Strategies

The Pooled Trust Option

A pooled trust option in retirement planning is a collective investment vehicle where assets from multiple individuals are combined and professionally...

Able Account vs Special Needs Trust

An Able account and a special needs trust (SNT) serve similar purposes—protecting disabled individuals' financial security while preserving government...

First Party vs Third Party Snt

A self-settled trust (SST), sometimes called a self-settled special needs trust or Medicaid trust, is fundamentally distinguished by who creates it and...

Supplemental Needs Trust

A supplemental needs trust is a legal document that allows you to set aside money for a family member with disabilities without disqualifying them...

The Special Needs Trust

A special needs trust is a legal arrangement that allows you to set aside money and assets for a family member with a disability...

Spendthrift Trust Explained

A spendthrift trust is a legal arrangement that controls how and when beneficiaries receive money from a trust, preventing them from squandering assets or...

Protecting Benefits from Creditors

Many retirement benefits and pensions come with built-in legal protections that shield them from creditors, but these protections are not universal—they...

See Through Trust Rules

See-through trust rules are IRS regulations that determine how quickly beneficiaries must withdraw money from retirement accounts when the account owner...

The Trust as Beneficiary

A trust can be named as the beneficiary of a retirement account, pension, or other estate asset—and this approach offers both significant advantages and...

When Beneficiaries Predecease You

When a beneficiary named on your retirement account or pension dies before you do, your benefits don't automatically pass to a secondary beneficiary or...

Contingent Beneficiaries

A contingent beneficiary is a person or entity designated to receive retirement plan assets or life insurance proceeds if the primary beneficiary is...

The Per Stirpes vs Per Capita Decision

Per stirpes and per capita represent two fundamentally different methods of distributing assets—most commonly pension benefits, retirement accounts, and...

How to Name Beneficiaries

Naming beneficiaries is one of the most consequential financial decisions you can make, yet it's often handled hastily or left unfinished.

The 10 Year Payout Rule

The 10-year payout rule requires beneficiaries of most inherited retirement accounts to withdraw and distribute the entire account balance within 10 years...

How Capital Gains Work at Death

When someone dies and leaves behind appreciated assets—stocks, real estate, collectibles—the IRS doesn't expect the heirs to pay capital gains tax on all...

The Step Up in Basis Explained

The step-up in basis is a tax rule that allows heirs to inherit appreciated assets at their fair market value at the date of...

Portability of Estate Tax Exemption

Portability of estate tax exemption is a provision that allows a surviving spouse to use the unused portion of a deceased spouse's federal estate...

State Estate and Inheritance Taxes

State estate and inheritance taxes are levies imposed by individual states on the transfer of property and assets after a person dies.

The Federal Estate Tax Exemption

The federal estate tax exemption is the amount of wealth you can pass to heirs without triggering federal estate taxes.

Estate Tax Planning Basics

Estate tax planning is the process of arranging your assets during your lifetime and documenting your wishes for after your death in ways that...

« Prev 1 … 14 15 16 17 18 … 74 Next »