates a […]
Should you suddenly become uber-wealthy, you’ll want to purchase a pricey art collection, which is 2.6 percent of the biggest estates. For those with only $10 million to $20 million in assets, a small collection, valued at about 0.6 percent of your estate, is almost de rigueur. There are extreme differences in the super rich […]
Here’s a Halloween riddle: What really scares Americans 50 and older? Answer: The stock market and their retirement. According to several recent financial security studies, including the Country Financial Security Index, as a result of the 2008 market meltdown, baby boomers are terrified of investment risk and another market crash. In the latest Country survey, […]
Taxes and inheritance issues go together like Halloween and trick or treating. Tax planning is a critical part of estate planning, and families who wish to transfer assets from one generation to the next need to prepare for both aspects, as settling an estate can easily become quite complicated. Many estate plans include the use […]
Depending on your perspective, this case is either proof of what proper estate planning can do or an exercise in frustration in a case of elder financial abuse. A court decision has ruled that a bank may use funds from an estate to defend a court battle where the daughter of a wealthy woman is […]
With a $350,000 grant, The Stanley and Elaine Ball Charitable Foundation has made it possible for the Taneyhills Library to renovate the children’s area and create a technology conference room that would have otherwise been impossible for the all-volunteer library to build. The hope is that the new features will draw new users to the […]
