Overview

The essential handbook to estate planning, fully updated for 2025  Since its first publication in 2002, New Rules for Estate, Retirement, and Tax Planning has sold more than 40,000 copies, providing a solid, accessible introduction to estate planning for any age or income bracket. Now in its seventh edition, New Rules for Estate, Retirement, and Tax Planning continues this tradition, covering taxes, trusts, donations, life insurance, and wills in easy-to-understand language that offers valuable insights and solid strategies to help you preserve your wealth and plan your estate so that your assets go to the people and groups you’ve selected. This comprehensive guide answers questions like: How much do I need to retire comfortably? How do I protect my children's inheritance? How do I ensure planned donations are made after I'm gone?  The Seventh Edition is fully updated to reflect the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 (OBBBA), which contains the most comprehensive changes to the tax code since 2017. You'll learn how the new regulations impact your estate planning, retirement strategies, and tax obligations. Major updates, like the permanent $15 million estate tax exemption ($30 million for married couples), expanded deductions for tips, overtime pay, and Social Security, new charitable contribution rules, higher child tax credits, and beneficial changes to the SALT deduction cap are all covered.  You’ll also find advice on working with elderly parents and how to introduce financial planning concepts to children and teenagers, as well as an up-to-date list of professional advisers and a glossary of estate planning terms.  With this book you will:  Understand estate planning and obtain solid strategies for growing your wealth  Explore asset protection and succession planning strategies to safeguard family businesses and farms  Discover how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act affects your estate, retirement, and tax planning  Stay informed of relevant law changes with an author-managed website at www.welchgroup.com  New Rules for Estate, Retirement, and Tax Planning contains a wealth of valuable information for any adult who needs help planning their financial future, from the established professional heading toward retirement, to the young adult looking to understand the basics. Wherever you are in your journey, this book will help you grow, maintain, protect, and guide your legacy. 

Full Product Details

Author:   Stewart H. Welch (Welch Group, Birmingham, Alabama)
Publisher:   John Wiley & Sons Inc
Imprint:   John Wiley & Sons Inc
Edition:   7th edition
Dimensions:   Width: 14.70cm , Height: 2.80cm , Length: 22.40cm
Weight:   0.408kg
ISBN:  

