No question about it, Americans are living longer. My own family is a perfect example. My great grandfather died at age 65. My grandpa died at 82. My dad passed when he was 90. Longer lifespans are becoming much more common. And with that longevity often comes added responsibility...
The financial world is filled to the brim with planning—financial planning, estate planning, retirement planning, longevity planning—and that only scratches the surface. With all this focus on planning, there’s almost no discussion about—Parent Planning.
Caring for elderly parents is a growing issue in the United States. A survey conducted by...
Many of us who have lived a while have been conditioned to think that estate taxes are the number one issue when creating an estate plan—how do you avoid them; how do you reduce them? But in 2020, the first $11.58 million of a taxable estate is free from...
The government giveth, and the government taketh away. And so it is with the Stretch IRA. For years, the stretch IRA has been a financial planning strategy used to extend the tax-deferred status of an IRA by passing it on to a non-spouse beneficiary, such as children or grandchildren,...
The times they are a-changin’. It was true when Bob Dylan wrote those words more than 55 years ago, and it’s just as true today. The black-and-white analog world becomes a distant memory as we travel further into the digital portal. And just like Ozzy Osbourne, many of us...
Estate planning. It’s such a noble phrase. It conjures up images of passing on to your loved ones a lifetime of hard work and success—leaving a legacy. But the road to distributing your estate is filled with potholes that may hijack your good intentions.
Pothole # 1. Probate Court.
If you...
When the 2017 Tax Cuts and
Jobs Act (TCJA) was passed it changed the rules about deductions for charitable
giving. Under current law the only way to deduct charitable gifts is to itemize
on your tax return. Because of that, giving to charities has fallen
substantially.
In 2018 almost 32 million
Americans made charitable donations....
The desire to leave a legacy when you depart
this world has always been the reason to do estate planning. Until now, that’s
been enough. But in today’s world of technology, few people are considering
what to do with their digital assets—Facebook accounts, Twitter accounts, your
business website, online banking. What happens to...
Do I need a will or a trust? That’s the most basic question to begin creating an estate plan. And, let’s face it, you really do want a say in who gets what after your gone. That’s just human nature. Without some kind of legal instructions, you can’t guarantee...