All Episodes

January 28, 2025 12 mins
Navigating the complexities of estate planning and taxes is crucial for future financial stability. Jon Hicks discusses the intricacies of managing highly appreciated assets and real estate, emphasizing the importance of strategic planning to mitigate tax burdens. He highlights various trust structures that can help avoid significant taxation on assets, allowing for a more flexible and efficient wealth transfer. Schedule your complimentary appointment today: RetirementSolutionShow.com Follow us on social media: YouTube | Facebook | LinkedInSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Retirement Solution podcast with financial advisor John Hicks,
founder of Jayhagen Capital.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Thanks for joining us here on the retirement Solution with
financial advisor John Hicks. Retirement solutionshow dot com is our
website and where to start the conversation with the questions
that you have about your savings plan. We also have
links posted in the show notes. I realized that you
would much rather settle down on a warm beach.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
With the stack of finance books.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
So bringing up reality TV to you, John Hicks, is
a little bit lost.

Speaker 3 (00:32):
But you live in a house full of women.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
Certainly there's some reality TV on in the background, without question.

Speaker 4 (00:38):
Occasion flip or flop flip that house. Most of them
are either real estate oriented. Every once in a while
there's a cooking show. I hate the baking ones. I
don't know why. I'm a terrible baker. You get to
measure everything. Yeah, it just seems so it's real work. Yeah, yeah,
but no, there's any number of especially real estate. There's
a lot of real est.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
So none of the housewives drama shows, none of that's on.

Speaker 4 (01:00):
Sure, my kids watch some of that. The little blurbs
or snippets on YouTube or TikTok or whatever it is,
but like, none of those really come on the house.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
I have a theory that because I have smart friends
that are good, hardworking people, and they will talk about
how they love these shows, and I have this I'm like,
you just like watching that drama unfold and think to yourself.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
My life's pretty good.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
I get that there's that mental mental illness thing that's
happening there.

Speaker 4 (01:24):
I think that with as many I mean, when you
think about the young ladies in my life and then
the female dogs, three female dogs, three female ladies in
my house, I have six sick girls in the house,
and so there is plenty enough drama, plenty of drama.
I don't televised drama there. And I think they even
feel the same way, right, They're like.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
Please don't brall set ross talked up on crazy here.
There is a long running reality TV show on Bravo.
I think it's been running for almost ten years. Down
this show called Southern Charm.

Speaker 3 (01:55):
If you like now to TV.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
I've seen it, but yeah, it follows the social world
of several old money families in Charleston, South Carolina, and
I'm always fascinated by the old money life, so I
might need to look at the show. But a recent
episode dealt with a historic eighteen fifties home owned by
one of the matriarchs, Patricia Altshall.

Speaker 3 (02:17):
It's very regal sounding, isn't it.

Speaker 4 (02:18):
Yes, it is.

Speaker 2 (02:19):
She wants to leave this historic home to her son, Whitney.

Speaker 3 (02:24):
I mean, it's just there's so many layers here. Her son.
Her son named me.

Speaker 4 (02:29):
A wheat thin, a wheat thin, Whitney a wheat thin.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
Here's the thing is that what stood in her way,
of course, it was taxes, So they turned to the experts.
Here's how some of the story unfolds.

Speaker 5 (02:44):
Several years ago. We had a meeting with our lawyers
and estate planners and money manager, and they said, when
I kicked the bucket, Whitney is going to have to
pay I don't know, forty six percent in death duty,
something extraordinary. And the house is now worth I don't know,
fifteen million or something. So we decided that Whitney should

(03:05):
buy the house for me and put it in his
own trust.

Speaker 2 (03:10):
This is multi layered, and this is again this is
old money. So you've got a fifteen million dollar house
forget the assets. But I we talk a lot about
small business owners absolutely sell their business and the nightmare
that they walk into. And so that's what I wanted
to talk to you about the idea. The other thing
we talk about is a state and legacy planning. How
the big ephesis that you have at jay Hagen Capital

(03:32):
in creating proper estate plans for the folks that you
work with, So thinking about what opportunities somebody has to
take care of right now so the family doesn't face
financial burdens down the road, or even just for themselves.
Sure we're lieving burden as far as taxes go. Let's
talk planning.

Speaker 4 (03:51):
Yeah, so a lot of these situations, they happen a
lot more often than you think, especially when it comes
to real estate or farmland or just regular land in general.
You know, a lot of us don't go through life thinking,
you know, what is that land worth? And over the
last ten years, especially since COVID, we have seen some
really crazy price appreciations. It does not surprise me one

(04:12):
bit that an eighteen fifties home in Charleston's worth over
fifteen million.

