WSJ ESTATE-PLANNING GUIDEBOOK(ISBN=9780307461278) 英文原版 epub 下载 pdf 网盘 2025 mobi 在线 免费

Let’s face it: you can't avoid death or taxes. But you

can create an estate plan that will make both a whole lot

easier for your loved ones and put you in control of how

your assets will get passed to your heirs.

Here, Wall Street Journal personal-finance reporter Rachel

Emma Silverman walks you step-by-step through the process.

Chock-full of clear and solid advice on how to get the most out of

the main estate planning tools - including wills, trusts, life

insurance, guardianship papers, and powers-of-attorney documents -

the Wall Street Journal Complete Estate-Planning Guidebook

will help make your estate-planning process as simple, smooth, and

unintimidating as possible.

This book will help you:

· Clarify your estate-planning goals,

such as dividing up property for heirs, reducing taxes or leaving

money for charity

· Understand the key estate-planning

documents you’ll need, including wills, beneficiary-designation

forms, powers-of-attorney and health-care advance directives

· Decode the technical jargon that

estate planners often use, so you feel comfortable discussing QTIPs

and QPRTs when you sit down with your lawyer.

· Reduce possible estate, gift or

generation-skipping taxes and legal and probate fees – decreasing

what goes to the tax man and increasing what goes to your

heirs

· Learn strategies to divide money

and personal property among your heirs, and reduce the possibility

of family fights

· Discuss sensitive estate-planning

issues with your family

· Maintain your estate-plan over

time, including how to store and when to update your

documents

With completely up-to-date information on how to navigate the new

2011 estate tax legislation, and thoughtful advice on how to handle

your estate in complicated situations – like if you’re single, in a

same-sex relationship, or wish to provide for children with special

needs - this is the estae-planning guide for today’s

messy and complicated world.

One of the biggest estate planning mistakes people make, says

Silverman, is waiting too long to start. Which is why the Wall

Street Journal Complete Estate-Planning Guidebook isn’t just

for those planning for retirement or their golden years. It’s for

anyone, of any age, who wants the peace of mind of knowing that

your wishes will be respected and your hard-earned money will get

passed on as you would like.

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　　Rachel Emma Silverman is an editor and reporter at the Wall

Street Journal, where she has worked since 1998. She currently

edits and co-writes The Juggle, the Wall Street Journal’s

work-and-family website and reports on career, workplace and family

issues. Before that, she covered personal finance, focusing on

estate planning, wealth management, insurance, philanthropy, art

and collectibles, and financial aspects of marriage and divorce.

She graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University and

was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She now lives in Austin, TX

with her husband and two young sons.

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INTRODUCTION

You can’t avoid death or taxes.

But by carefully drafting your will and medical directives, and by

having clear discussions with your family, you can reduce the

chances that your relatives will squabble over your medical care or

your heirlooms.  And while few people are subject to the

federal estate tax under the recently-passed tax law, if you’re one

of them, you can use strategies such as trusts, life insurance and

philanthropy to vastly reduce the amount of money that goes to the

tax man and increase what goes to your heirs or the causes you

believe in. 

In

The Wall Street Journal Complete Estate Planning

Guidebook,

I’ll take you through the estate-planning process,

step-by-step -- from helping you figure out your planning goals

(Benefiting your children? Minimizing estate taxes? Caring for

Fido?) to helping you divvy up your family’s silver so your kids

don’t fight over it.

The book is structured around the main estate planning tools you

will likely encounter: wills, trusts, life insurance, guardianship

papers, advance medical directives (which spell out your wishes in

case you become severely incapacitated) and powers-of-attorney

documents (which grant another person the power to make decisions

about your medical care or finances when you cannot). I’ll also

help you decode the technical jargon that estate planners often

use, so you feel comfortable discussing QTIPs and QPRTs when you

sit down with your lawyer. 

