Estate Planning

The expensive mistake: dividing assets without reading the tax map Here’s the part most families miss: what you give matters as much as how much you give. Split everything 33/33/34 and it looks fair, until your highest-earning child inherits the traditional IRA and ends up paying the tax bill nobody priced in. I’ve watched otherwise well-constructed plans wobble because the asset types went to the wrong people. And yeah, I’ve made that spreadsheet at 11:30pm and realized I was solving for symmetry, not after-tax outcomes. Different game. Why this matters right now? We’re in Q4, and estate plans are getting…

The cost nobody prices in: creditors vs. inherited retirement money Most heirs plan for two things when retirement money lands in their lap: taxes and timing. That’s fine, but it skips the cost nobody prices in, creditors. Not just your creditors either; sometimes the decedent’s, depending on the facts. And that’s where inheritances quietly leak value. I’ve watched perfectly good, tax-efficient plans turn into “why is this balance smaller than I expected?” moments because the legal protections changed the second the money moved. Here’s the short version, and then I’ll circle back: inherited retirement dollars don’t wear the same armor…