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Asset Protection Definitions: Spousal Lifetime Access Trust (SLAT)

Spousal Lifetime Access Trust (SLAT)

In my previous video I talked about avoiding Washington estate taxes by gifting away assets if your net worth falls between $2-$5.45 million. Now many people don’t like the idea of giving away and losing control of their assets. That’s where a Spousal Lifetime Access Trust comes in. This type of asset protection trust gives you some additional options so the gifted assets are not lost in divorce or to creditors. Watch the video below for some information on these “SLATs.” [Read more…] about Asset Protection Definitions: Spousal Lifetime Access Trust (SLAT)

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Washington Estate Taxes

Balancing Washington and Federal Estate Taxes

I recently had a conversation with a family interested in planning to avoid Washington estate taxes. This estate tax is also known as transfer tax or death tax. There is a currently a federal estate tax around $5.5 million and Washington estate taxes for estates above $2 million. People falling in between the $2-$5.5 million have an opportunity to avoid the Washington estate tax if some proper planning is put into place. Check out the video below for more. [Read more…] about Washington Estate Taxes

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Asset Protection Strategies: Separating Business Activities

How to reduce liability in your business activities

I was having lunch with a friend, who works as a financial planner, and he mentioned a client who had been sued and who had to pay out a large settlement that was based on the value of her business as a result. Ouch. The business owner kept a lot of cash in the business for a variety of reasons (it can seem smart to do that as business owner!), so the creditor was able to collect a much larger settlement than they would have been able to if those assets were held elsewhere.

There are ways this business owner could have reduced the risk of judgments to lawsuits while maintaining the necessary or preferred amount of capital in the business. Here’s one example: [Read more…] about Asset Protection Strategies: Separating Business Activities

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Do or do not? The world of online estate planning.

D-I-Y Estate Planning

This is our obligatory comparison of online estate planning versus human estate planning.

Online estate planning documents might work just fine for you. You also might be one of those people who is great at doing his or her own research and following instructions.  You also might not have that much at risk. However, if you aren’t sure whether or not they will work for you, then think of it this way… [Read more…] about Do or do not? The world of online estate planning.

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Estate Planning Definitions: Impact Investing

What is Impact Investing?

Impact investing appears to be all the rage with the tech crowd and has been growing in popularity for the last 2-3 years.  Whether or not it is the right strategy for you completely depends on what your goals are and what you have accumulated so far.

Just to be clear: Impact investing is not the same as “Charitable Giving,” which is when you endow or gift something to a charity, non-profit, or private foundation.

Impact Investing, according to Michael Drexler and Abigail Noble of the World Economic Forum, is “an investment approach intentionally seeking to create both financial return and positive social impact that is actively measured.”

[Read more…] about Estate Planning Definitions: Impact Investing