{"id":119113,"date":"2023-12-11t11:58:24","date_gmt":"2023-12-11t16:58:24","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/?p=119113"},"modified":"2024-08-29t23:54:19","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30t03:54:19","slug":"eight-questions-for-estate-planning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2023\/12\/11\/eight-questions-for-estate-planning\/","title":{"rendered":"eight questions for estate planning"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
difficult conversations: it\u2019s difficult to talk about wealth transfer, but it\u2019s vital.<\/strong><\/p>\n by anthony glomski<\/i><\/p>\n many accomplished entrepreneurs are looking beyond their own financial needs. they want to ensure that their heirs, parents, children and grandchildren are well taken care of in accordance with their wishes \u2013 with minimal difficulty and cost.<\/p>\n more: <\/b>check tax effects before liquifying<\/a> | control the level of risk<\/a> | how to flip the switch to wealth preservation<\/a> | three ways to work together on wealth<\/a> | five challenges of liquidating a business<\/a> according to vanguard, more than half of affluent americans say they are highly concerned about their kids\u2019 (and grandkids\u2019) financial situations. and yet, too many successful entrepreneurs have outdated estate plans or charitable giving plans that are not in sync with their current life circumstances and needs. wealth transfer is focused on structuring your client\u2019s assets effectively for their eventual transfer to others. it\u2019s also where you help clients facilitate the most tax-efficient ways to pass their assets \u2013 including business assets, company stock and other owners\u2019 equity \u2013 to succeeding generations in their family. it\u2019s also a way to transfer assets tax-efficiently to other people and causes they care about, in a way that satisfies their wishes and desires.<\/p>\n as we went to press, the federal estate tax rate was 40 percent. beyond a certain dollar amount, this hefty rate can apply to everything on your client\u2019s personal balance sheet. this includes assets they may not have even considered, such as artwork, vacation homes, rental properties, collectibles and ownership of privately held businesses.<\/p>\n to address wealth transfer issues, you must ask your client important questions about things they may not have considered before (or would prefer to ignore). for instance:<\/p>\n after obtaining the answers to these questions, your next steps together could include:<\/strong><\/p>\n strategies you can use to help clients achieve their wealth transfer goals range from basic estate planning (such as credit-shelter trusts and traditional life insurance) to more sophisticated techniques (such as self-canceling installment notes, remainder purchase marital trusts and generation-skipping trusts with life insurance).<\/p>\n consider, for example, the topic of wills and trusts. a will is a legal document that clearly explains how a person wants his or her estate to distribute their assets after death. by contrast, a trust is a pool of assets (investments, cash, property, etc.) that are held for the benefit of a third party \u2013 the beneficiary. a trustee is appointed to oversee the management of the trust. if you help your client create the trust during their lifetime, then that legal vehicle is known as a \u201cliving trust,\u201d and initially, your client is the one who fulfills the roles of both trustee and beneficiary. when creating the trust, your team helps your client establish how they want the trust to distribute their assets after they die.<\/p>\n while wills and trusts can accomplish similar estate planning objectives, a trust is generally more flexible than a will <\/strong>and it allows your client to exert greater control over the distribution of their assets. suppose your client wants to leave a large sum of money to their son, daughter or close relative who is a minor. unlike a will, a trust can establish how and when the child will receive the money after your client passes away. your team can also help your client set up a trust to fulfill specific objectives, such as paying for a child\u2019s education. a properly structured trust can also help your client\u2019s heirs avoid certain estate taxes and stay out of probate court. that said, trusts generally cost more than wills to set up and are usually more complex. it\u2019s also important to follow through on funding a trust and re-titling assets owned by the trust. if you don\u2019t, many of the potential benefits of a trust won\u2019t be realized.<\/p>\n there are a variety of trusts you can set up. while having a living trust can be great, it\u2019s possible that you may need to continue with some further advanced planning that is more sophisticated. generally, we find most entrepreneurs have created a living trust but are surprised to find out it doesn\u2019t accomplish what they want.<\/p>\n real world example<\/strong><\/p>\n a successful couple (call them bill and barb) built a great business together from scratch. when we asked bill and barb who was important to them, they immediately mentioned their children \u2013 whom we\u2019ll call amy and andy. when we probed bill and barb for details, they said they didn\u2019t want to spoil their children by giving them a windfall of cash. at the same time, they wanted to ensure that their kids would never to have to worry about money. as warren buffett loves to say,<\/p>\n \u201cgive children enough to do anything, but not enough to do nothing.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n bill and barb told us that their daughter amy, a social worker, and son andy, an artist, have been financially responsible and self-supporting. they didn\u2019t foresee any issues with the kids, but they admitted they were slightly concerned about the influence that some of their children\u2019s wealthy friends might have on them \u2013 young people who \u201ctreat an inheritance like a lottery ticket,\u201d they lamented.