Developing an exit strategy is a pressing financial challenge facing small-business owners. For businesses with more than one owner, the ability to successfully sell a business interest at retirement is often dependent upon the quality of their buy-sell agreement.

Many clients are trying to make pension decisions for the future now. This can be especially tricky if they are trying to figure out whether to take a single life benefit or joint/survivor benefit annuity payout option from a defined benefit plan. This pension max overview can help.

High-net-worth clients who earn more year over year may end up underinsured and require more tax-free income. Here's how to use an existing Section 7702-based life insurance policy to provide a larger death benefit, greater upside potential and additional tax-free income at no additional out-of-pocket cost.

Support a conversation about what federal estate taxes could apply given a client's level of wealth. Request your custom proposal for a straight-line projection of future values for up to three categories of assets comprising a client's taxable estate.

Your clients may be planning to leave assets to children and grandchildren. But they can gift more than just cash. With life insurance, clients can combine cash value growth potential with death benefit protection for a tax-efficient gift that keeps on giving. See how it works.

Landowners often have a deep appreciation for their ranch, farm, forest, wetland or other property – and have concerns about the long-term welfare of the land. A conversation easement can help protect the land while life insurance can replace lost market value for the estate.

Non-spouse beneficiaries of an inherited IRA must take all IRA assets as distributions within 10 years of a death. By purchasing a survivorship life insurance policy and taking systematic withdrawals from the IRA balance, clients can mitigate tax burdens.

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.