9781394420933

ISBN 10:   1394420935
Pages:   352
Publication Date:   27 January 2026
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Awaiting stock  
The supplier is currently out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you and placed on backorder. Once it does come back in stock, we will ship it out for you.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi Introduction xiii 1. One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 1 Estate Tax Changes 1 Income Tax Provisions 3 Changes to the Standard Deduction 4 Mortgage Interest Deduction 4 Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) Premium Deduction Is Restored 4 State and Local Taxes (SALT) 5 Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit Increased 7 Child Tax Credit Enhancements 8 No Tax on Overtime 11 No Tax on Social Security 12 New Deduction for Car Loan Interest 13 New Charitable Contribution Deduction for Non-Itemizers 14 New Charitable Contribution Limitation for Itemizers 15 Changes to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) 16 Clean Energy Tax Credit Phaseout 17 Wagering Losses Rule Modified 17 Educator Expense Deduction Expanded 17 Personal Casualty Losses (Slightly) Expanded 17 Education Provisions 18 Trump Savings Accounts 18 Section 529 Plans 18 Postsecondary and Career Training 19 Rollover to Roth IRA 19 Significant Changes for Student Loans 19 Business Taxes and Expenses 20 Investments 22 2. Estate Planning 25 What Is Estate Planning? 25 The Benefits of Estate Planning 26 The Nightmares of Poor Planning 28 The Myths of Estate Planning 29 Guidelines for Successful Estate Planning 30 3. The Estate Tax System 33 Determining Your Estate Net Worth 33 Your Estate Tax Picture 40 Your Future Estate 43 Overview of Estate-Planning Strategies 44 4. Investment Strategies for Maximizing Estate Growth 47 Growth Strategy with a Safety Net 48 Prioritizing Your Investment Dollars 53 Retirement Planning: Choosing the Best Investment Environments 53 Roth Conversions 56 Some Final Thoughts on Investing 61 5. Retirement Planning: Living Your Dream 63 Your Retirement Requirements 64 Other Considerations 67 Account for Other Sources of Retirement Income 68 Three Quick Retirement Calculations 70 Best Retirement Strategies 71 Reverse Mortgages 77 Social Security and Your Retirement 80 Claiming Strategies to Consider 82 Customizing Your Health Care Plan for Retirement 84 6. You Don’t Have a Will? Big Trouble! 89 Property Transfers at Death 90 Transfers via Probate 91 Direct Transfers by Title 94 Other Methods of Property Ownership 99 Choosing the Best Methods of Ownership 100 Setting Estate-Planning Goals 101 7. Where There's a Will, There’s Your Way! 103 What Is a Will? 103 Types of Wills 103 Advantages and Disadvantages of Wills 105 Intelligent Decisions Concerning Your Will’s Basic Provisions 107 Executing Your Will 119 Where to Store Your Will 120 Other Important Documents 120 Working with Your Attorney 124 When to Review Your Estate Plan 130 8. Using Trusts in Your Estate Plan 133 The Credit Shelter Trust Will 134 Disclaimers 138 Marital Trusts 140 Spendthrift Trust 144 Standby Trust 144 Other Trusts 145 9. Understanding the Living Trust 147 Advantages of Living Trusts 147 Disadvantages of Living Trusts 149 How a Living Trust Operates 150 Transferring Property into Your Living Trust 153 Types of Property Likely to Be Transferred 156 Living Trust Myths 158 Transacting Business with Your Trust 160 10. Using Insurance in Your Estate Plan 161 Life Insurance 161 Using Life Insurance to Replace Income 164 How Much Life Insurance Do You Need? 165 What Type of Life Insurance Is Best for You? 168 Insurance on a Homemaker 169 Insurance on Adult Children 169 How to Get the Best Deal on Term Life Insurance 169 Using Life Insurance to Leverage Your Estate 171 The Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) 172 About Your Cash Values 175 Summary 178 Tax Treatment of Long-Term Care Insurance 180 Case Study: How a Couple in Their 50s Used a Hybrid LTC Policy to Protect Retirement Savings 181 Key Takeaways: Long-Term Care Planning in 2026 and Beyond 181 Good Sources for LTC Insurance (as of the publication date for this book) 183 11. Smart Strategies for Gifting Assets to Family Members 185 The Annual Gift Tax Exclusion 185 Unintended Gifts 187 Filing a Gift Tax Return 188 The Lifetime Applicable Exclusion Amount 189 Outright Gifts 189 When the Donee Is a Minor 191 Other Tax-Free Gifts 201 Family Gifts Utilizing Trusts 202 Grantor Retained Annuity Trust 202 Grantor Retained Unitrust 204 Qualified Personal Residence Trust 204 Taking Advantage of Generation-Skipping Transfers 208 Sales to Family Members 211 Loans to Family Members 214 Sales to Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts 214 The Legacy Trust 215 12. Strategic Planning with Charities 225 Outright Gifts to Charities 226 Testamentary Gifts to Charities 229 Gifts Using Charitable Trusts 229 Using Your Charitable Trust for Retirement Planning 232 The Private Foundation 236 13. Family Limited Partnerships 239 General Structure of the Family Limited Partnership 240 Family Limited Partnership Rules 245 14. Succession Planning for the Family Business or Farm 253 Special Estate Tax Benefits for Farmers and Closely Held Business Owners (Ultra-Wealthy) 255 Valuing Your Business or Farm 257 Succession or Sale? 257 Succession Planning: Keeping the Family Business in the Family 258 Maximizing Your Business’s Value through a Sale 259 Structuring Your Buy-Sell Agreement 261 Types of Buy-Sell Agreements 261 Funding the Buy-Sell Agreement 262 One Final Strategy—The Employee Stock Ownership Plan 264 15. Asset Protection Strategies 267 The Concept of Fraudulent Transfers 267 Asset Protection for Married Couples 269 A Word about Jointly Held Property 271 Retirement Plans 272 Life Insurance 273 Using Trusts to Protect Assets 274 Using Limited Liability Entities to Protect Assets 276 Use of Multiple Limited Liability Entities 278Foreign Asset Protection Trusts (FAPT) 279 Domestic Asset Protection Trusts (DAPT) 282 16. Personal Business Planning Issues 285 Choosing the Right Entity for Your Business 285 Closing Thoughts 297 Importance of a Business Plan 299 17. The Final Chapter…Or Is It? 301 Financial planning in your 20s 302 Financial planning in your 30s 303 Financial planning in your 40s 304 Financial planning in your 50s 304 Financial planning in your 60s 305 Financial planning in your 70s and Beyond 306 Epilogue—Dealing with Parents and Their Money 309 Appendix A—Professional Advisers 311 Appendix B—Estate Planning Terms 315 Appendix C—IRS Life Expectancy Table 321 About the Author 325 Index 327

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Author Information

STEWART H. WELCH, III, AEP®, CFP®, is a nationally recognized, fee-only financial advisor. He’s the author of seven books and the founder of The Welch Group, which manages over $3 billion in assets for clients across the United States.

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