Some situations require more complicated planning, so in special

sections throughout the book, called “

A Deeper Look

,” we’ll

talk about how to handle your estate if you’re single, in an

unmarried or same-sex relationship, in a remarriage, or have a

family member who is disabled or has special needs and you serve as

a family caregiver. We’ll also address the growing “asset

protection” industry, which seeks to shield estates from the hands

of creditors or divorcing spouses.  And since many of us are

pet owners, we’ll discuss how to plan for our furry friends.

In the first chapter

, Getting Started

, we’ll cover key steps

you should take before you and your lawyer draft your will, trust

and other documents. Here, I will help you figure out your estate

planning goals, take stock of your possessions, and provide

strategies for talking these ideas over with your family. This

chapter also offers guidance on how to choose a lawyer and other

estate advisers. Clarifying your estate planning objectives, and

discussing them with your family, will likely save you money and

time—and minimize arguments—in the long run.

We’ll also provide information here about key estate planning steps

to take at different stages in your life, and in a special section

in this chapter, we’ll take a deeper look at estate-planning

tactics if you’re single or in an unmarried or same-sex

relationship.

Chapter Two, Death and Taxes

, explains how estate, gift and

generation-skipping taxes work and introduces some strategies to

help minimize them. Under current law, these taxes affect just a

small number of people, but it’s still important to understand how

they work.

In

Chapter Three, Wills

, you’ll learn why a will is the

centerpiece of most estate plans and we’ll go over some strategies

to ensure that your money and belongings are left in the way that

you choose.  We’ll discuss how to choose an executor and I’ll

explain the responsibilities of the role. We’ll also go over when

it may make sense to say “no” to an inheritance. We’ll talk about

how some estate plans may be equitable, but not necessarily

equal—and I’ll offer some ideas about how to balance out bequests

and gifts to heirs who may have very different economic and family

circumstances.

While a will is an essential part of any estate plan, not all of

your assets are governed by the terms of your will.  In

Chapter Four, Probate and Ways to Avoid It

, I’ll explain how

some key assets -- including retirement plans, insurance policies,

certain jointly-owned property, and some trusts -- don’t pass

through wills and aren’t subject to the legal process of probate.

(Probate is a time-consuming court procedure that divides up your

property as directed by your will.)  I’ll help you make sure

your property goes to your intended heirs. We’ll also talk about

how to pass on Individual Retirement Accounts, or IRAs, which are

subject to all sorts of complex rules.

Chapter Five, Trusts

, discusses how trusts work. Contrary to

popular belief, you don’t need to be a Rockefeller to create a

trust. In fact, many people without significant wealth use trusts

for a variety of reasons, such as avoiding the hassles and expense

of probate or providing for young children. You’ll learn about the

pros and cons of naming a family member or a financial services

firm as your trustee and how to choose the right place to set up

your trust.  This chapter also includes a detailed “trust tip

sheet,” that decodes the alphabet soup of trust lingo that you may

hear from your lawyer. I’ll teach you how to structure trusts for

minor children and spouses, how to create tax-saving trusts and how

to pass your house on to heirs through a trust. In a special

section in this chapter, we’ll take a deeper look at how to use

trusts and other tactics to protect your assets from creditors and

lawsuits. 

In

Chapter Six, Life Insurance

, we’ll go over this valuable

tool for providing for your family’s future. We’ll discuss the

differences between term and permanent life insurance and how to

best structure your life insurance policy to reduce estate taxes.

And we’ll go over some basic insurance, tax and estate-planning

strategies for passing on family businesses.

Chapter Seven, Philanthropy

, discusses charitable giving,

and how such generosity doesn’t just help important causes; it also

can help you reduce taxes and provide for your family members.

We’ll talk about different ways to make charitable gifts, including

direct bequests and charitable trusts, and I’ll explain the pros

and cons of setting up your own charitable foundation.

In

Chapter Eight, Preparing for the Unthinkable

, we’ll

discuss other key estate-planning documents you’ll need. These

include papers naming a guardian for your children, as well as

powers of attorney for finances and health, crucial documents which

name agents to make financial and medical decisions for you if

you’re unable to do so yourself. In a section in this chapter,

we’ll take a deeper look at planning for family members with

special needs. We’ll also talk about making funeral and burial

plans. And we’ll address how to plan for your pets’ care when you

are not around.

