October 22, 2025 • 15 mins
This week, Todd Lutsky explains federal and state level estate taxes and how to navigate around them to lower your tax bill. Todd also takes a call from a listener about moving retirement funds to a Roth IRA.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is Ask Todd on the Financial Exchange Radio Network.
If you have an existing estate plan or in the
market for one, Todd Lutsky is here to answer your
questions and help you plan for a later life. Ask
Todd is presented by Cushing and Dolan, serving Massachusetts and
New England for more than thirty five years, helping families
with a state and tax planning, Medicaid planning, and probate law.
(00:22):
Visit Cushingdolan dot com. Now here's Todd Lutsky.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Todd Lutsky from the law firm of Cushing and Dolan
joins us now in studio and he's here to answer
your questions about your state plans. We got the phone
line open at eight eight eight to zero five two
two six three. The last couple of weeks we have
not been able to get through all of your questions,
so if you do want to have your question answered
(00:49):
by Todd, get.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Calling early and often again. Eight eight eight to zero
five two two sixty three is the number one more time,
that is eight eight eight two zero five two two
six three. The segment is Asked Todd, so you can
ask Todd your questions. Mister Lutsky, how are you doing today?
Speaker 4 (01:11):
I am never better? How you doing?
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Pretty good?
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Uh?
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Pretty good? Yeah? Only pretty good? I Uh.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
I went on a date with a matador the other day,
a matador. Yeah it didn't work out. No, too many
red flags, yeah, definitely. Yeah, real problem, Todd, want to
talk to you a little bit about is state tax
thresholds today? Okay, federal limit right now is currently just
under fourteen million?
Speaker 4 (01:38):
Is that right? Yeah? Thirteen nine to nine.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
What's it go do next year?
Speaker 4 (01:42):
So January one, twenty twenty six, it's gonna jump up
to fifteen million. Even even that makes the math easy.
It does so for a spouse, you could shelter thirty.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
So what I what I want to hone in on
today the number of states that have a state estate tax.
It's it's not part clearly high, right, it's like high
single digits, low double digits, like somewhere around ten states
have them.
Speaker 4 (02:04):
Yeah, it's a little higher, it is double digits, but
I think it. I think it's.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Fifteen And most of those thresholds are significantly lower than
the federal limit. Correct.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
Yes, I don't know if I could say most, but
we can a number of them, Yeah, number of them
could be lower, like Massachusetts is the worst.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
So I guess here's here's the question that I have.
People that fall above the fifteen million. We talk about,
you know, what you can do in those situations quite
a bit. People that might be, you know, on the
borderline of a state, a state tax threshold, you know,
a two million dollars state three million. We talk about
those a lot. Yeah, how does someone who kind of
(02:41):
falls like right in the middle, like again high levels
of wealth, you know, eight to twelve million dollars estate,
so no federal issue, but they might have a sizable
state issue that they need to deal with. What kind
of tools are out there to help mitigate those and
work through those situations?
Speaker 4 (02:59):
Yeah, that's that's perfect. I mean the answer you have
there is, first and foremost, you still need your trust.
You still need your at that level, you're looking at
a revocable trust, probably a joint revocable trust. Probably don't
need two. And you need it? Why not? And I'm assuming, Chuck,
that we're in a state with a state state tax, right,
not just federal Yes, state a state test. So I'll
(03:22):
just use mass as an example with the two million
dollar exemption. And so first, you need the joint revocable
trust simply to obviously avoid the probate. And I say,
take care of federal estate tax, and I know you're saying, chuck,
the exemption is going to third fifteen million. This client
is maybe worth ten million somewhere in between there. Why
(03:42):
do they need to worry about the FED? Well, there's
nothing you need to worry about it. But when you
do the trust planning, you're going to shelter whatever the
estate tax exemption is in effect. When you die again,
come a new president right down the road and new
regimes in office, that exemption could drop. We can't necessarily
assume it's going to a fifteen. It could fall to seven.
So you need to be mindful of that. So you
(04:04):
need to do a planning just to take sure make
sure that you grab whatever the estate tax exemption is,
and plus reportability reasons. If you die when it's high
and you leave a spouse, you want to make sure
you capture the unused exemption for the surviving spouse so
that in case they really lower the exemption for the
surviving when the surviving spouse dies, she will have that
(04:24):
unused exemption as a coupon in her pocket. To take
care of that for Massachusetts or other states that have
a state exemption. Yeah, we want to make sure we
double the two million to four million. At least do that.
