The White Coat Investor: A Doctor's Guide to Personal Finance and Investing (The White Coat Investor Series)

“To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give of one’s self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeeme

The Purpose of a Revocable Trust The main benefit of a revocable trust (meaning you can remove your assets from the trust at any time) is that assets placed into a revocable trust do not have to pass through probate. Unlike an irrevocable trust, assets in a revocable trust haven’t been given away, so they don’t help you reduce estate tax due, and t

Assets with named beneficiaries go directly to your heirs without passing through the probate process.

Certainly having a will is better than “dying intestate” (without a will), but ensuring your assets don’t have to pass through the probate process is a worthwhile endeavor. There are two ways to do this—naming specific beneficiaries and using a revocable trust.

When you give a highly appreciated asset (think of a property or shares of a mutual fund you bought for $100,000 that is now worth $500,000) to someone else, they get your basis on the asset, or $100,000. However, if you die and they inherit it, the basis is reset at the value of the asset at the time of your death. They can sell it the next day an

There are many ways to avoid paying these taxes, but nearly all of them involve giving money away to your heirs prior to death directly or using irrevocable trusts or giving money away to charity prior to or at your death. One of the more commonly used methods involves an irrevocable life insurance trust. The owner of a large estate places money in

Unfortunately, there are nineteen states with estate and/or inheritance taxes, and most of them use lower estate tax exemptions than the federal government. Political types won’t be surprised to see that most of these are “blue states” and include Washington, Oregon, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, New York,

A Simple Asset Protection Plan Purchase large quantities of liability insurance Title your home properly Maximize retirement account contributions Pay down mortgage in states with strong homestead laws Avoid owning dangerous assets or minimize liability from them Consider a prenuptial agreement and stay married

As mentioned earlier, different amounts of home equity are protected from creditors by different states. This ranges from essentially all of it (Florida, Texas, Arkansas, Washington, D.C., Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, and South Dakota) to almost none of it (Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania) and everything in between.