An Estate Planning Primer

Written by Bill Willard


Continued from page 1

The "second-death" problem -- How big a mistake can it be for an estate owner to leave everything to his or her spouse underrepparttar marital deduction? Consider this example: A married couple with two children each have assets of $1 million, which they intend to leave to each other underrepparttar 141246 unlimited marital deduction. Ifrepparttar 141247 husband dies first and leaves his entire $1-million estate to his wife underrepparttar 141248 unlimited marital deduction, his taxable estate will be zero. As a result, how¬ever, ifrepparttar 141249 wife does not remarry, her gross estate at her death could be $2 million, underrepparttar 141250 unlikely assumption thatrepparttar 141251 assets will not appreciate. Without some careful estate planning,repparttar 141252 federal estate tax could take a big bite out ofrepparttar 141253 children's inheritances at their mother's death.

Meeting estate planning objectives. If an estate is going to be big enough to tax, a will is justrepparttar 141254 beginning. The client may also need to do some additional estate planning to meet other impor¬tant objectives:

• Avoiding probate • Reducing or eliminating estate shrinkage • Providing sufficient liquidity to cover estate settlement costs • Minimizing federal estate taxes and state death taxes • Providing forrepparttar 141255 orderly disposition of a business or professional prac¬tice • Maintainingrepparttar 141256 family's lifestyle and meeting other financial secu¬rity objectives,

To avoid making mistakes, people need professional advice from a qualified attorney, trust officer, accountant or other financial advisors. Estate planning has helped countless numbers of people reduce their estate tax liabilities and preventrepparttar 141257 needless loss of business and other assets.

Remember, however, that while tax savings may be a primary issue, they’re notrepparttar 141258 only issue. Estate planning is also a way for people to reflect, perhaps forrepparttar 141259 first time, on what they'd like to have happen to their property after they're gone. Much ofrepparttar 141260 cost and inconvenience of estate settlement can be reduced or eliminated during a person’s lifetime. It can be done by making decisions to imple¬ment strategies for conserving and distributing your assets most advantageously. Among these strategies arerepparttar 141261 use of:

• Jointly owned property • Lifetime gifts • Wills • Trusts • Life insurance

Planning to provide for a family’s needs atrepparttar 141262 household head’s death is essential, especially ifrepparttar 141263 employer’s pension option is "single payer." Annuities offerrepparttar 141264 security of a guaranteed death benefit, which passes torepparttar 141265 owner’s named beneficiary(ies) free ofrepparttar 141266 costs and delays of probate. With some annuities, a spouse who isrepparttar 141267 primary beneficiary hasrepparttar 141268 option of assuming ownership ofrepparttar 141269 annuity and continuing to accumulate money on a tax-deferred basis.

Retirees should continually review their estate plans because life’s changes often create a need to alter these arrangements.

Want More? Send questions and comments to w.willard3@knology.net

Bill Willard has been writing high-impact marketing and sales training for the financial services industry for over 30 years. Through interactive, Web-based "Do-While-Learning™" programs, e-Newsletters and straight-talking articles, Bill helps agents and advisors get the job done: profitably improving performance, skipping expensive mistakes, and making the journey to success faster, smoother, easier. And fun!


Ethical Finance: Who Benefits From Our Spending?

Written by Rachel Lane


Continued from page 1

Perhaps it is fair to say that if people are going to spend on plastic, they should be helping charitable organisations onrepparttar way and should they feel inclined to contribute to a political institution, donating a small % of each transaction is a convenient method. If most consumers were ethical spenders, then associations between transactions and third party beneficiaries would inherit this quality, but as debt spirals out of control, is it responsible or ethical that someone should benefit atrepparttar 141245 cost of someone else?

Although it is standard for most card providers to offer an introductory free period,repparttar 141246 consumer may be hit by a more substantial annual percentage rate (APR) later onrepparttar 141247 year, with some providers, such as ASDA charging a massive APR of 28.8%. Even ActionAid charges an APR of 17.9%, rescuingrepparttar 141248 developing world atrepparttar 141249 expense ofrepparttar 141250 developed.

For further information about credit cards and details on specific providers: http://www.moneynet.co.uk/ http://www.eiris.org/ http://www.creditaction.org.uk/ http://www.moneybasics.co.uk/mb/site/Home.html Rachel writes for Cashzilla, the personal finance blog: http://www.cashzilla.co.uk/ Rachel drinks Guinness.


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