So if I'm at ten million, I'm sheltering four million.
But to your point, we still owe six million. Is
there something we can do for that? Yes, gifting. Gifting
(04:47):
is an option. Perhaps moving, of course is always an option.
But gifting is an option. But then you need to
really analyze the gifting. Am I going to gift high
basis low basis assets? The big deal here is that
you got to make sure that you're not just when
you make a gift. Now in this situation, you're not
saving the forty percent piece, You're only saving the mass piece.
(05:10):
And if mass is at ten percent, I don't want
to give away something that traps capital gain at twenty
eight point eight percent. So think about what you're gonna gift.
But at least that's a little guidelines for you.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Talking with Todd Lutsky from the law firm of Cushing
and Dolan, phone lines still have room on them at
eight eight eight to zero five two two sixty three.
That is the number to call to ask Todd your
estate planning questions live on air right now again, room
on the phone lines at eight eight eight to zero
five two two sixty three. This is your chance to
(05:42):
ask Todd your estate planning questions. We're going to take
a quick break, but when we come back we'll have
more Todd and your questions right after this. That phone
number is eight eight eight to zero five two two
sixty three. Again it is eight eight eight two zero
five two two six three.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Ask Todd with Todd Lutsky every Wednesday at ten thirty
only here on the Financial Exchange Radio Network. You're listening
to Ask Todd with Todd Lutsky on the Financial Exchange
Radio Network.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Todd Letski's you to answer your questions about your estate
plan Again. Phone number is eight eight eight to zero
five two two sixty three. That is the number to
call so that Todd can answer your estate planning questions
live on air again eight eight eight to zero five
two two six three. Let's go to Steve in New Hampshire. Steve,
(06:45):
what is your question for mister Lutsky?
Speaker 5 (06:49):
Well, my question is is that I have three firement.
I have a step that's got a value of a
little over three million dollars forridge account. Also that a
little over two million dollars. I'm sixty eight years old,
and I've been going back and forth thinking or considering
(07:14):
switching some money over. It's a raw and I'm not
convinced that that's the way I should go at this point,
being that I don't know that I can really convert
over enough funds that's going to make the difference when
it comes down to my required minimum distribution. Okay, And
(07:37):
I am also still working.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
Are you married? I am kids, I have two yet grandkids?
Speaker 5 (07:48):
Yeah, just one?
Speaker 4 (07:49):
That was just one, okay, And so you're looking at
maybe five million dollars. I think that the whether you
flip it to a roth or don't flip it to
a wroth and so forth, I really think is more
of a financial plan question. You might want to sit
with your advisor and and sort of, you know, play
out whether or not it makes sense to do that,
and what are the taxes I'm going to pay now
(08:09):
when I do that? But so is the but do
you have like an estate planning question in here somewhere?
Like I notice you've got a step and a brokerage account.
So I've got five million. You also need your house
and any other assets to determine whether or not a
state planning is important or is that not an issue?
Speaker 5 (08:28):
No, the estate planning. I'm trying to figure out how
this is going to work best for my estate and
for my children down the road.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
I know.
Speaker 5 (08:38):
If the money is in a step that helps them
in a raws, it helps them. But that's again secondary question.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
Do you how much? How much are you worth altogether?
House money, everything?
Speaker 5 (08:53):
About seven millions.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
So it's seven million dollars again, some being qualified money,
some being not qualified money. I get it. You know,
it's important to think from an income tax perspective and
how it fits into your state plan as well. So
but just in general, for someone sixty eight seven million dollars,
we're probably looking at a joint revocable trust for you.
(09:16):
How we draft the joint trust to accommodate the sepira,
which is a three million dollar asset, is important, and
that's why I'm recommending a joint trust, because with a
joint revocable trust, the three million can't go in there
while you're alive because there's a big income tax hit.
I get that, but it can get there when the
death of the survivor occurs, but on the first death,
(09:39):
I want to be able to cram down as much
as I can for a state planning purposes. So if
I back out three million from year seven, I only
have four to deal with. Well, I want that whole
four to be crammed down on the first death for
a state taxes, and not divide it between a husband
trust and a wife trust. So I think we're talking
about the same thing here in terms of taxes, estate taxes,
(10:02):
income taxes. But I think the joint trust would work
best for you because it will accommodate both the large
IRA asset, the large set and your estate planning. And
I don't think you're probably in a situation where you
need to worry about nursing home care. You're probably self
insured with the you know, the interests and the and
the money you can generate, the income that you can
generate with your with your assets, and then you just
(10:23):
need to decide how you want to leave these assets
to your children, you know, over time from a generation
skipping tax perspective, et cetera, divorce proofing, et cetera. So
hope that helps folks. That's a great estate planning question.
