According to the 2017 Genworth Cost of Care Survey, the average annual cost of living in an assisted living facility is $45,000. The average annual cost of a private nursing home room is nearly $97,500.
If you or a loved one becomes ill and requires long-term care (LTC), the costs can quickly deplete your savings, thus derailing your estate plan. Insurance is a popular option to help cover LTC medical expenses. (more…)
Now that the unified gift and estate tax exemption has jumped to $11.18 million in 2018, you may no longer have to worry about gift and estate taxes. On top of that, you can still use the annual gift tax exclusion of $15,000 per recipient in 2018. (more…)
Probate. The word itself is enough to strike fear into the hearts of elderly individuals and their loved ones. It conjures images of lengthy delays waiting for wealth to be transferred and bitter disputes among family members. Plus, probate is open to the public, so all your “dirty linen” may be aired. The reality is that probate doesn’t have to be so terrible, and often isn’t, but both property owners and their heirs should know what’s in store. (more…)
It’s one thing to earn enough to live a comfortable lifestyle. It’s yet another to develop a plan for protecting your assets so that there’s more for your heirs after your death. If you’ve been fortunate enough to achieve the former, there are estate planning tips to help with the latter.
Asset protection may take many forms, ranging from the simple to the sophisticated, often involving a combination of several techniques. In any event, you should begin planning now instead of leaving matters to chance. (more…)
Despite what one might think, estate planning isn’t limited to only the rich and famous. Previously, avoiding or minimizing federal estate tax liability was a primary motivation for creating an estate plan. But with a generous gift and estate tax exemption of $11.18 million for 2018, this is less of a worry for most families. This article details other important benefits of having an estate plan. (more…)
A revocable living trust is often used to complement a will. For instance, you might transfer specific securities to the trust. Notably, these assets generally don’t have to go through the probate process, which can be time-consuming and expensive. They’re also generally protected from creditors and may be managed by professionals.
Thus, a living trust enables your beneficiaries to receive some of your wealth upon your death, with no complications. However, it won’t do anybody any good if the trust isn’t properly funded. (more…)
It’s not uncommon for high-net-worth individuals to hold their assets in trusts, family limited partnerships or charitable foundations. If the assets held in this manner include interests in hedge funds or other “unregistered” securities, it’s important to ensure that the entity is qualified to hold such investments. Exemptions under federal securities laws require that investors in private funds and other unregistered securities qualify as “accredited investors” or “qualified purchasers.” (more…)
NINGs, DINGs and WINGs may sound like characters in a new Pixar animated film. In reality, they’re the names bestowed on certain self-settled trusts (sometimes referred to as nongrantor trusts) in states providing a favorable tax environment for these trusts. The acronyms stand for Nevada Incomplete-gift Nongrantor Gift (NING) trusts, Delaware Incomplete-gift Nongrantor Gift (DING) trusts and Wyoming Incomplete-gift Nongrantor Gift (WING) trusts, respectively.
If you’re noticing a trend — none of these three states impose an income tax on its residents — it’s no coincidence. The use of NINGs, WINGs and DINGs is tied directly to tax savings on the state level for high-income individuals. (more…)
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) provides greater flexibility in estate planning for many taxpayers. Under the TCJA, the federal gift and estate tax exemption is increased from $5 million to $10 million, subject to inflation indexing. The indexed amount for 2018 is $11.18 million.
The exemption is effectively doubled to $22.36 million for a married couple. Thanks to the portability provision, the estate of a surviving spouse can use the unused portion of the exemption from the estate of the first spouse to die. (more…)
