{"id":2688,"date":"2020-06-17T13:30:10","date_gmt":"2020-06-17T20:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sandbox.planmember.com\/fccontent\/?p=2688"},"modified":"2020-08-19T14:18:27","modified_gmt":"2020-08-19T21:18:27","slug":"estate-planning-helps-wishes-come-true","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sandbox.planmember.com\/fccontent\/estate-planning-helps-wishes-come-true\/","title":{"rendered":"Estate planning helps make wishes come true"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The \u201cX-factor\u201d in retirement planning is that you don\u2019t know how long you will live.<\/h4>\n

It\u2019s a challenge not only in budgeting for your remaining years, but also in making sure that your estate will go where you want after you die.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen it take years for a client to receive an inheritance because the beneficiary information was not listed correctly and\/or the person in charge didn\u2019t know where all the assets were.<\/p>\n

Making sure the greatest amount possible goes to your heirs, rather than taxes, court costs and attorneys\u2019 fees, requires careful estate planning.<\/p>\n

Look at your individual retirement accounts and make sure the people you want are listed as beneficiaries. That way, your bequests can go directly into their own or inherited IRAs, subject to mandatory distribution requirements for those who aren\u2019t surviving spouses.<\/p>\n

Many folks today have their \u201cnon-retirement\u201d retirement funds \u2013 cash and holdings not in IRAs or similar accounts \u2013 in living trusts to shelter their estates from the costly and public probate process. If you have a trust and you are the primary trustee, make sure you have designated co- and\/or secondary trustees or an executor; they will carry out the provisions of the trust following your death, distributing of the assets as you have instructed.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also important to be aware of federal estate taxes and the current estate-tax exemption, which is the total amount you can bequeath before the tax begins to apply. The exemption has been a bit of a roller coaster in recent years because of congressional gridlock, but for 2020 it will be $11.58 million per individual and $23.16 million per married couple, according to the IRS. Any additional amount that you leave behind could be subject to a tax rate of 40 percent.<\/p>\n

Finally, it\u2019s important to document your holdings, both amount and location, so that the executor or trustee can account for your assets and distribute them to your heirs in a timely manner. In this age of identity theft, the desire to keep this data confidential is understandable. But identify at least one person you can trust, perhaps that designated executor or trustee, then give that individual an outline of your assets and tell him or her where they can find the details when the time comes.<\/p>\n

Identity theft also hangs over the decision about were to keep those details. A full accounting will help expedite matters following your death, but a personal database, complete with account numbers and passwords, could be a one-stop shop for thieves. There are a few options, none of them foolproof:<\/p>\n