Wilsey Estate Planning Blawg

The Middle Class Millionaire

I'm a big fan of Russ Alan Prince. I think he's got the concept of the Middle Class Millionaire nailed down. He's even written an excellent new book on the subject, THE MIDDLE-CLASS MILLIONAIRE; The Rise of the New Rich and How They are Changing America.

The Middle Class Millionaire forms a great deal of my estate planning practice, and can be generally defined as Americans with a net worth between $1million to 10million, including the value of their home. One great difference in this client, as opposed to clients with a net worth above this amount, is that middle class millionaire generally has a fear of losing their wealth. In fact, Mr. Prince states that up to 78% of these folks worry about losing it all.

I say this to reinforce the notion that a new breed of estate plan is essential for these clients. It must be focused on reducing estate taxes, but yet at the same time must ensure that these clients retain control over their assets and have those assets protected from creditors. Concepts like the Family Gifting Trust, the Family Limited Liability Company, Stretch IRA Trusts, Qualified Personal Residence Trusts, etc., are all concepts that get to the heart of what the middle class millionaire wants to protect their family.

As Mr. Prince states in his book, the Middle Class Millionaire is changing the American landscape. It is certainly changing estate planning, and it is essential that estate planners continue to figure out ways to meet their needs more effectively.

Using a Domestic Asset Protection Trust in Estate Planning

I recently gave a talk entitled "Using a Domestic Asset Protection Trust in Estate Planning". The basic premise is that the Domestic Asset Protection Trust has great benefit in estate planning, in addition to possible creditor protection benefits. Here's the slides from that presentation, and if you'd like the audio as well, please email me at wardwilsey@wilseylaw.com.

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Using an ILIT in Estate Planning

Here's a presentation I recently gave via webinar entitled "Using an ILIT in Estate Planning". The presentation goes over the procedure for moving the proceeds of Life Insurance policies out of one's taxable estate. This is important for wealthy clients in order to ensure that roughly half their life insurance death benefit doesn't go to the IRS.

I have a copy of the presentation with my narration as well. If you would like a copy, please email me at wardwilsey@wilseylaw.com.

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Presentation on Using Life Insurance in Zero Estate Tax Plans

I've seen a lot of "zero-tax" estate plans that use a TCLAT, or Testamentary Charitable Lead Annuity Trust, to eliminate estate taxes upon a persons death. This is all well and fine, but you must realize that if you use a TCLAT, for the most part, you will receive less than had your heirs just paid the estate taxes. As such, Life Insurance is an essential element of these plans. Here's a presentation that does in-depth in the mathematics of zeroed-out estate plans. I also have a version with audio, please email me at wardwilsey@wilseylaw.com if you'd like a copy.

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