Estate Planning
Unpleasant as it is to think about, death is the ultimate fact of life. This is true for everyone, not just wealthy people who might have millions of dollars, which have to be disposed of once they're gone.
Estate planning encompasses much more than just writing a will or designating a beneficiary for your life insurance. It also includes a wide range of activities that fall into three broad categories: Strategies to help build, protect, and distribute your wealth, so that those you love are taken care of and your assets and possessions go where you want them to go and within a reasonable timeframe.
Even if your estate is more modest - say a home, some personal possessions, and a bit of cash in a bank account - it will still have to be settled after you die. The degree to which you plan for that certainty beforehand will dictate how smoothly the process goes and how much of your worth goes to the people you love, rather than to lawyers or the government. Both the federal and state governments tax estates. But careful planning can reduce the amount of taxes your estate will pay, leaving more money to pass along to your heirs.
Making your wishes clear before your death - through wills, trusts, and other estate planning tools - can greatly reduce the possibility that your heirs will get into disputes over your assets and possessions.
Planning your estate involves a number of useful tools and strategies that can maximize your assets, minimize your liabilities, and make the process go as smoothly as possible for your heirs. They include: Wills, Advanced Health Care Directives, Power of Attorney, Trusts, Life insurance, Gifts, Joint tenancy (with right of survivorship), Beneficiary designations.
Estate planning encompasses much more than just writing a will or designating a beneficiary for your life insurance. It also includes a wide range of activities that fall into three broad categories: Strategies to help build, protect, and distribute your wealth, so that those you love are taken care of and your assets and possessions go where you want them to go and within a reasonable timeframe.
Even if your estate is more modest - say a home, some personal possessions, and a bit of cash in a bank account - it will still have to be settled after you die. The degree to which you plan for that certainty beforehand will dictate how smoothly the process goes and how much of your worth goes to the people you love, rather than to lawyers or the government. Both the federal and state governments tax estates. But careful planning can reduce the amount of taxes your estate will pay, leaving more money to pass along to your heirs.
Making your wishes clear before your death - through wills, trusts, and other estate planning tools - can greatly reduce the possibility that your heirs will get into disputes over your assets and possessions.
Planning your estate involves a number of useful tools and strategies that can maximize your assets, minimize your liabilities, and make the process go as smoothly as possible for your heirs. They include: Wills, Advanced Health Care Directives, Power of Attorney, Trusts, Life insurance, Gifts, Joint tenancy (with right of survivorship), Beneficiary designations.