Let's just turn a minute for the guide though, And
one thing I didn't mention here to this caller Steve,
(10:45):
was that gifting was right. And the guide we're given
away is making the most of gifting assets right? It is.
It is a guide that explains really whether you should
gift or not. And again, gifting didn't seem like a
huge deal for this past. It's not appropriate. However for
you it might be, but then you need to know
how to do it. Do I give it a way
(11:05):
outright to kids? Probably not? Maybe a gifting trust. If
I want to make big gifts, do I put it
in a trust that I can keep control over after
I give it? Well, I would want that. So espousal
lifetime Access trust comes up. There's a state tax and
income tax issues to consider, and whether to gift at
all or not. Folks, get the guide eight six six
(11:27):
eight four eight five six nine nine or Legal Exchange
Show dot com and learn how to make the most
of gifting assets eight six six eight four eight five
six nine nine or Legal Exchange Show dot com.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Todd in the last segment, we were talking about, you know,
kind of things to do to potentially mitigate state level
estate taxes. Yes, is the assumption if you are if
you do have a large enough of state where you
have a federal estate tax liability, are you using the
same tools or they're different ones that come into play
(12:03):
based on the size and scale of an estate.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
Yeah. And I think after the you know, the obb
BA if I said enough bs in there, the new
act that passed, I think it's it's really important to
talk about those things because they left a lot of
the old rules in play. And so for larger estates,
and maybe a lot of times we don't speak enough
about them, but you know, for a larger estate, you're
(12:27):
pushing close to thirty million. When you're talking about larger
you know, these folks are going to be making much
bigger gifts, and gifts will matter. Then remember before we
were talking about this, you know, ten million dollar estate,
and I'm saying, well, wow, if you make a gift,
you're really not helping to save the forty percent estate
(12:51):
tax rate. You're really only talking about the state estate
tax savings, which is closer to ten twelve percent. Well,
that's not a huge savings. But as you bring up, Chuck,
if we're talking about larger estates now I'm not so
worried about the carryover basis or the trapping of the
(13:12):
capital gain on the assets that I give away, because now,
if I'm making a gift at this larger level, I
am saving you know, the state and the federal estate tax.
So that could be fifty two percent. So let's just
reraizon numbers, let's say fifty percent. Well, if I give
away something that saves me at the fifty percent level
(13:36):
and trap something at the twenty eight percent level, I
guess I'm okay with that. Sure. And another reason I'd
be okay with that when you're dealing with those big
numbers is that tax when you die is due nine
months after you die. It's a hard stop you gotta pay.
I mean, you could be faced with a down market,
(13:57):
you could be faced with a fire sale on real
estate to come up with the money you need to
pay the tax. Whereas if I've made the gift and
I've built in the capital gain, I get it, it's there,
but the kids don't have to sell it nine months
after I'm dead. They can play around with that capital gain, right.
(14:18):
They could say, well, you know what, I'll just hang
on to this. You know, as you know from a
financial planning standpoint, giving up selling all the time isn't
the right thing to do in a down market. Maybe
I know there's gain there, but if I've got some
losses built in, I can wait till I have losses,
sell the lost items, then sell the gain items, and
(14:39):
offset the capital gain with the capital loss. So you
have a little more play with that capital gain than
you do with the death tax. That's a hard and
fast Hey nine months you gotta pay, so I think
that's a little bit food for thought.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Mister Lutsky, I appreciate you joining us today. Thank you
so much for the time.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
Thank you always a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
This has been Asked Odd on the Financial Exchange Radio
network Ask Todd with Todd. Lutsky has been presented by
Cushing and Dolan, serving Massachusetts and New England for more
than thirty years, helping families with the state and tax planning,
Medicaid planning, and probate law. Call eight hundred three nine
three four thousand and one or visit Cushingdolan dot com.
