When planning your estate, of course it is important to consider strategies and techniques to both preserve wealth and cut unnecessary administration costs. Taking full utilization of strategies and techniques can help preserve a vast amount of money further down the line.
This blog will present a brief overview into creating an estate plan as well as tools to help you get the best out of the wealth that you have acquired.
What an estate plan should include
A good estate plan is best formed as a collaborative input between you and the rest of your estate planning team. This team might include an attorney, a financial planner and perhaps a life insurance agent. The goal of your estate plan should be to utilize the assets you have acquired, and also present detailed instructions for the management of assets for your family members to follow.
Estate planning tools and consequences
One common tool used in the planning of an estate is the appointment of a joint tenancy. This joint tenancy can have several advantages and disadvantages. Usually the joint ownership of a property must be done through the involvement of a creditor. A joint tenancy can also lead to income, gift and state tax problems. Therefore, the opinion of an attorney or financial planner will help you decide if this is the best choice for you.
When it comes to insurance and retirement plans, the act of designating a beneficiary can also have unintended consequences that you should be aware of. For tax reasons, you may consider creating a trust as the designated beneficiary instead of an individual.
Source: Findlaw, “Estate planning concepts,” accessed Aug. 25, 2017
