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The SECURE Act was recently signed into law in the U.S. It was a landmark legislation that may affect how you plan for retirement. Most of the provisions went into effect in 2020, which means now is the time to consider how these new rules affect your estate and tax planning. For the second part to this series, see How the SECURE Act May Affect Your Estate Plan.

After stagnating in the U.S. Congress for much of 2019, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act was quickly picked back up and added to legislation, bringing changes that impact individuals saving for retirement, retirement plan participants, and retirement plan sponsors. See how the changes will impact you, including how the Act brings new considerations and planning opportunities to individual investors.

For understandable reasons, the United States has adopted a series of laws designed to prevent U.S. taxpayers from taking advantage of foreign trusts as tax shelters from U.S. income taxation. The obvious application of these laws is when a U.S. citizen is attempting to transfer cash or income-producing assets to an offshore Trust. When dealing with foreign trusts, however, these laws can apply in circumstances where unsuspecting non-U.S.-citizen taxpayers can be financially devastated by the consequences.

In this U.S. election year there are not only the current administration's tax reform to consider, but also those of the Democratic presidential candidates. With the possibility of a new president on the horizon, significant changes to the tax code may be on the way.

The new year brings with it new tax-savings opportunities, including larger tax exemptions and exclusions, and new rules governing most retirement accounts. This advisory includes charts showing these figures for 2020 as well as this year's income tax brackets. A list of strategies and tips to consider in your tax planning this year follows each chart.

While “gifting down” to younger generations has historically been the norm, it’s now increasingly common for children to accumulate more wealth than their living parents. This provides an opportunity for children to “gift up” or provide loans to help support parents—while pursuing income and estate tax planning. Other gifting strategies can include gifting assets or creating a trust to help support their parents' living expenses or health care costs. Each solution has pros and cons.

Parents and grandparents often want to help their children and grandchildren with significant financial goals and challenges: buying a first home, making a financial investment, or starting a new business. Intra-Family Loans (IFLs) are a simple, low-cost, effective (yet often underutilized) wealth transfer technique that parents and grandparents can use to assist their family members with these economic challenges—all without incurring federal gift taxes if properly structured.

Successful owners who choose to sell their business have many things to think about before beginning the process. Owners who are new to the process should consider not only the financial ramifications of selling their business but also how it can affect their life after the sale has finished. To make the selling of a profitable business much smoother, there are five things to consider. First, it begins with the question: What financial means do I need to support my current lifestyle?

The SECURE Act of 2019 (the “Act”) has been signed into law and went into effect on January 1, 2020. It has several income tax provisions that affect individual taxpayers, including two important areas, retirement accounts and 529 college savings plans. The Act provides a good incentive to review the naming of your beneficiaries and ensure you take advantage of the tax incentives.

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