Articles

Estates & Trusts

• What Key Estate Planning Tools Should I Know About?

  Wills and trusts allow you to spell out how you would like your property distributed, but they also go beyond that.

• How Can a Living Trust Help Me Control My Estate?

  A living trust can help control the distribution of your estate upon death.

• What Are the Pitfalls of Probate?

  The probate process can be lengthy and complex. There are strategies you can use to help avoid the probate process.

• How Can My Gift Benefit Me and the Charity?

  To retain the tax advantages associated with charitable giving, your gift must be made to a qualified organization.

• How Can I Build and Preserve My Estate?

  Life insurance can be used to help preserve your estate’s value for your heirs.

• How Can I Control the Distribution of My Estate?

  If you haven't taken steps already, consider planning now for the distribution of your estate’s assets.

• How Will I Pay Estate Taxes?

  If you believe your estate will be subject to estate taxes, consider how your heirs will pay the bill.

• Can I Benefit from an A-B Trust?

  An A-B trust can be an effective way to help reduce estate taxes and preserve family assets for heirs.

• What Gifting Strategies Are Available to Me?

  Compare the advantages and disadvantages of different gifting strategies available for planned giving.

• How Can I Benefit from a Charitable Lead Trust?

  Charitable lead trusts are designed for people who would like to benefit a charity now rather than later.

• How Can I Benefit from a Charitable Remainder Trust?

  A designated income beneficiary could receive payment of a specified amount from a charitable remainder trust.

• How Can I Benefit from a Wealth Replacement Trust?

  A wealth replacement trust could be used to gift appreciated assets to a charity as well as provide for heirs.

• Could My Family Benefit from a Family Limited Partnership?

  One estate planning strategy that families with closely held businesses could consider is the family limited partnership.

• What Is the Best Form of Property Ownership for Me?

  Sole ownership, joint tenancy, tenancy in common, and community property have special benefits for property owners.

• History of the Federal Estate Tax

  Careful estate planning is still one of the most important ways to manage and protect your assets for your heirs.

Retirement

• How Much Do I Need to Save?

  Many realize it’s important to save for retirement, but knowing exactly how much to save is another issue altogether.

• Don’t Bank Your Retirement on Your Business

  Allocating too much of your retirement investments to one company, even your own, can be a risky proposition.

• What Are My Retirement Planning Options?

  There are a variety of retirement planning options that could help meet your needs. Here are some of the most popular.

• Social Security Income

  The Social Security Administration’s retirement estimator gives estimates of your future benefits based on your actual Social Security earnings record.

• What Is a Self-Employed Retirement Plan?

  Tax-deferred retirement plans for self-employed individuals have higher contribution limits than IRAs.

• Retirement Plan Distributions

  When receiving money accumulated in your employer-sponsored retirement plan, you have two options: lump sum or annuity.

Tax Planning

• What Is the Estate Tax?

  Everything you own, whatever the form of ownership, is subject to federal, and possibly state, estate taxes.

• What Is the Gift Tax?

  The federal gift tax applies to gifts of property or money while the donor is living.

• How Much Money Can I Put Into My IRA or Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan?

  IRAs and employer-sponsored retirement plans are subject to annual contribution limits set by the federal government.

Cash Management

• What Is a Reverse Mortgage?

  There are techniques that can enable older homeowners to use their property to finance their lifestyle.

Risk Management

• Why Purchase Life Insurance?

  If you have a family who relies on your income, it is important to have life insurance protection.

• Life Insurance for Business Owners

  Company-owned life insurance is one way to help protect a business from financial problems caused by the death of a key employee.

• What Does Medicare Cover?

  Medicare is the federal health insurance program for those persons age 65 and over. But what does it cover?

• How Likely Am I to Need Long-Term Care?

  If you were to suffer an illness or disability that required long-term nursing care, would you be covered?