The Next Generation

According to a report published in Research Magazine, upwards of $40 trillion will pass from baby boomers to future generations over the next three decades1. With such massive transfers of wealth from one generation to the next underway, it is easy for assets to fall through the cracks and fall victim to avoidable costs, such as estate taxes and probate expenses. For this reason, it is critical to establish a comprehensive multi-generational financial plan to provide your professional advisors with a game plan and your beneficiaries with a sound financial footing on which to stand in your absence. The purpose of this guide is to outline some of the strategies to include in your plan, as well as several of the recent changes to the federal tax code.

At the end of the day, it could not be more important to develop a comprehensive succession plan to ensure a seamless transition of your assets from one generation to the next. In the absence of such a plan, you would likely leave behind a series of major headaches to your beneficiaries rather than a sound financial legacy. By getting all your ducks in a row on behalf of your beneficiaries while you still have control over assets, you have the ability to ensure that your assets are distributed in accordance with your wishes, not the decrees of a probate court. By reducing or eliminating your estate tax liability and proactively minimizing the costs associated with the probate process, you can bequeath as many of your assets as possible to your loved ones on your own terms.