Talking with your children about disability and/or death can be a difficult task for most people. Parents spend the better part of their financial lives working, saving and planning only to end up avoiding proper communication and planning with their children on the topic of death. Parents often do not discuss their estate plans with adult children out of fear that this will only cause tension and improper incentives. But in my experience as an attorney and financial advisor, the most successful planning results come from good communication.
I’m often asked this question: “With the federal estate tax exemption amounts being so high, do I really need an estate plan?” The answer I give is “Absolutely yes!”
With the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017, many high-net-worth individuals breathed a sigh of relief, especially because of the provision that significantly raised the estate tax exemption ($12.92 million per individual for 2023).
With the SECURE Act 2.0 delaying Required Minimum Distributions to age 73, and higher marginal brackets a likely reality in the near future, annual income tax planning has become even more important.
The areas of trust planning and trust creation are vast and limited only by the imagination of the trust-makers, their attorney and the law.
The jam study demonstrated the phenomena known as “choice overload problem” when humans are faced with choices, less is better.
Successful people come in a variety of types, but a common denominator in successful people is that they have a good awareness of their own personality with money. Money personalities affect the way we behave when making financial decisions and how we go about spending, saving and investing. It really helps to know our own money traits.
“Your health isn’t everything, but without your health, everything is nothing.” Asheville-based cardiologist Dr. Brian Asbill isn’t sure who initially said this quote, but he adamantly believes in it.
The trustee acts as the legal owner of trust assets and is responsible for handling any of the assets held in trust, filing taxes for the trust and distributing the assets according to the terms of the trust.
The cost of health care in the U.S. continues to rise with no slowdown in sight. According to the Centers for Medicare &Medicaid Services (CMS), healthcare spending in the U.S. is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 5.4% and reach $6.2 trillion by 2028. Average Americans, regardless of their health, are feeling the impact directly in their wallets.
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