A good piece put together by the advanced planning attorneys at John Hancock.
“The Tax Court Drops Another Shoe: What We Know (And What We Don’t) About Intergenerational Split Dollar”
Click here to access the piece.
View PostCategory Archives: AEG
Wealth Management.com – “Green Book Signals Green Light to Grandfathered Estate Planning”
“Now that we have the Green Book, which covers all of the same ground as the STEP Act, it seems that we no longer need to be concerned with retroactive provisions and can advise clients to take certain proactive steps….Green Book = Green Light.”
To read the full article, click here.
View PostForbes – “‘Mathing Out’ Estate Tax Planning Strategies” by Alan Gassman
“Well-meaning advisors and their studious clients are not always running the numbers to help ensure that the strategies and techniques they are using will provide the best-expected results….We have found from years of experience that there is no substitute for taking out a calculator or spreadsheet and reviewing the most probable scenarios (as well as possible or unexpected situations) to determine the expected and non-expected outcome of any given technique in order to produce the most accurate map possible of the estate planning territory.”
To see the full article, click here.
View PostFinseca: What comes around goes around – Charitable Remainder Trusts and Wealth Replacement Life Ins Return to Spotlight
“As part of their comprehensive legacy plan, clients who are charitably inclined, hold significant highly appreciated assets, and wish to create a lifestyle “annuity” should consider a CRT, especially if they can benefit from an income tax charitable deduction. Selling an appreciated asset inside a CRT may provide an economically superior result compared to selling the same asset in a client’s own hands, especially when done in conjunction with purchasing additional life insurance through an irrevocable life insurance trust (“ILIT”).”
To read the full article, click here.
View PostNY Times – “How the Wealthy Are Trying to Anticipate Biden’s Tax Increase”
“Financial advisers say they have been flooded with calls from clients who are trying to predict which of President Biden’s tax proposals will become law….I don’t know where we’re going with any of these taxes,” said Bill Schwartz, managing director of Wealthspire Advisors, which advises clients with $5 million to $20 million in assets. “But I do know it’s really difficult right now to justify what people call a loophole or what I call using the tax code to your advantage. In fact, it’s really hard to justify any of these techniques for the affluent right now, not that I think they’re right or wrong.”
To read the full article, click here.
View Post“Do You Really Need to Fly?”
All of us are use to face-to-face meetings. We have always believed that they are essential. Now, a year into the pandemic, I wonder what we think now? An interesting Op-Ed in today’s NY Times.
“How many of those trips would have been unnecessary if I’d only Zoomed? My estimate runs somewhere between most and all. Aviation is a modern miracle; it is also expensive, annoying and environmentally costly. Now that videoconferencing has been shown to be an acceptable way to get work done, there’s no reason to quit it when the virus is gone. For years, it has been a truism that face-to-face meetings are far better than videoconferencing, for obvious reasons. They foster deeper relationships and perhaps better group decision-making. “I grew up in a sales culture that said, ‘You want to close a deal, you go get in front of the client,’” said Darren Marble, an entrepreneur based in Los Angeles who used to travel to New York every other week. When the pandemic hit, he didn’t know how he’d do business. “Working at home was antagonistic to everything I’d learned over my career,” he said. But in the Zoom era, everything worked out. In fact, Marble told me, 2020 was a “breakout year”; his firm, Crush Capital, recently raised more than $3 million from over 30 investors, all through Zoom. “Rapport is overrated,” Marble said.”
To read the full article, click here.
View Post2021 Tax Outlook – The Biden Plan
“President Biden campaigned on a tax plan that would raise almost 4 trillion dollars – primarily by increasing taxes on individuals making more than $400,000 a year and raising the corporate rate. While the entirety of the plan is unlikely to become law this Congress it does provide a menu of policy options that Democrats in Congress will consider, especially once they turn to the forecast infrastructure and climate change bill expected this summer….What is likely to move forward, and what is likely to slip off the agenda?”
To read on for a breakdown on the prospects of the Biden tax plan in 2021, click here.
View PostNY Times -“Well, Mom Always Did Like You Better”
“When you’re planning to divide your estate unequally, explain the reasons to your heirs, and remember: They might be hurt anyway….For most older parents, it is simpler to leave each adult child the same inheritance. But is equal always equitable? For many, the answer is no. And as the pandemic drives people to draft or update their estate plans, more are confronting that question….While leaving equal inheritances is the norm, many parents appear open to bequeathing their adult children different amounts. Two-thirds of Americans 55 and older said a child who provided them care should get a bigger inheritance than children who did not….The survey also found that one in four parents said an adult son or daughter who has children should receive more than a child who does not.”
To read the full article, click here.
View PostNY Times: “Tales from two sons whose fathers died without a succession plan”
Tales from two sons whose fathers died without a succession plan.
“Financial advisors worth their fees will always discuss the need for succession plans with clients who own businesses. But that doesn’t mean business owners will listen….People just don’t want to do it.”
To read the full article, click here.
View PostThe Estate Tax May Change Under Biden Affecting Far More People
An interesting article in today’s NY Times authored by Paul Sullivan. He writes, “So the question for taxpayers now is: What happens once Mr. Biden can begin enacting changes in tax policy? The biggest long-term change involves the estate tax.” Sullivan goes on to discuss the possible loss of step-up in basis, “A Biden administration may move to change this for logical and revenue reasons. Imagine trying to determine the capital gains from AT&T stock that your grandmother bought in 1943 when record-keeping was done with a pencil and paper. Today, cost-basis information can be retrieved in seconds.” He goes on to discuss some of the inherent problems in this approach.
A different approach could be adjustment to current estate tax exemptions and rates. “With Democrats controlling the legislative and executive branches, there is concern that the exemption level could drop to $5 million or even $3.5 million…For the wealthiest in the country, the bigger concern is the rate itself. It’s now at 40%, but it was as high as 55% in 2001.”
To read the full article, click here.
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