Last Year Americans Wasted $24 Billion in Estate Taxes, Will You Be Joining Them?

The Annual Report on the United States Government reports that Americans paid $23 Billion in estate taxes. Every dime of those taxes could have been avoided. How do you think the kids felt when they wrote out a check for $300,000 for estate taxes and then learned from the attorney that mom and dad could have saved them every penny?

If you don't like wasting money on taxes and don't want your kids squandering money either, then this article will explain what you need to do.

You must realistically answer these questions:

• Will your estate be worth more than $650,000 ($1.3 million for a married couple) when you die? By the way, you cannot assume that the estate exemption will grow to $1 million per person as some people believe. Congress can change this number at any time and there are powerful people in Congress who want to reduce the exemption to $250,000. All you do know is that right now, you can shelter $650,000 of assets, while it lasts.

• Do you have any assets that could be double-taxed at your death (double taxed by income and estate taxes, which could consume 70% of the value) such as IRAs and annuities?

• Do you think that if you need to take action, that your attorney would call you up on the phone and tell you? (He probably won't as many attorneys wait until you call them).

• Do you think you have plenty of time to take care of any estate tax problem--like the people who paid $24 billion last year?

• Do you incorrectly think that estate planning means giving up control of assets or making gifts or giving to charity? (With good estate planning, you can keep total control of assets and still remove them from your taxable estate). Do you have the false notion that a living trust will eliminate your estate taxes?(You will pay estate taxes on assets over $650,000, living trust or not).

• Do you think that you need to die in order to get your $650,000 exemption? (You don't, it's available right now and many wealthy people use their exemptions when they can make the most of them, during their lifetimes).

If you answered "yes" to any of the above, you probably have an estate tax problem.

We have nothing to send out as no brief article can solve your estate problem. We can however offer you an opportunity to avoid spending lots of money on estate taxes that can be avoided.

Our normal hourly rate for financial advising is $150. We are offering a discounted hour at $100 for those people who are serious about getting some real solutions, other than the same old advice (e.g. give gifts to your kids, buy an insurance policy to pay the taxes, etc). We are offering this discounted hour only from June 1 through August 31. To schedule the hour, please call 925-935-5488 or check off on the enclosed coupon and we will call you to set a time.