DEAR TRUST OFFICER: I’m turning 65 this year and thinking about retirement. How long should I plan for? — ANXIOUS PRE-RETIREE DEAR ANXIOUS PRE-RETIREE: According to the latest data from the National Vital Statistics Reports (August 2017, reporting on 2014 experience), a male age 65 should expect to live 18 more years (to age 83) […]
Read MoreMonth: August 2018
Eight-Year GRATs
The Grantor-Retained Annuity Trust (GRAT) has emerged as a popular strategy in the estate planner’s toolkit. The idea is that a grantor places assets in a trust while retaining the right to receive payments from the trust. When the term of the trust expires, any assets remaining in the trust pass to a beneficiary, typically […]
Read MoreThe “Bucket Plan”
How can one manage their retirement assets so as to be confident of not running them dry? That is a tough challenge faced by all retirees. Morningstar columnist Christine Benz tackled the problem in the July 2018 issue of AAII Journal (“For Bucket Portfolios, the Devil is in the Details”). Step one is to determine […]
Read MoreProhibited Transactions
Usually an IRA is invested in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and perhaps certificates of deposit. Sometimes a retiree may see this nest egg as a resource for a more unconventional investment. In that case, one needs to beware of the rules against self-dealing. Some transactions are prohibited under the tax code and may lead to […]
Read MoreSummer Markets
There will be a two-week break in the Weekly Update. We will resume on Tuesday, September 4th. After five straight weekly gains, the S&P 500 took a vacation and closed 0.25% lower last week. Treasury yields drifted lower during the week. The 2-year and 10-year Treasury notes finished the week yielding 2.60% and 2.86% respectively. […]
Read MoreSmall Caps Making New Highs
Stocks were higher again last week, for the 5th straight week in a row. The S&P 500 finished the week just 0.87% under its all-time high while the NASDAQ set new highs. Positive earnings reports have supported the strength in the S&P 500 with 75% of reporting companies in the index beating analysts’ estimates. The […]
Read MoreSecond Thoughts on Adult Adoptions
A parent, who is still living, created an irrevocable trust before 1985 for his lineal descendants. The trust creation date was before the effective date of the current generation-skipping transfer tax, and so the trust is protected from that tax by the “grandfather” rule for pre-existing trusts. The trust will divide into three portions upon […]
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