The views expressed in this segment are solely those of
(15:20):
Cushing and Dolan. Armstrong Advisory does not provide any legal
or tax advice. Please consult with your illegal or tax
advisor on such matters. Cushing and Armstrong do not endorse
each other and are not affiliated
This is Ask Todd on the Financial Exchange Radio Network.
If you have an existing estate plan or in the
market for one, Todd Lutsky is here to answer your
questions and help you plan for a later life. Ask
Todd is presented by Cushing and Dolan, serving Massachusetts and
New England for more than thirty five years, helping families
with a state and tax planning, Medicaid planning, and probate law.
(00:22):
Visit Cushingdolan dot com. Now here's Todd Lutsky.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Todd Lutsky from the law firm of Cushing and Dolan
joins us now in studio and he's here to answer
your questions about your state plans. We got the phone
line open at eight eight eight to zero five two
two six three. The last couple of weeks we have
not been able to get through all of your questions,
so if you do want to have your question answered
(00:49):
by Todd, get.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Calling early and often again. Eight eight eight to zero
five two two sixty three is the number one more time,
that is eight eight eight two zero five two two
six three. The segment is Asked Todd, so you can
ask Todd your questions. Mister Lutsky, how are you doing today?
Speaker 4 (01:11):
I am never better? How you doing?
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Pretty good?
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Uh?
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Pretty good? Yeah? Only pretty good? I Uh.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
I went on a date with a matador the other day,
a matador. Yeah it didn't work out. No, too many
red flags, yeah, definitely. Yeah, real problem, Todd, want to
talk to you a little bit about is state tax
thresholds today? Okay, federal limit right now is currently just
under fourteen million?
Speaker 4 (01:38):
Is that right? Yeah? Thirteen nine to nine.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
What's it go do next year?
Speaker 4 (01:42):
So January one, twenty twenty six, it's gonna jump up
to fifteen million. Even even that makes the math easy.
It does so for a spouse, you could shelter thirty.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
So what I what I want to hone in on
today the number of states that have a state estate tax.
It's it's not part clearly high, right, it's like high
single digits, low double digits, like somewhere around ten states
have them.
Speaker 4 (02:04):
Yeah, it's a little higher, it is double digits, but
I think it. I think it's.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Fifteen And most of those thresholds are significantly lower than
the federal limit. Correct.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
Yes, I don't know if I could say most, but
we can a number of them, Yeah, number of them
could be lower, like Massachusetts is the worst.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
So I guess here's here's the question that I have.
People that fall above the fifteen million. We talk about,
you know, what you can do in those situations quite
a bit. People that might be, you know, on the
borderline of a state, a state tax threshold, you know,
a two million dollars state three million. We talk about
those a lot. Yeah, how does someone who kind of
(02:41):
falls like right in the middle, like again high levels
of wealth, you know, eight to twelve million dollars estate,
so no federal issue, but they might have a sizable
state issue that they need to deal with. What kind
of tools are out there to help mitigate those and
work through those situations?
Speaker 4 (02:59):
Yeah, that's that's perfect. I mean the answer you have
there is, first and foremost, you still need your trust.
You still need your at that level, you're looking at
a revocable trust, probably a joint revocable trust. Probably don't
need two. And you need it? Why not? And I'm assuming, Chuck,
that we're in a state with a state state tax, right,
not just federal Yes, state a state test. So I'll
(03:22):
just use mass as an example with the two million
dollar exemption. And so first, you need the joint revocable
trust simply to obviously avoid the probate. And I say,
take care of federal estate tax, and I know you're saying, chuck,
the exemption is going to third fifteen million. This client
is maybe worth ten million somewhere in between there. Why
(03:42):
do they need to worry about the FED? Well, there's
nothing you need to worry about it. But when you
do the trust planning, you're going to shelter whatever the
estate tax exemption is in effect. When you die again,
come a new president right down the road and new
regimes in office, that exemption could drop. We can't necessarily
assume it's going to a fifteen. It could fall to seven.
So you need to be mindful of that. So you
(04:04):
need to do a planning just to take sure make
sure that you grab whatever the estate tax exemption is,
and plus reportability reasons. If you die when it's high
and you leave a spouse, you want to make sure
you capture the unused exemption for the surviving spouse so
that in case they really lower the exemption for the
surviving when the surviving spouse dies, she will have that
(04:24):
unused exemption as a coupon in her pocket. To take
care of that for Massachusetts or other states that have
a state exemption. Yeah, we want to make sure we
double the two million to four million. At least do that.
