Estate Planning as a Career

Public awareness of estate planning is growing a rapid rate. People today are increasingly concerned with the distribution of their assets after death and with sparing their loved ones the added burden of inheritance and estate taxes, when possible. Yet, while more and more individuals begin to understand the need for good estate planning, most never realize that it is not a task only concerned with the far, far future.

The Hidden Benefits of Estate Planning

It is widely accepted that a valid will, established trusts, and other estate planning strategies and documents have various benefits for the heirs of a decedent’s property. This is not the full story, however. In fact, the act of estate planning itself gives rise to an array of practical and immediate benefits.

Looking at Your Assets

When writing a will or establishing a trust, you will need to look over and take careful stock of the property and assets you own. Investments, cash, insurance policies - all these and more must be taken into account when planning for your estate. You will also need to think seriously about what you want done with these assets after your death, and who the best person is to carry out your wishes. Sound familiar? Of course - but consider this. By forcing you to take a hard look at the status, amount, and distribution of your assets, the estate planning process also gives you a newfound awareness and understanding of your financial situation. It forces you to assess your property from a pragmatic, logical perspective which is also useful for managing your assets during your lifetime. In other words, you benefit immediately from estate planning.

Communication - The Next Step

Another thing that estate planning forces you to do is communicate. You must discuss your plans with your family and friends, negotiate comp (more…)

Retirement and estate planning, it sounds so serious, and off course it is, but it isn’t as hard as it sounds. Everyone needs to think about it at some point because it is a crucial process in financial freedom. Because you are not the first who has to think about it there is loads of information available. Just realize that there are a few simple steps which should be taken in order to ensure that the best possible results will come out of your retirement and estate planning project.

Planning and preparing for your retirement is essential so you can live a relaxed and comfortable life when you retire. If you want to enjoy yourself in the so cold “golden years” you need to begin your retirement and estate planning as early as you possibly can. You need to be aware of your present financial situation and calculate what you can save on a monthly basis. This way you know where you stand so that you can figure out how hard you are going to have to work to raise enough money in the end.

Estate Planning Elements

When it comes to retirement and estate planning the most important thing to know is that an estate plan has several elements.

- a will
- an assignment of power of attorney
- a living will or health-care proxy.

When you are putting together an estate plan, you have to keep in mind particular federal and state laws concerning govern estates, so that everything is done properly and legally.

Your Assets

Taking inventory of current assets is another important step in the process of retirement and estate planning.

Assets include:

- income from investments
- retirement savings
- insurance policies
- business interests and more.

Retirement and Estate Planning: Inheritance

With the planning of your estate you need to make up your will, that also means you need to ask (more…)

The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 was hailed as the death of the dreaded estate tax. The battle was long and hard but well fought. People wrote to their Congressmen, prodded their organizations to support the bill, and generally made a lot of ruckus. Many have lauded the demise of the death tax, yet to paraphrase Samuel Clemens, the reports of its demise are somewhat exaggerated.

The act in question merely provided for ten years of exemptions from the estate tax, it did not repeal it. As of this year, the law exempts the first $2 million of an estate for an individual, or the first $4 million for a married couple. Meanwhile, it levies a hefty 45% extortion on all amounts over the magical $2 million mark. But it does completely disappear in 2010, doesn’t it?

In fact a bevy of politicians got elected on just this premise. As usual, no one bothered to examine the fine print. Most observers surmised that this cumbersome tax had been abolished - when in fact it is only a ticking time bomb, with a fuse set to explode in just four years. It seems that whenever Congress passes an onerous law that puts an undue burden upon us, it stays on the books until we fight to have it repealed; in the rare instance where we get them to repeal one of these ugly laws, they include a trap door. So now, We the People are going to have to lobby all over again one the reverse sunset clause takes hold and the trap door falls.

This piece of legislative trickery calls for the inheritance tax to be restored automatically in 2011. How could it be worse than that, you may ask? Well, it is worse because it comes back with a top rate of 55%, and an estate exemption of only $1 million. In case this is all news to you, let us attempt to explain.

The federal inheritance tax is assessed against the remaining property of someone who die (more…)