Speaker 3 (04:16):
Bucks Charleston in real estate.

Speaker 4 (04:19):
Yeah, it's probably not even that close to the beach
at those prices. I mean I know that recently, just
recently confirmed Scott Descent, who's now the new Secretary of
the Treasury. He lives in South Carolina. He built or
he re engineered that pink they call it the Pink
Palace in Charleston. I've seen it many times. I had
no idea who lived there. Well, our Treasury secretary lives

(04:39):
there with his family. But the craziest thing is is
when you think about those values of those homes, the
way the current estate tax works, and we'll see what
happens with the estate tax, but the way the estate
tax works, if you pass away and you're the owner
of this property in your estate is worth X amount
of dollars, then the next generation has to pay forty

(05:00):
percent as an estate tax. And a lot of people say, well, John,
I'm never going to be anywhere near in a state tax. Well,
next year it technically changes, and we'll see if the
administration changes the structure up, but it potentially goes back
down to just five million dollars per person. Now in
my office these days, in any given week, there are
people that come in with four or five, six, seven,
ten million dollars All the time. They say, hey, dude,

(05:23):
I saved my butt off. I worked hard, or I
just sold this plumbing company, or I'm getting ready to
do that, or I just sold this property, or you know,
all the farm land that we thought we were going
to do. They're putting, you know, a cell phone towers
on those things now. And I have all of these
assets and it's like, wow, that's great. How's it titled? So
that's one of the biggest issues, and that's what they
were talking about. So in that clip, we heard the

(05:43):
lady saying, Hey, what we should do is sell this
to my kiddo and have them put it in a trust.
You can absolutely do that. It's not the only way
to do it. There are multitudes of ways. Okay, when
you're talking about looking at the tax structure, the one
thing you don't want to do is to make investment
decisions only because of taxation. You never want to do that.

(06:04):
You want to be certain first that you understand the
value of those assets. How truly important are they to you?
Because dependingly on what kind of trust they use, are
they going to use it credit shelter trust and asset
protection trust? Are they going to use a second generational
trust to wealth transferred trust?

Speaker 3 (06:19):
What are they.

Speaker 4 (06:19):
Going to use? And there are hundreds and myriad ways
to structure trust. They are very, very complicated. They can
be exceedingly difficult to understand, and it depends on what
state you're in. Right, So, I do have to own
some property in South Carolina, and I can tell you
right now, South Carolina law sucks in some situations dealing
with real estate. And I had to learn that the
hard way. I had to learn how do I have

(06:41):
to title it? How do I need to do these things?
How to use an appraisal company? All these things I
didn't know. Well, I learned through their series of hard knocks.
Since then, we have a different estate planning attorneys and
tax gurus on our team that help us through that. Okay, guys,
The biggest thing you have to understand a lot of
people's john I'm not going to have hundreds of millions
of dollars, Guys, you don't need that is do we
want to avoid taxation on a highly appreciated asset. So

(07:04):
maybe it's real estate, Maybe it's a highly appreciated stock.
Maybe you got very lucky and owned in Vidia, you know,
eight years ago, nine years ago, and you're looking at
that going Oh my gosh, I've got millions of dollars
in video. I still like it, but I don't need
that much of it. But the reason you don't.

Speaker 3 (07:20):
Sell it portfolio.

Speaker 4 (07:24):
Literally. I saw a gentleman the other day. Yeah, a
gentleman that I was talking to the other day had
millions and millions of dollars eighty percent heather, eighty percent
of his liquid holdings was in in video. Wow, here's
the thing. Do I like that company? Yes? Do I
think it's going to be good? Yes? But is it
potentially financial malpractice if I don't tell him? Listen, that's

(07:45):
a really large concentrated position. You probably need to consider
diversification in or at a minimum, put some safety nets
on it. Okay, put some hedges, get some options if
it goes wrong in your situation. Because the whole reason
he does not want to sell it is because of taxes. Taxes,
and let's do the tax on this, ladies and gentlemen.
This is important because most people don't understand how much

(08:06):
it is. Like, well, capital gains rates only twenty percent.
The capital gains rate is now hold on. So now
let's look at that. So you have twenty percent potential
capital gains on an appreciated asset. Now, depending on your income,
because of the wonderful tax laws of the Obama administration,
there's a net investment income tax as well at a
certain amount, which is in which for many people at

(08:29):
a certain income level is three point eight percent. So
now we're closer to twenty four percent taxation. But then
are you a resident of a state that has a
tax Yeah, in Kentucky, four or five six percent Indiana.
But then in some states like New Jersey, New York City,
you may be paying salt taxes state and local taxes

(08:49):
of nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen percent. So if
the average beayarer in the state of Kentucky, you're looking
at close to a thirty percent tax rate total when
you're us looking at capital gains. So on a million
dollar of gain, guys, you may be giving up three
hundred thousand dollars to the government. Is that a lot
of money?

