Estate Planning/Legacy

Readers Offer Their Advice on Talking to Aging Parents About Estate Plans

17th Jan, 2020

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Readers Offer Their Advice on Talking to Aging Parents About Estate Plans

From: wsj.com

Many have useful tips for gentle persuasion while others spell out a more direct approach


Want to talk about plans for when you die?

(Silence)

I guess not.

That exchange, unfortunately, describes how many adult children and their parents approach—or, rather, fail to approach—the subject of estate planning. Few families, of course, enjoy talking about money. Introduce the idea…

Trust Management Issues?

3rd Jul, 2019

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Trust Management Issues?

From: www.wealthmanagement.com

Multi-generational Planning Opportunities Utilizing Tax-Deferred Annuities

The end and beginning of each year is always a challenge for trustees. Usually state-regulated trustees will complete administrative reviews to ensure trustees are meeting all their fiduciary duties. It is also a time for trustees to ensure the asset allocation and rebalancing of trust investment portfolios comply with the Prudent Investor fiduciary rules. This can be an ordeal and…

Consequences of Modifying an Irrevocable Trust

4th Jun, 2019

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Consequences of Modifying an Irrevocable Trust

From: www.aaepa.com

In the past, trusts often were drafted with little flexibility. Now, more and more, trusts tend to be drafted with increased flexibility and there are even ways to change trusts which have become “irrevocable.” There are several ways to modify a trust, including by a Trust Protector, by a procedure under the state’s version of the Uniform Trust Code, by decanting under…

The Crisis in Retirement Planning

18th Apr, 2019

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The Crisis in Retirement Planning

By Robert C. Merton | Harvard Business Review

Corporate America really started to take notice of pensions in the wake of the dot-com crash, in 2000. Interest rates and stock prices both plummeted, which meant that the value of pension liabilities rose while the value of the assets held to meet them fell. A number of major firms in weak industries, notably steel and airlines, went bankrupt in large…

14th Feb, 2019

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Estate planning: 4 things to know

From: REAP, LLC. | Retirement & Estate Advisors & Professionals

Few of us enjoy thinking about life’s worst-case scenarios, but taking the time to put an estate plan in place can make things much easier for you and your loved ones if the unexpected happens.

Unfortunately, misconceptions about estate planning can make the process of creating a plan more confusing than it needs to be.

Here are…

The financial struggles of unplanned retirement

16th Jan, 2019

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The financial struggles of unplanned retirement

From: www.foxbusiness.com

Monica wants to rest her tired, swollen feet. The 86-year-old retiree walks slowly to her old loveseat and sits down carefully. The purple paisley-patterned furniture has provided her with comfort for many decades. The loveseat is in fair condition but is showing its age. Once a part of a luxurious three-piece living room set; cardboard panels have since been placed under the seat cushions…

Eleven Celebrity Estate Planning Lessons

18th Nov, 2018

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Eleven Celebrity Estate Planning Lessons

From: www.wealthmanagement.com

Appreciating their mistakes can help you better serve your clients.

Celebrities often do a great job accumulating wealth during their lives only to allow it all to slip away after their deaths with improper (or none at all) estate planning.

Though there’s an undeniable element of schadenfreude that makes these disaster stories ghoulishly enjoyable, there are also important lessons to be learned. The problems experienced by celebrity…

4 Tips to Optimize Your Retirement Account Withdrawals (And Reduce Taxes)

13th Nov, 2018

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4 Tips to Optimize Your Retirement Account Withdrawals (And Reduce Taxes)

From: smartasset.com

This is how to make sure your savings lasts the longest.

If you’re planning to retire within the next few years, you’ve undoubtedly considered when you should start making withdrawals from your retirement accounts.

However, the order in which you withdraw from your accounts is also important — it could let your tax-advantaged accounts grow to their full potential,

How Are Trusts Taxed?

9th Nov, 2018

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How Are Trusts Taxed?

From: www.aaepa.com

Trusts can be very useful vehicles to control assets during life and after death. During life, they can be especially helpful to control assets during periods of disability. After death, a trust can provide asset protection, remarriage protection, asset management, and many other benefits which might not be available otherwise.

Generally, trusts are income taxed in two different ways, as “grantor” trusts or “nongrantor” trusts. A grantor…