Legacy Strategies

Poet Mary Oliver once said, “I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.” Wise words indeed, and generally shared by all. Most of us desire to leave a lasting legacy to the world we leave behind.

What kind of legacy do you want to leave to your beneficiaries? Do you want to hand down funds or assets to future generations? Do you want to donate some of your wealth to your favorite charities? How much do you want to leave and to whom?

Schedule a meeting for your legacy wealth management discovery. We’ll ask similar questions and get to know you so we can put all the pieces together and chart the best legacy strategy to achieve your goals.

Different Types of Expenses

As you create your legacy strategy you’ll have several objectives you wish to meet, but it’s important to prioritize your needs over your wants. For planning purposes, it’s helpful to base your plan on three different types of expenses:

Needs

“Needs” are essential expenses you must pay such as your home, food, utilities, vehicles, insurance, and taxes. Many of these costs are fixed, or vary only slightly, and they can be easily implemented in your plan.

Wants

Wants are considered discretionary costs as they are not necessary to survive. These are often lifestyle-enhancing expenses such as a boat, RV, travel or a second home.

Legacy

You can leave legacy income to family or your favorite charitable cause. Legacy expenses can range from a simple retirement savings account to larger sums of money or property. Our legacy strategy experts work with estate attorneys who can help you prepare a comprehensive will to ensure all of your wishes are carried out.

Legacy Wealth Management Strategies

A legacy strategy is focused on reducing tax liabilities so you can leave more behind. Here are five planning strategies that can be implemented in your legacy plan.

Gifting Stock

Gifting your stock options now rather than after you pass is an effective way to minimize your estate tax obligation.

Charitable Remainder Trust

This investment vehicle allows you to gift property or cash into a trust. Each year, the trust will pay a fixed amount of income to a beneficiary you name.

Gifting Cash

The IRS allows for an annual federal gift tax exclusion of up to $15,000 per individual or $30,000 for couples. You can leverage the exclusion by gifting cash or your employee stock options to friends, family or charity.

Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT)

We can help you design an ILIT to transfer ownership of your life insurance policy to a trust that you create. This transfer detaches the policy from your estate which may considerably lower your estate tax obligation.

We can help you set your ILIT up in a way that protects your assets while achieving maximum tax savings.

Family Limited Partnership

If you own a business or real estate, consider forming a family limited partnership to give other family members limited ownership to some of your business or property. The aim of this partnership is to reduce the size of your estate and the accompanying tax liability.

Why Us?

Our team is relationship-focused and ready to help you transform your financial future.