Wealth transfer strategies help ensure your client’s estate will be distributed the way they choose. Yet some of their beneficiaries may be uninterested in the asset, or ill-suited to own it. The solution may be to create an estate equalization plan using life insurance.

Currently, an estate is not subject to the federal estate tax until it exceeds $13.61 million (double for married taxpayers). In 2026, the current exemption will sunset, effectively cutting the amount in half. This piece looks at four options to protect your client's legacy before that happens.

In the past, advisors recommended moving assets outside the taxable estate through an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) when faced with estate tax uncertainty even though this can result in a loss of control to those assets while alive. But, where ILITs fall short, Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts (SLATs) shine.

With a spousal lifetime access trust (SLAT), one spouse makes a gift to an irrevocable trust using the gift tax exemption. The SLAT names the other spouse as a current beneficiary, which allows the trustee to distribute funds to the beneficiary spouse during their life.

The lifetime gift and estate tax exemption is set to be cut in half in 2026. It might seem like there's ample time to create a plan, but there is a practical deadline ahead of the statutory deadline. Here's what you need to know to avoid the rush.

Taxes get complicated. Retirement plans. Medicare. Social security. Estate and gift taxes. Health savings rates. Tax rate schedules. Mileage rates. This tax reference guide contains all the information you need to keep at your fingertips while planning with your clients.

Taxes get complicated. Retirement plans. Medicare. Social security. Estate and gift taxes. Health savings rates. Tax rate schedules. This tax reference pocket guide is easy to keep with you, with the information you need to keep at your fingertips while planning with your clients.

Consider this your 101 on the role and basic components of a buy-sell agreement. This overview discusses forms of arrangements including a cross purchase plan, entity purchase plan and wait and see plan. You'll also learn about valuation, restrictions, transfers and more.

Due to contribution limits, successful, high-income business owners are disadvantaged under the rules imposed on qualified plans. A cash value life insurance policy insuring the business owner can serve as a business-funded retirement account to provide tax-deferred growth.

A Restricted Bonus Plan is a combination of three planning tools: a Section 162 bonus plan, a restricted endorsement and an employment contract. The combination of these elements creates an attractive benefit for key employees while providing the employer with control.

When a pass-through business owner asks about nonqualified retirement plans for owner and non-owner key employees, it’s usually best to treat groups separately. This document explains how the tax consequences of any nonqualified plan are very different for owner vs key employees.

Just because an estate is too small to get taxed doesn’t mean it is too small to cause problems with heirs ill-equipped to handle wealth, sibling rivalries, divorce, lawsuits and more. Using a trust, clients can give heirs the benefit of wealth without direct ownership of wealth.