Article by Bill Bischoff
That said, you need to be careful. This leap in the exemption could throw your estate plan out of whack. Without a careful review of your arrangements, part of your estate could be allocated in ways you didn't intend.
But before I go any further, let me just make a plea to all of you who took a look at that $3.5 billion figure and decided this article definitely does not apply to you. Sure, $3.5 million sounds like an awful lot of money. But you might be wealthier than you think. For federal estate-tax purposes, your estate includes your home, cars, retirement accounts, taxable investment accounts, collectibles, and so forth.
Perhaps more important, it also includes any death benefits from personal life-insurance policies you own, including those on your own life. (If you have the power to change beneficiaries or coverage amounts, you own the policy.) With life-insurance coverage thrown into the mix, the odds are much higher that your estate exceeds the seemingly generous $2.5 million exemption. So if you don't already have an estate-tax saving strategy in place, now may be the time to create one. For assistance in getting started, see our estate planning section.
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