Feeling the Burn: The Importance of the Tax Burn in Estate Tax Planning

Download Printable Article By Steven J. Oshins Esq., AEP (Distinguished) Decades ago, Jane Fonda made the phrase “feel the burn” popular in her highly successful aerobic exercise videotapes.  More recently, “feel the Bern” became popular as the de facto slogan during Bernie Sanders’ presidential bid. But in advanced estate tax planning, we feel a different kind of burn called the “tax burn”.  Very simply, our client transfers assets to an Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust (“IDGT”) and continues to pay all income taxes on income produced by the transferred assets, including capital gains taxes on sales of those assets. By continuing…

Knowing What You Don’t Know: What an Effective Financial Plan Anticipates

By Jason Oshins, Financial Advisor, MBA Mark Twain said, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” More often than not, planning is done as though the world is linear. Financial Advisors and clients make assumptions as though life moves in a straight line and nothing unexpected ever occurs. Then, when the unexpected occurs – and it will – the plan collapses. An effective plan is dynamic, anticipating and addressing what it can, and preventing the unexpected from derailing a desired future existence. Furthermore, it builds in…

Reducing Or Eliminating Capital Gains On The Sale Of Businesses And Real Estate

Download Printable Article By Bruce Givner, Esq. Most people are familiar with the use of a Section 1031 tax-deferred exchange as a way to handle the disposition of real estate.  Some people are familiar with the use of a charitable remainder trust as a way to handle the disposition of unmortgaged real estate and stock in a “C” corporation.  However, Section 1031 exchanges have undesired time constraints; CRTs are disliked because (i) the taxpayer can’t use the sales proceeds and (ii) nothing is left to go to the children (not necessarily true). The best approach is to talk to clients…