Description
The essential handbook to estate planning, fully updated for 2025
Since its first publication in 2002, New Rules for Estate, Retirement, and Tax Planning has sold more than 40,000 copies, providing a solid, accessible introduction to estate planning for any age or income bracket. Now in its seventh edition, New Rules for Estate, Retirement, and Tax Planning continues this tradition, covering taxes, trusts, donations, life insurance, and wills in easy-to-understand language that offers valuable insights and solid strategies to help you preserve your wealth and plan your estate so that your assets go to the people and groups you’ve selected. This comprehensive guide answers questions like: How much do I need to retire comfortably? How do I protect my children's inheritance? How do I ensure planned donations are made after I'm gone?
The Seventh Edition is fully updated to reflect the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 (OBBBA), which contains the most comprehensive changes to the tax code since 2017. You'll learn how the new regulations impact your estate planning, retirement strategies, and tax obligations. Major updates, like the permanent $15 million estate tax exemption ($30 million for married couples), expanded deductions for tips, overtime pay, and Social Security, new charitable contribution rules, higher child tax credits, and beneficial changes to the SALT deduction cap are all covered.
You’ll also find advice on working with elderly parents and how to introduce financial planning concepts to children and teenagers, as well as an up-to-date list of professional advisers and a glossary of estate planning terms.
With this book you will:
- Understand estate planning and obtain solid strategies for growing your wealth
- Explore asset protection and succession planning strategies to safeguard family businesses and farms
- Discover how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act affects your estate, retirement, and tax planning
- Stay informed of relevant law changes with an author-managed website at www.welchgroup.com
New Rules for Estate, Retirement, and Tax Planning contains a wealth of valuable information for any adult who needs help planning their financial future, from the established professional heading toward retirement, to the young adult looking to understand the basics. Wherever you are in your journey, this book will help you grow, maintain, protect, and guide your legacy.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction xiii
1. One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 1
Estate Tax Changes 1
Income Tax Provisions 3
Changes to the Standard Deduction 4
Mortgage Interest Deduction 4
Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) Premium Deduction Is Restored 4
State and Local Taxes (SALT) 5
Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit Increased 7
Child Tax Credit Enhancements 8
No Tax on Overtime 11
No Tax on Social Security 12
New Deduction for Car Loan Interest 13
New Charitable Contribution Deduction for Non-Itemizers 14
New Charitable Contribution Limitation for Itemizers 15
Changes to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) 16
Clean Energy Tax Credit Phaseout 17
Wagering Losses Rule Modified 17
Educator Expense Deduction Expanded 17
Personal Casualty Losses (Slightly) Expanded 17
Education Provisions 18
Trump Savings Accounts 18
Section 529 Plans 18
Postsecondary and Career Training 19
Rollover to Roth IRA 19
Significant Changes for Student Loans 19
Business Taxes and Expenses 20
Investments 22
2. Estate Planning 25
What Is Estate Planning? 25
The Benefits of Estate Planning 26
The Nightmares of Poor Planning 28
The Myths of Estate Planning 29
Guidelines for Successful Estate Planning 30
3. The Estate Tax System 33
Determining Your Estate Net Worth 33
Your Estate Tax Picture 40
Your Future Estate 43
Overview of Estate-Planning Strategies 44
4. Investment Strategies for Maximizing Estate Growth 47
Growth Strategy with a Safety Net 48
Prioritizing Your Investment Dollars 53
Retirement Planning: Choosing the Best Investment Environments 53
Roth Conversions 56
Some Final Thoughts on Investing 61
5. Retirement Planning: Living Your Dream 63
Your Retirement Requirements 64
Other Considerations 67
Account for Other Sources of Retirement Income 68
Three Quick Retirement Calculations 70
Best Retirement Strategies 71
Reverse Mortgages 77
