Mind the Cliff – Bringing New York’s Fuzzy Estate Tax Rules into Focus
I’ve fallen off plenty of cliffs in my time, and I’m not speaking metaphorically. There was that time back in 1979, climbing the sheer sides of a...
Rumors of Expiry Greatly Exaggerated – Estate Tax Exemptions Remain High in 2022
Our headline refers to a well-known quote from Samuel Clemens – Mark Twain to his readers – a common occurrence in American culture. “The reports...
How I Learned to Stop Worrying – Wise Ways to Respond to the Covid-Linked Life Expectancy Decline
In the year 2020, the life expectancy of the US population dropped by 1.8 years, measured against 2019. This decline was the worst for any single...
Naught Quiet on the Tax Planning Front – Making Last-Minute Moves in a Most Uncertain Environment
The last year or more, I’ve been writing about President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party’s efforts to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans...
Summit in Sight – House Finally Passes the ‘Build Back Better’ Act
If you’re looking for insight into America’s legislative process, consider the wisdom of the Three Rules of Mountaineering. “It’s always further...
Stop the Presses, Again – New ‘Build Back Better’ Draft Reincludes IRA Constraints for Wealthy
Stop the Presses, Again – New ‘Build Back Better’ Draft Reincludes IRA Constraints for Wealthy We work hard to keep our clients up to date on the...
Woes for the Wealthy – If Grantor Trusts Fall, Life Insurance Could Become Part of Taxable Estates
It’s an issue that will touch only the wealthiest taxpayers. Yet I feel the hit; how much can they take? New Englanders ever sympathize with...
Mean Ways and Means – Last-Minute Taxation Changes Upend Estate Planners and Clients
Taxes are like dentistry. I don’t hear any dissent. The news from the checkup sometimes isn’t so grand: you need a filling, even a root canal...
Locking the Back Door – Democrats Readying Changes to Retirement Account Rules for the Wealthy
A few weeks back, we were sipping our sparkling wine with the estate planning crew, celebrating a minor victory. Congressional Democrats had...
Say It Is So – Joe Biden’s Inheritance Tax Plan May Have Bitten the Dust
Ladies and gentlemen of the planning community, and our beloved customers, brace yourselves: we may be facing good news. We’ve long known that tax...
Avoiding Imperishable Embarrassment – Protecting Your Digital Assets
“The soul of man is imperishable and immortal,” Plato tells us. What a relief. But what of our earthly remains? Once we ship out for good, our...
The Time Bomb’s Last Seconds – Eleventh-Hour Responses to Biden’s Tax Boost
As I write this on Wednesday, September 8 – just past midnight, that’s how writers roll – the best estimate I can get on when Congress will vote...
Dear Prudence – Are Well-Funded Retirees Not Spending Enough?
Down the halls of retirement planning offices, the air has been ringing with warnings: the longevity crisis is here. You may live to 100! Act now!...
Preparing for the e-Afterlife – Estate Planning Tips for Digital Assets
How would you like to awake one day, and find out that you’re a meme? You might need to look up that term, still something of a neologism. ‘Meme’...
Against the 0.5% – Tax Law Proposals That Could Upend Estate Planning
I am not now, nor have I ever been a socialist, let alone a communist; I normally declare this as patently self-evident. Yet now that I ruminate...
The Unfairness Doctrine – Would Killing the Step-Up Wreck the Economy?
Prolonged years of study have led me to the conclusion: taxation isn’t fair. If my mother were here to read these slim words, I know what she’d...