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Family Limited Partnership (FLP): Estate Planning and Tax Benefits Explained
A Family Limited Partnership (FLP) is a legal entity formed by family members to hold and manage assets together — typically investment portfolios, real estate, or business interests. Beyond family governance and asset management, FLPs are used as an estate planning tool because they can reduce the taxable value of assets transferred to heirs through
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SECURE Act 2.0: Complete Guide to Retirement Account Changes in 2026
The SECURE Act 2.0, signed into law in December 2022, is the most sweeping overhaul of retirement savings rules in years. It builds on the original SECURE Act of 2019 and introduces dozens of changes affecting required minimum distributions, catch-up contributions, employer plans, and more. Many provisions are phasing in through 2024, 2025, and 2026.
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Gift Tax Annual Exclusion 2026: How to Give Money Tax-Free
The annual gift tax exclusion lets you give money or assets to any number of people each year without paying gift tax or eating into your lifetime estate and gift tax exemption. For 2026, the annual exclusion is $19,000 per recipient — up from $18,000 in 2025. A married couple can give $38,000 to any
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Spousal Lifetime Access Trust (SLAT): Estate Planning for Married Couples
A Spousal Lifetime Access Trust (SLAT) is an irrevocable trust that allows one spouse to use their lifetime gift tax exemption to move assets out of the taxable estate — while the other spouse can still indirectly benefit from those assets during their lifetime. It is one of the most popular estate planning strategies for
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Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT): Remove Life Insurance from Your Taxable Estate
An Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) is a type of trust that owns a life insurance policy outside your taxable estate. When you die, the life insurance proceeds pay into the trust and are distributed to your beneficiaries — potentially free of both income tax and estate tax. For high-net-worth individuals facing estate tax exposure,
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Step-Up in Basis: How It Reduces Taxes on Inherited Assets in 2026
The step-up in basis is one of the most valuable and underappreciated provisions in the U.S. tax code for estate planning. When you inherit an asset — a home, stocks, a business interest — the tax basis of that asset is “stepped up” to its fair market value at the date of the original owner’s
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Inherited IRA Rules: The 10-Year Distribution Rule Explained (2026)
Inheriting an IRA used to mean a lifetime of tax-deferred growth. The SECURE Act of 2019 ended that strategy for most non-spouse beneficiaries by introducing the 10-year rule, which requires the entire inherited IRA to be emptied within 10 years of the original owner’s death. SECURE Act 2.0 (2022) added further nuances. Understanding these rules
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Solo 401(k): Complete Guide for the Self-Employed in 2026
A Solo 401(k) — also called an individual 401(k) or one-participant 401(k) — is a retirement savings plan designed specifically for self-employed people and business owners with no full-time employees other than a spouse. It offers the highest contribution limits of any self-employed retirement account, plus the flexibility to choose a traditional or Roth structure.
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What Is a Generation-Skipping Trust (GST)? Passing Wealth to Grandchildren Tax-Free
A generation-skipping trust lets you transfer assets directly to grandchildren or great-grandchildren while avoiding estate tax at your children’s generation. Here is how GSTs work.
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What Is a Spendthrift Trust? How to Protect an Inheritance from Creditors
A spendthrift trust protects an inheritance from a beneficiary’s creditors, poor financial decisions, and divorce proceedings. Here is how they work and when to use one.