While the unsettling times are forcing businesses to rethink strategy, business advisors are steadfast surrounding one key advantage for owners that should not be overlooked: Estate Planning. Save the yawns, as the numbers promise to deliver on your bottom line.
“This is the best environment for estate planning that we’ve ever had – and will likely have for the foreseeable future,” says Jim Rein, principal with Pinion.
“There are major shifts unfolding right now – many the result of COVID adjustments, and others on the whispers of pending changes and potential sunset rule changes. These shifts are providing the ideal environment for opportunities that will likely never be available again – or at least, not for a very long time,” he adds.
And if you want to leverage these advantages, it can take a few months (or more) to structure and capture these benefits – dependent upon complexities, so you’ll want to get started now (to insure you get in before the 2020 clock runs out and many of these opportunities likely disappear).
Financial and Estate Planning Considerations – Why Now is the Time to Review and/or Refresh your Situation
- Current historically low interest rates: to leverage greatest advantages where applicable
- Current (but temporary) higher lifetime exemptions: the highest we’ve ever had, and the formulas are to your advantage right now
- This exemption currently has an expiration date of 2026 … but, this date has the potential to sunset earlier with any forced tax law changes due to:
- Fallout following the upcoming election
- Raised taxes in the future to offset/payback the cost of the COVID stimulus packages
- This exemption currently has an expiration date of 2026 … but, this date has the potential to sunset earlier with any forced tax law changes due to:
- Lower current valuations: the impacts of COVID-19 on the economy have had striking impact on business values, but this has also created more estate planning opportunities
- Other areas to revisit and leverage could include: tax efficiencies, asset protection strategies, gifting, life insurance, and trusts
Rein advises having consultations, adjustments and planning facilitated now, as a comprehensive review will be much more difficult, if not impossible, to complete as we draw closer to year’s end.