<\/p>\n this was uncharted territory for bill and barb. on the tax side, we immediately identified a big problem: if they ever sold their $50 million family business without proper planning in advance, it could trigger a $15 million tax bill. as a solution, we looked to transfer the couple\u2019s interest in the business to their children via a trust \u2013 a very flexible vehicle. bill and barb continued to maintain full control of the business and the income it generated.<\/p>\n there are sophisticated estate planning techniques that may allow you to transfer your business interests to your kids on a discounted basis, thereby allowing you to get much more of your money to your children and shield more of it from the government. a strategy (known as freezing the value of a business) allowed bill and barb to reduce by millions of dollars the estate taxes their kids would have to pay in the future.<\/p>\n the other challenge bill and barb faced was accounting for their children\u2019s values. the flexibility in the trust allowed all types of \u201cgovernors\u201d and restrictions to be put in place to protect amy and andy from things like divorce or from making large, irresponsible money decisions. at the same time, the trust incentivized the children to pursue their art and their charitable causes. this strategy gave bill and barb time to contemplate and discuss their concerns further. we also brought in a financial therapist who had substantial experience in the area of family business succession to help facilitate deeper conversations.<\/p>\n fortunately for bill and barb, andy and amy were \u201cgood\u201d kids. some parents are not so lucky.<\/p>\n (note: legislation is constantly changing in this area, especially in this time of social and economic uncertainty. the key is to take action and to assemble a coordinated team of experts if you haven\u2019t done so already.)<\/p>\n there is still more you can do. according to forbes, the heirs of walmart founder sam walton have a net worth of approximately $150 billion. through proper planning, walton\u2019s family avoided tens of billions of dollars in estate taxes. one of their strategies was the use of certain trusts, such as the \u201cjackie o\u201d trust (named for jacqueline kennedy onassis). essentially a jackie o trust is charitable in nature and can help to minimize gift and estate taxes \u2013 or eliminate them entirely in some cases. several well-known families, including an nfl team owner, a prominent hedge fund manager and other high-net-worth families, have used \u201cjackie o\u201d trusts to protect their assets from estate taxes.<\/p>\n notice how all of these areas work together. for example, strategies to maximize charitable intent can sometimes be coordinated with estate planning strategies that are designed to maximize the amount of money given to children down the road. this makes good sense. after all, the various parts of your client\u2019s financial life don\u2019t operate in a vacuum \u2013 and they shouldn\u2019t be managed independently.<\/p>\n life is not a picture; it\u2019s a movie<\/strong><\/p>\n as mentioned earlier, unlike many americans, most successful entrepreneurs i know do<\/em>, <\/strong>in fact, have wills and estate plans in place. but i\u2019ve found those documents are often outdated and don\u2019t really spell out what the entrepreneur wants them to do and needs them to cover. as the old saying goes, \u201clife is not a picture; it\u2019s a movie.\u201d that means life circumstances constantly change; they don\u2019t stay fixed for long.<\/p>\n most entrepreneurs have a lot more assets to protect and a lot more responsibilities and worries to consider than when they first obtained their estate plan. their legal situation was probably different, and their first legal advisor may no longer be able to deliver the broad set of solutions they require.<\/p>\n as a personal cfo, here are eight key questions to ask your client at this stage of your relationship:<\/p>\n even if you have an in-house estate planning department at your firm, it might not have the expertise needed to handle the needs of your successful business owner clients.<\/p>\n you\u2019ll need to go out and interview different estate attorneys to find the right fit for your client. over time, you\u2019ll discover that top attorneys are very specialized and accustomed to working with business owners who are in transition \u2013 owners who have a lot of moving parts. after meeting with prospective attorneys for your client, the right ones will have you walking away from the meeting saying to yourself, \u201cwow. this individual is a consummate professional with expertise in working with business owners and exit planning. many of these concepts have never been offered to (or executed by) my business owner client in the past!\u201d<\/p>\n if you don\u2019t come away from an attorney meeting with that feeling, it\u2019s time to move on to the next candidate. proceed with caution, however. some attorneys will have \u201cbrilliant ideas\u201d that are not bright-line transactions. you want to help your clients \u2013 not blow them up. if the concepts a prospective attorney presents to you aren\u2019t generally accepted by larger well-known firms, you need to continue your search.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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\nremember, estate planning is not a one-time event; it\u2019s something that you and your clients must review every three to five years. many people do not enjoy reviewing their estate plans, but because life never stops changing, successful people need to keep getting regular checkups of their estate planning situation, just like they need to see a trusted doctor, dentist and auto mechanic consistently. this can prevent huge problems from occurring down the road.<\/p>\n\n
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