Speaker 6 (09:08):
M Heck?

Speaker 4 (09:09):
Yet it is.

Speaker 2 (09:10):
So.

Speaker 4 (09:10):
There are ways that you can use trusts to avoid
the taxes on any major asset sale, but you have
to do it. You have to orchestrate the trust before
you sell the property or the stock or the highly
appreciated asset. You don't have to just give it to charity.
I know that a lot of my contemporaries they talk
all the time, well, you know, just give it to

(09:31):
the church, and da da da dad. That's great. And
anyone that's charitably inclined. Charitable remainder trusts or charitable trust
are genius. I think they're great. But if you want
to hold onto those assets but just avoid or at
least kick the tax can down the road further, you
can use certain types of installment trusts that allow you

(09:51):
to do exactly what we want, pay no taxes now,
diversify in nearly any asset you would ever want to consider,
utilize those assets, and only pay tax when you pull
it out right. So that allows someone in that situation
where if you're going to sell a property, or you're
going to sell a strip mall, or you're going to
sell a stock, it allows you to completely eliminate current

(10:13):
taxation all the way across. Now, why would someone do that? Well,
what if the current administration, what if the Trump administration
gets their way and there is a huge tax savings
down the road. Wouldn't it be awesome to know that? Wow,
you took care of something today before the market went
against you, but you're going to get future favorable tax
treatment in the future. Right. That could be one of
those really genius things. And the secondary part of that

(10:35):
is it gives you time. If you were going to
make three or four or five million dollars in profit
on selling a property or a stock, you would typically
have to pay all the taxes in the year that
you do that or the year right after you do that, right, Okay,
By spreading it out, you could potentially do that over
a four or five, fifteen, twenty year period. Yes you're
going to be selling it, Yes you're going to be
paying taxes, but you get the choice of which tax

(10:57):
bracket do you want to step up in. You may
come completely eliminate your need to actually pay capital gains
taxes depending on the rest of your structure. So if
you have not considered that, just because you're not a
multi billionaire or have a twenty million dollar property does
not mean you can't save an absolute fortune in taxes.
But you have to have the right plan. You have
to put it in place. If you don't have someone

(11:19):
that you work through that with, call our team, give
them an idea of what you're looking at, what you're
thinking about, and find out what your opportunities are to
make a great decision, not just because of taxes, but
for your financial future.

Speaker 2 (11:30):
Retirement Solutionsshow dot com is where to start the conversation
with John and his team at Jay Hagden Capital.

Speaker 3 (11:37):
We also have links posted in.

Speaker 2 (11:38):
The show notes helping you understand if you have planned
to sell a business, or land, or an inn video
stock that went crazier. Talk to the early Apple investors.
There are a lot of those people out there too
that just it's almost like they are tethered. They are
handcuffed to this accidental huge stock investment and they don't
know what to do next. If you have questions, we're

(12:00):
here to help you get some answers at Jahagen Capital.
So again, Retirement solutionshow dot com.

Speaker 1 (12:05):
Thanks for listening to The Retirement Solution Podcast with John Hicks.
Begin the conversation about your savings plan with John and
the team at Jahagen Capital by visiting Retirement Solution Radio
dot com. Be sure to listen to John's radio show,
The Retirement Solution Saturdays at eight am and Sundays at
nine am on NewsRadio eight forty whas.

Speaker 6 (12:26):
Jhagen Capital Incorporated is not licensed in all fifty states.
To find out if Jahagan Capital Incorporated is licensed in
your state, please call five zero two sixty nine home
fifty six thirty five. Jahigen Capitol, Incorporated is not affiliated with,
nor endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other
government agency, and does not provide legal or tax advice.
By contacting US, you may be provided with information about
insurance and annuity products offered through Jjigen Capital or LLCNPN

(12:47):
number one eight eight two seven zero nine four
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

Intentionally Disturbing

Intentionally Disturbing

Join me on this podcast as I navigate the murky waters of human behavior, current events, and personal anecdotes through in-depth interviews with incredible people—all served with a generous helping of sarcasm and satire. After years as a forensic and clinical psychologist, I offer a unique interview style and a low tolerance for bullshit, quickly steering conversations toward depth and darkness. I honor the seriousness while also appreciating wit. I’m your guide through the twisted labyrinth of the human psyche, armed with dark humor and biting wit.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.