DeLao Financial Group, Inc.

It may seem strange to discuss this topic as an estate preservation strategy, but long term care costs will devour your savings and retirement nest egg if you don’t manage that risk ahead of time. Costs of a plan for husband and wife age 60 are about $3,500 premium. If your nest egg is $500,000 you will be protecting that nest egg with less than 1% of your savings.

Call Chuck DeLao: He will show you what to look for in the insurance plan.

Wealth Transfer

Under current law, the estate tax exemption becomes progressively generous in the run-up to 2010, when it phases out completely for a single year. In 2009, the federal estate tax exemption for an individual is set at $3.5 million. Similarly, the estate tax rate in 2009 is 45% over the $3.5 million exemption. If no new law is enacted, in 2011, the estate tax will automatically revert to pre-2002 levels: The estate tax exemption will fall to $1 million and the estate tax rate will rise to 55%.

Calander Year	Federal Gift Tax Exemption	Federal Estate & GST Tax Exemption	Highest Federal Tax Rates
2008	$1,000,000	$2,000,000	45%
2009	$1,000,000	$3,500,000	45%
2010	$1,000,000	Unlimited	N/A
2011	$1,000,000	$1,000,000	55%

With the fate of the estate tax in limbo, how should you plan? While it may be impossible to predict whether, or to what extent, your estate will be subject to taxation upon your death, creating and maintaining an estate plan provides essential legal and financial protection for your heirs. If you fail to leave behind a well-structured plan for the distribution of your assets, disagreements between family members may arise, and your estate could end up in probate court.

Chuck can create a plan for tax mitigation to save as much as possible to transfer to heirs.

While traditional estate plans are designed with tax minimization in mind, business succession planning is aimed at maintaining the continuity of the business. If you want your business to continue after your death, choose an appropriate form for your business. The corporation provides for “perpetual existence” as well as limited liability for the business owners. Create a business “will”, a planning tool that details your plan for management and you can name your successor. Consider funding a buy well agreement with insurance to enable your successor to buy the business. Discuss your plan with family and your management team. Assemble a team of professionals; your attorney, your accountant and your tax an insurance professional.

Planning Estates With Care

As a Certified Estate Planner, Chuck can assist in structuring a family plan based on your vision of wealth transfer. He is well versed in trust benefits and funding. He puts this expertise to work in his estate planning practice. Chuck can also help design different types of strategies to preserve wealth (charitable remainder trusts, grantor and bypass trusts, generation-skipping trusts and children’s trusts). He can assist you with the prudent decisions you must make to protect all that you have worked for all of your life.