Are Payable-On-Death Accounts Right For You?

A payable-on-death account, also called a POD account, is a common way to keep bank and investment accounts out of probate, the court-supervised process that oversees distributing a deceased person’s property. Most people want to avoid their estate going through probate because their heirs will receive the inheritance faster, privately, and at lower cost. Is a POD account an appropriate solution

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4 Things to Consider If You Want to Give Your Kids an Early Inheritance

If you’re thinking about giving your children their inheritance early, you’re not alone. Studies suggest that these days, nearly two-thirds of people over the age of 50 would rather pass their assets to the children early than make them wait until the will is read. It can be especially satisfying to fund our children’s dreams while we’re alive to enjoy them,

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Three Things You Need to Know About Estate Planning

This quick article from the Wall Street Journal hits the three most basic estate tax concepts in a pretty concise and straight-forward way. If you have any questions about the interplay between the annual gift exemption ($14,000), the estate tax exemption (currently $5.43 million per person) or the lifetime gift exemption (it ties in with the estate tax exemption), take a

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Annual Gift Exclusion

A recent Wall Street Journal article reminds us that amidst all the questions and speculations regarding the fate of the tax laws in 2013, there is still one effective and simple tax benefit that is not set to expire by the end of year: the “annual gift exclusion”. This exclusion enables one to give a gift of up to $13,000 per

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