Estate Planning

• Term, Variable, Universal Insurance Policies
• Long-Term Health Care
• Annuities
• Estate-Tax and Privacy Planning
• Wealth Planning

Estate planning is the consideration of how to pass on an estate to loved ones and friends. Estate planning begins with the strategic alignment of financial products that can benefit loved ones after death.

WHAT'S AVAILABLE

Term, Variable, Universal: Term allows the buyer to pay a small amount of money per year to receive a stipulated "death benefit" in case of untimely demise. Variable, universal and other kinds of life insurance may accrue in value, but they are also more expensive for the buyer: Each has different features that the buyer may find attractive or worthwhile.

Long-Term Health-Care Insurance: This specifically covers some of the costs of long-term care such as custodial care in home or a nursing home. This insurance pays a set amount per day and does not adjust for inflation. Costs of the policies rise as benefits rise.

Annuities: These are commonly lumped with insurance products because they offer a death benefit that was at one time considered to be a primary attraction. An additional attraction is the tax-deferred status of an annuity. The investor pays no tax on the annuity while it grows, which means it compounds without taxation unlike mutual funds that must pay a portion of gains each year in taxes (even if the overall fund loses money on an annualized basis!).

Estate Tax & Privacy Planning: Probate is an ordinary enough process, but it strips the veil of privacy from the estate and can lead to other complications that interfere with the timely disbursement of estate monies in accordance with the deceased's wishes. Accordingly, other solutions are increasingly being considered including the removal of an estate from any possibility of probate through a number of legal processes. There are charitable deductions, for instance, a way of ensuring that your money goes to work where you want it to. You can also form a joint partnership in which your assets are commingled with another's Living trusts have become popular when it comes to such vehicles because these sorts of trusts give the investor control over assets while alive while providing the surety and protection of the vehicle after death.