So if I'm at ten million, I'm sheltering four million.
But to your point, we still owe six million. Is
there something we can do for that? Yes, gifting. Gifting
(04:47):
is an option. Perhaps moving, of course is always an option.
But gifting is an option. But then you need to
really analyze the gifting. Am I going to gift high
basis low basis assets? The big deal here is that
you got to make sure that you're not just when
you make a gift. Now in this situation, you're not
saving the forty percent piece, You're only saving the mass piece.
(05:10):
And if mass is at ten percent, I don't want
to give away something that traps capital gain at twenty
eight point eight percent. So think about what you're gonna gift.
But at least that's a little guidelines for you.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Talking with Todd Lutsky from the law firm of Cushing
and Dolan, phone lines still have room on them at
eight eight eight to zero five two two sixty three.
That is the number to call to ask Todd your
estate planning questions live on air right now again, room
on the phone lines at eight eight eight to zero
five two two sixty three. This is your chance to
(05:42):
ask Todd your estate planning questions. We're going to take
a quick break, but when we come back we'll have
more Todd and your questions right after this. That phone
number is eight eight eight to zero five two two
sixty three. Again it is eight eight eight two zero
five two two six three.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Ask Todd with Todd Lutsky every Wednesday at ten thirty
only here on the Financial Exchange Radio Network. You're listening
to Ask Todd with Todd Lutsky on the Financial Exchange
Radio Network.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Todd Letski's you to answer your questions about your estate
plan Again. Phone number is eight eight eight to zero
five two two sixty three. That is the number to
call so that Todd can answer your estate planning questions
live on air again eight eight eight to zero five
two two six three. Let's go to Steve in New Hampshire. Steve,
(06:45):
what is your question for mister Lutsky?
Speaker 5 (06:49):
Well, my question is is that I have three firement.
I have a step that's got a value of a
little over three million dollars forridge account. Also that a
little over two million dollars. I'm sixty eight years old,
and I've been going back and forth thinking or considering
(07:14):
switching some money over. It's a raw and I'm not
convinced that that's the way I should go at this point,
being that I don't know that I can really convert
over enough funds that's going to make the difference when
it comes down to my required minimum distribution. Okay, And
(07:37):
I am also still working.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
Are you married? I am kids, I have two yet grandkids?
Speaker 5 (07:48):
Yeah, just one?
Speaker 4 (07:49):
That was just one, okay, And so you're looking at
maybe five million dollars. I think that the whether you
flip it to a roth or don't flip it to
a wroth and so forth, I really think is more
of a financial plan question. You might want to sit
with your advisor and and sort of, you know, play
out whether or not it makes sense to do that,
and what are the taxes I'm going to pay now
(08:09):
when I do that? But so is the but do
you have like an estate planning question in here somewhere?
Like I notice you've got a step and a brokerage account.
So I've got five million. You also need your house
and any other assets to determine whether or not a
state planning is important or is that not an issue?
Speaker 5 (08:28):
No, the estate planning. I'm trying to figure out how
this is going to work best for my estate and
for my children down the road.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
I know.
Speaker 5 (08:38):
If the money is in a step that helps them
in a raws, it helps them. But that's again secondary question.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
Do you how much? How much are you worth altogether?
House money, everything?
Speaker 5 (08:53):
About seven millions.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
So it's seven million dollars again, some being qualified money,
some being not qualified money. I get it. You know,
it's important to think from an income tax perspective and
how it fits into your state plan as well. So
but just in general, for someone sixty eight seven million dollars,
we're probably looking at a joint revocable trust for you.
(09:16):
How we draft the joint trust to accommodate the sepira,
which is a three million dollar asset, is important, and
that's why I'm recommending a joint trust, because with a
joint revocable trust, the three million can't go in there
while you're alive because there's a big income tax hit.
I get that, but it can get there when the
death of the survivor occurs, but on the first death,
(09:39):
I want to be able to cram down as much
as I can for a state planning purposes. So if
I back out three million from year seven, I only
have four to deal with. Well, I want that whole
four to be crammed down on the first death for
a state taxes, and not divide it between a husband
trust and a wife trust. So I think we're talking
about the same thing here in terms of taxes, estate taxes,
(10:02):
income taxes. But I think the joint trust would work
best for you because it will accommodate both the large
IRA asset, the large set and your estate planning. And
I don't think you're probably in a situation where you
need to worry about nursing home care. You're probably self
insured with the you know, the interests and the and
the money you can generate, the income that you can
generate with your with your assets, and then you just
(10:23):
need to decide how you want to leave these assets
to your children, you know, over time from a generation
skipping tax perspective, et cetera, divorce proofing, et cetera. So
hope that helps folks. That's a great estate planning question.
