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The New Estate Planning

Before the Federal gift and estate tax credit grew to its current $5.49 million, avoiding estate taxes was the primary goal of individuals and couples of even modest wealth.  Today, many who might have already had an estate plan in place are putting it off.  Without the prospect of paying significant taxes, there is no urgency to plan.

While the estate tax will affect only a handful of people that need to employ strategies to avoid the “death tax”, there are whole set of issues that require thought and planning.  These include insuring the step-up in basis for assets upon the surviving spouse’s death. People should plan for living longer and eventual incapacity.  How will you pay for health care? How will you pay for long-term care if you need it. With the demise of the pension, retirees need to generate income from their savings.  Opportunities to maximize social security benefits should be examined.  If you are charitably inclined, there are ways to give that are better than others.

This is the new estate planning.  Instead of sheltering assets from tax, planning will require taking a strategic view to what you own and how it will work for you in the last years of your life. If you want to, deciding what legacy you will leave to your heirs will need planning.  Interestingly, most of these issues don’t require a lawyer’s services.  A Certified Financial Planner® would be a better choice.

Some assets, like life insurance and annuities, could be repositioned to pay for long-term care.  Investment portfolios may need to be rebalanced to focus on distribution rather than accumulation.  For those with sizable assets in IRAs and retirement plans, care needs to be given to distributions to limit taxes and avoid depleting assets during down markets.

If these are things you would like to discuss in more detail, please give me a call.

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About LPL Financial
LPL Financial (Nasdaq: LPLA) was founded on the principle that the firm should work for the advisor, and not the other way around. Today, LPL is a leader in the markets we serve,* supporting nearly 20,000 financial advisors, and approximately 800 institution based investment programs and 500 independent RIA firms nationwide. We are steadfast in our commitment to the advisor-centered model and the belief that Americans deserve access to personalized guidance from a financial advisor. At LPL, independence means that advisors have the freedom they deserve to choose the business model, services, and technology resources that allow them to run their perfect practice. And they have the freedom to manage their client relationships, because they know their clients best. Simply put, we take care of our advisors, so they can take care of their clients

*Top RIA custodian (Cerulli Associates, 2020 U.S. RIA Marketplace Report); No. 1 Independent Broker-Dealer in the U.S (Based on total revenues, Financial Planning magazine 1996-2021); No. 1 provider of third-party brokerage services to banks and credit unions (2020-2021 Kehrer Bielan Research & Consulting Annual TPM Report); Fortune 400 Company as of June 2021. LPL and its affiliated companies provide financial services only from the United States.

Jones & Company and LPL Financial are separate companies.

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