Social Security and Your Retirement 80
Claiming Strategies to Consider 82
Customizing Your Health Care Plan for Retirement 84
6. You Don’t Have a Will? Big Trouble! 89
Property Transfers at Death 90
Transfers via Probate 91
Direct Transfers by Title 94
Other Methods of Property Ownership 99
Choosing the Best Methods of Ownership 100
Setting Estate-Planning Goals 101
7. Where There's a Will, There’s Your Way! 103
What Is a Will? 103
Types of Wills 103
Advantages and Disadvantages of Wills 105
Intelligent Decisions Concerning Your Will’s Basic Provisions 107
Executing Your Will 119
Where to Store Your Will 120
Other Important Documents 120
Working with Your Attorney 124
When to Review Your Estate Plan 130
8. Using Trusts in Your Estate Plan 133
The Credit Shelter Trust Will 134
Disclaimers 138
Marital Trusts 140
Spendthrift Trust 144
Standby Trust 144
Other Trusts 145
9. Understanding the Living Trust 147
Advantages of Living Trusts 147
Disadvantages of Living Trusts 149
How a Living Trust Operates 150
Transferring Property into Your Living Trust 153
Types of Property Likely to Be Transferred 156
Living Trust Myths 158
Transacting Business with Your Trust 160
10. Using Insurance in Your Estate Plan 161
Life Insurance 161
Using Life Insurance to Replace Income 164
How Much Life Insurance Do You Need? 165
What Type of Life Insurance Is Best for You? 168
Insurance on a Homemaker 169
Insurance on Adult Children 169
How to Get the Best Deal on Term Life Insurance 169
Using Life Insurance to Leverage Your Estate 171
The Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) 172
About Your Cash Values 175
Summary 178
Tax Treatment of Long-Term Care Insurance 180
Case Study: How a Couple in Their 50s Used a Hybrid LTC Policy to Protect Retirement Savings 181
Key Takeaways: Long-Term Care Planning in 2026 and Beyond 181
Good Sources for LTC Insurance (as of the publication date for this book) 183
11. Smart Strategies for Gifting Assets to Family Members 185
The Annual Gift Tax Exclusion 185
Unintended Gifts 187
Filing a Gift Tax Return 188
The Lifetime Applicable Exclusion Amount 189
Outright Gifts 189
When the Donee Is a Minor 191
Other Tax-Free Gifts 201
Family Gifts Utilizing Trusts 202
Grantor Retained Annuity Trust 202
Grantor Retained Unitrust 204
Qualified Personal Residence Trust 204
Taking Advantage of Generation-Skipping Transfers 208
Sales to Family Members 211
Loans to Family Members 214
Sales to Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts 214
The Legacy Trust 215
12. Strategic Planning with Charities 225
Outright Gifts to Charities 226
Testamentary Gifts to Charities 229
Gifts Using Charitable Trusts 229
Using Your Charitable Trust for Retirement Planning 232
The Private Foundation 236
13. Family Limited Partnerships 239
General Structure of the Family Limited Partnership 240
Family Limited Partnership Rules 245
14. Succession Planning for the Family Business or Farm 253
Special Estate Tax Benefits for Farmers and Closely Held Business Owners (Ultra-Wealthy) 255
Valuing Your Business or Farm 257
Succession or Sale? 257
Succession Planning: Keeping the Family Business in the Family 258
Maximizing Your Business’s Value through a Sale 259
Structuring Your Buy-Sell Agreement 261
Types of Buy-Sell Agreements 261
Funding the Buy-Sell Agreement 262
One Final Strategy—The Employee Stock Ownership Plan 264
15. Asset Protection Strategies 267
The Concept of Fraudulent Transfers 267
Asset Protection for Married Couples 269
A Word about Jointly Held Property 271
Retirement Plans 272
Life Insurance 273
Using Trusts to Protect Assets 274
Using Limited Liability Entities to Protect Assets 276
Use of Multiple Limited Liability Entities 278Foreign Asset Protection Trusts (FAPT) 279
Domestic Asset Protection Trusts (DAPT) 282
16. Personal Business Planning Issues 285
Choosing the Right Entity for Your Business 285
Closing Thoughts 297
Importance of a Business Plan 299
17. The Final Chapter…Or Is It? 301
Financial planning in your 20s 302
Financial planning in your 30s 303
Financial planning in your 40s 304
Financial planning in your 50s 304
Financial planning in your 60s 305
Financial planning in your 70s and Beyond 306
Epilogue—Dealing with Parents and Their Money 309
Appendix A—Professional Advisers 311
Appendix B—Estate Planning Terms 315
Appendix C—IRS Life Expectancy Table 321
About the Author 325
Index 327
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