Let's just turn a minute for the guide though, And
one thing I didn't mention here to this caller Steve,
(10:45):
was that gifting was right. And the guide we're given
away is making the most of gifting assets right? It is.
It is a guide that explains really whether you should
gift or not. And again, gifting didn't seem like a
huge deal for this past. It's not appropriate. However for
you it might be, but then you need to know
how to do it. Do I give it a way
(11:05):
outright to kids? Probably not? Maybe a gifting trust. If
I want to make big gifts, do I put it
in a trust that I can keep control over after
I give it? Well, I would want that. So espousal
lifetime Access trust comes up. There's a state tax and
income tax issues to consider, and whether to gift at
all or not. Folks, get the guide eight six six
(11:27):
eight four eight five six nine nine or Legal Exchange
Show dot com and learn how to make the most
of gifting assets eight six six eight four eight five
six nine nine or Legal Exchange Show dot com.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Todd in the last segment, we were talking about, you know,
kind of things to do to potentially mitigate state level
estate taxes. Yes, is the assumption if you are if
you do have a large enough of state where you
have a federal estate tax liability, are you using the
same tools or they're different ones that come into play
(12:03):
based on the size and scale of an estate.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
Yeah. And I think after the you know, the obb
BA if I said enough bs in there, the new
act that passed, I think it's it's really important to
talk about those things because they left a lot of
the old rules in play. And so for larger estates,
and maybe a lot of times we don't speak enough
about them, but you know, for a larger estate, you're
(12:27):
pushing close to thirty million. When you're talking about larger
you know, these folks are going to be making much
bigger gifts, and gifts will matter. Then remember before we
were talking about this, you know, ten million dollar estate,
and I'm saying, well, wow, if you make a gift,
you're really not helping to save the forty percent estate
(12:51):
tax rate. You're really only talking about the state estate
tax savings, which is closer to ten twelve percent. Well,
that's not a huge savings. But as you bring up, Chuck,
if we're talking about larger estates now I'm not so
worried about the carryover basis or the trapping of the
(13:12):
capital gain on the assets that I give away, because now,
if I'm making a gift at this larger level, I
am saving you know, the state and the federal estate tax.
So that could be fifty two percent. So let's just
reraizon numbers, let's say fifty percent. Well, if I give
away something that saves me at the fifty percent level
(13:36):
and trap something at the twenty eight percent level, I
guess I'm okay with that. Sure. And another reason I'd
be okay with that when you're dealing with those big
numbers is that tax when you die is due nine
months after you die. It's a hard stop you gotta pay.
I mean, you could be faced with a down market,
(13:57):
you could be faced with a fire sale on real
estate to come up with the money you need to
pay the tax. Whereas if I've made the gift and
I've built in the capital gain, I get it, it's there,
but the kids don't have to sell it nine months
after I'm dead. They can play around with that capital gain, right.
(14:18):
They could say, well, you know what, I'll just hang
on to this. You know, as you know from a
financial planning standpoint, giving up selling all the time isn't
the right thing to do in a down market. Maybe
I know there's gain there, but if I've got some
losses built in, I can wait till I have losses,
sell the lost items, then sell the gain items, and
(14:39):
offset the capital gain with the capital loss. So you
have a little more play with that capital gain than
you do with the death tax. That's a hard and
fast Hey nine months you gotta pay, so I think
that's a little bit food for thought.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Mister Lutsky, I appreciate you joining us today. Thank you
so much for the time.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
Thank you always a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
This has been Asked Odd on the Financial Exchange Radio
network Ask Todd with Todd. Lutsky has been presented by
Cushing and Dolan, serving Massachusetts and New England for more
than thirty years, helping families with the state and tax planning,
Medicaid planning, and probate law. Call eight hundred three nine
three four thousand and one or visit Cushingdolan dot com.
The views expressed in this segment are solely those of
(15:20):
Cushing and Dolan. Armstrong Advisory does not provide any legal
or tax advice. Please consult with your illegal or tax
advisor on such matters. Cushing and Armstrong do not endorse
each other and are not affiliated
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