Courtesy of WealthCounsel, LLC Ever since 2001, the keyword for estate tax planning has been “flexibility.” Thanks to a 10-year phased-in temporary estate tax repeal, followed by a massive economic recession, and then followed by the Tax Act of 2012 that effectively repealed estate tax for all but 0.2% of the population in the United States, estate planning has been anything but predictable or boring. Fast forward to 2017, estate planners are left wondering… “What will the Republican-controlled Senate and the Donald Trump Presidency bring in terms of tax changes and how will that impact the estate planning industry?” Estate…
Top Five Reasons Not to Overreact to the Possibility of Estate Tax Repeal
Download Printable Article By Steven J. Oshins Esq., AEP (Distinguished) At the time of this writing, President-elect Donald Trump is preparing to take office. This marks a dramatic change in political philosophies as we will soon have a Republican president, a Republican-controlled House and a Republican-controlled Senate. Thus, there is a likelihood that we will see and hear about drastic changes in the tax code. Does this mean that the estate tax will be abolished? Does this spell the end to advanced estate tax planning? If you listen to many estate planners or read many of the media articles, it…
Hard to Figure: The Critical Importance of Current Continuous Estate Planning
By Jonathan G. Blattmachr, Esq. & Martin M. Shenkman, CPA/PFS, AEP (Distinguished), MBA, J.D. Reproduced with Permission by and Courtesy of Leimberg Information Services, Inc. (LISI). For information about how to subscribe to LISI, click here. “The ‘politics’ of the estate tax have been unstable for a long time. That certainly is the case now. Regardless of whether the estate tax is repealed next year, it might well return by reason of a sunset provision or a change in control of the White House and Congress. Unless a client is certain to die while the estate tax is not…
The Power of Just a Little Bit
Download Printable Article By Jason Oshins, Financial Advisor, MBA As the calendar changes from December to January, we take stock of ourselves – our health, our habits, our finances. We then formulate garish, outrageous resolutions, oftentimes setting ourselves up for failure. We commit to cutting out all fat, never eating ice cream, waking up four days a week to work out, running five miles the other three days, learning how to play guitar, and joining a book club. According to the messages all around us, we must be “all in”, after all. Invariably, when January turns to February, we eat…