This revised fifth edition from estate-planning expert Harvey J. Platt details the most up-to-date strategies for using a living trust to create a flexible estate plan. Platt explains the latest tax laws, including the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, the broadening of statutes for amending trusts, and the rule against perpetuities (RAP). Platt also addresses updates on many existing topics, including lifetime exemptions; the estate, gift, and generation-skipping tax; charitable deductions; state estate tax savings; and private annuities. Your Living Trust & Estate Plan maps out the most effective techniques for saving money and property and covers the essentials of successful estate planning. Other resources frequently overlook vital areas such as unlocking the benefits of living trusts, protecting beneficiaries, using life insurance, handling retirement benefits properly, and fixing inadequate estate planning postmortem, but Your Living Trust is the complete guide. This invaluable resource will teach you how to maximize your family’s assets, plan your estate, and provide for your loved ones well into the future.

What estate planning and tax professionals need to know to advise clients about their IRAs and other retirement plans

Written for the non-ERISA specialist, this practical guide provides expert advice on how to structure benefits from qualified retirement plans and IRAs. Incorporating significant changes made by the Pension Protection Act of 2006 and the final regulations regarding the required minimum distribution rules, it clarifies distribution options, summarizes the rules of defined benefit and defined contribution plans, discusses tax rules, regulations, and penalties, and highlights the dangers of some traditional estate planning techniques. Includes appendices on CD-ROM.

A practical yet humorous guide to aging solo gracefully and achieving a happy retirement. In Essential Retirement Planning for Solo Agers, certified retirement coach Sara Zeff Geber coins the term “Solo Ager” to refer to the segment of society that either does not have adult children or is single and believes they will be on their own as they grow older. This book explores the path ahead for this group. That includes choices in housing, relationships, legal arrangements, finances, and more. Geber reviews the role of adult children in an aging parent’s world and suggests ways in which Solo Agers can mitigate the absence of adult children by relationship building and rigorous planning for their future. Geber shares her expertise on what constitutes a fulfilling older life and how Solo Agers can maximize their opportunities for financial security, physical health, meaning and purpose in the second half of life, and, finally, planning for the end game. Through real-life stories and anecdotes, the author explores housing choices, relationships, and building a support system. You will learn about: · different levels of care and independence in various types of living arrangements · how to initiate discussions among friends and relatives about end-of-life treatment · “what if” scenarios · who to talk to about legal and financial decisions And it’s not just the Solo Ager that can learn from this book. Financial advisors, elder law and estate attorneys, senior care managers, and others whose clientele is on the far side of sixty will benefit as well.