Categories

Legacy Planning

Donor-Advised Funds Gain Popularity as a Means of Charitable Giving By Eric P. Zeitlin

Posted August 1, 2023

According to the Giving Institute’s annual report on philanthropy, charitable giving in the U.S. remained strong from 2019 to 2021, growing more than 9 percent over two years. At the same time, Americans increasingly turned to donor-advised funds (DAFs) as their preferred method for supporting the organizations and charities that are nearest and dearest to […]

Steps Required to Settle an Estate By David L. Burg, CFP®, JD, LL.M., MBA, CLU®, ChFC®, RICP®, CRPS®, ADPA®, CASL®

Posted June 8, 2022

When people die, the settling of their estates and the closing of their financial affairs begin. The entire process can be overwhelmingly stressful for grieving family members and quite time-consuming, depending on the size of the decedent’s estate and the plans put in place before their passing. Following are five critical steps surviving spouses and […]

Understanding Your Choices When Selecting a Trustee By Eric P. Zeitlin

Posted April 20, 2022

People spend a significant amount of time building their wealth and carefully creating trusts and mapping out an estate plan to protect and preserve their assets for future generations. Yet, when it comes time to naming a trustee to carry out their wishes under the terms of a trust, many people stumble. Making the right […]

Charitable Giving Can Provide Greater Impact, Tax-Efficiency in 2021 by Eric P. Zeitlin

Posted November 10, 2021

Families rarely give to charity solely for a tax break, but it is not unreasonable to consider that charitable giving historically has played an important role in tax-efficient wealth and estate planning. Although fewer families have qualified to write off charitable gifts following tax reform enacted in 2017, some of the recent COVID-relief packages have […]

How Can Swap Powers Preserve Wealth for Future Generations? By Eric P. Zeitlin

Posted January 6, 2021

Swap powers within intentionally defective grantor trusts (IDGTs) are critical estate planning tools that may help you improve tax efficiency today while allowing you to preserve wealth for generations to come. An IDGT is an irrevocable trust that you, the grantor, can create during life to pass assets and wealth to your named beneficiaries outside […]

A Fair Inheritance is in the Eye of the Beholder By Lee F. Hediger

Posted December 16, 2020

Leaving behind a lasting legacy and providing for surviving family members in the event of an individual’s death or disability takes time, patience and consideration of a broad range of non- financial issues. While there are times when an unequal division of property among heirs is preferable, consideration should be given not only to how […]

Financial Tips when Walking Down the Aisle a Second Time by Kathleen Marteney, CRPC®

Posted September 24, 2020

According to the Pew Research Institute, first-time marriages are on the decline, while a growing number of unions involve spouses who said “I do” at least once before. When individuals enter into second or third marriages, they are more likely to have children from a prior marriage as well as a retirement nest egg, a […]

Wealth Planning Opportunities that Leverage Today’s Low-Interest Rates by Eric P. Zeitlin

Posted May 28, 2020

Significant declines in key economic indicators during the COVID-19 pandemic have encouraged the Federal Reserve to maintain its aggressive monetary policy, keeping benchmark interest rates near zero. Despite the financial fallout and future uncertainty created by the coronavirus, high-net-worth individuals should consider these periods of low-interest rates to be prime time for implementing certain estate-planning […]

UPDATED Rethinking Inherited IRAs After the SECURE Act by Lee F. Hediger

Posted May 1, 2020

The SECURE Act’s elimination of stretch IRAs poses a challenge to many high-net worth account owners who had hoped to pass their savings to the next generation and allow inheritances to continue growing tax-free over beneficiaries’ lifetimes. Under the law, non-spouse IRA beneficiaries must withdraw the entirety of inherited IRA accounts within 10 years of […]

UPDATED The Importance of Selecting and Updating Beneficiaries by Scott Montgomery

Posted January 8, 2020

Naming beneficiaries to receive proceeds from a life insurance policy or retirement account is a difficult decision that requires consideration of a range of factors. Because these selections supersede designations contained in your will, they are an important step in the estate-planning process that must be addresses with particular care and attention to details. Selecting […]

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2