In

Chapter Nine: Preserving Family Harmony

, we’ll go over

some ways to help strengthen your estate plans to help prevent

family feuds and challenges, especially when you’re no longer

around to voice your wishes. Here, we’ll talk about feud de-fusers

such as mediation, arbitration and “no-contest” clauses, which

disinherit heirs if they protest your will. We’ll address some

estate planning strategies for blended families who are in second

and third marriages and may have both children and stepchildren.

I’ll give you ideas for dividing up personal property, such as

jewelry and heirlooms. That tangible stuff with sentimental value

often causes more rifts than cash. And we’ll take a deeper look at

an unusual, but effective way, to help keep family harmony: paying

family members for their caregiving contributions if you or your

spouse were to become incapacitated.

At this point you’ll have learned how to draw up your will, trust

and other estate documents. Congratulations! But you’re not quite

done yet. You still need to create a system for taking care of your

estate plan over time. That’s where

Chapter Ten: Maintaining

Your Plan

, comes in. We’ll go over the “care and feeding” of

your estate plan – how to store it and when to update it, and the

importance of keeping your plans flexible. 

In short, this book should provide you with the information you

need to ensure that when you’re gone, your hard-earned money goes

where you want it to. That said, if your finances or family

situations are unusually complex or your spouse or heirs are

non-U.S. citizens, I highly recommend also getting tailor-made

legal and tax advice from qualified advisers who specialize in

estate planning.

The more you plan ahead, the lower the chances of divisive family

brawls and surprise tax bills. What’s more, when you educate

yourself about estate planning, you can reduce the number of

expensive hours you spend with your lawyer and avoid sketchy

tax-shelters and other shams. 

As you work through the

Wall Street Journal Complete

Estate-Planning Guidebook

, rest assured that although you can’t

evade death or taxes, you can create an estate plan that will make

both a whole lot easier for your loved ones. Your family will thank

you for it. 

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书籍介绍

Let’s face it: you can't avoid death or taxes. But you can create an estate plan that will make both a whole lot easier for your loved ones and put you in control of how your assets will get passed to your heirs.

Here, Wall Street Journal personal-finance reporter Rachel Emma Silverman walks you step-by-step through the process. Chock-full of clear and solid advice on how to get the most out of the main estate planning tools - including wills, trusts, life insurance, guardianship papers, and powers-of-attorney documents - the Wall Street Journal Complete Estate-Planning Guidebook will help make your estate-planning process as simple, smooth, and unintimidating as possible.

This book will help you:

· Clarify your estate-planning goals, such as dividing up property for heirs, reducing taxes or leaving money for charity

· Understand the key estate-planning documents you’ll need, including wills, beneficiary-designation forms, powers-of-attorney and health-care advance directives

· Decode the technical jargon that estate planners often use, so you feel comfortable discussing QTIPs and QPRTs when you sit down with your lawyer.

· Reduce possible estate, gift or generation-skipping taxes and legal and probate fees – decreasing what goes to the tax man and increasing what goes to your heirs

· Learn strategies to divide money and personal property among your heirs, and reduce the possibility of family fights

· Discuss sensitive estate-planning issues with your family

· Maintain your estate-plan over time, including how to store and when to update your documents

With completely up-to-date information on how to navigate the new 2011 estate tax legislation, and thoughtful advice on how to handle your estate in complicated situations – like if you’re single, in a same-sex relationship, or wish to provide for children with special needs - this is the estae-planning guide for today’s messy and complicated world.

One of the biggest estate planning mistakes people make, says Silverman, is waiting too long to start. Which is why the Wall Street Journal Complete Estate-Planning Guidebook isn’t just for those planning for retirement or their golden years. It’s for anyone, of any age, who wants the peace of mind of knowing that your wishes will be respected and your hard-earned money will get passed on as you would like.