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In a well-known Aesop’s Fable, ants stockpile food during the summer bounty, while the grasshopper sings and plays. When winter sets in, the grasshopper starves. The moral of the story is to work hard and plan ahead. In modern times, this lesson can be applied to retirement...

Every year, Americans are more likely to send e-mail messages, bank online, archive family photos and participate in social media. Many people even decide to “go paperless,” paying bills and accessing all account information online. It’s a sign of the times that...

If you have a traditional IRA, you might benefit from converting some or all of it to a Roth IRA. A conversion can allow you to turn tax-deferred future growth into tax-free growth. It also can provide estate planning advantages: Roth IRAs don’t require you to take distributions...

With the gift and estate tax exemptions currently at $5.34 million, you might think that estate valuations are less important. But even if you believe that your estate’s value is under the exemption amount, it’s still important to know the value of your assets. First, your estate...

In estate planning, how someone owns assets and arranges to transfer them after death can make a big difference to his or her heirs. This article looks at three options: joint tenancy with the right of survivorship; an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT); and a credit shelter...

Now that we’re in the new year, it’s time for an estate plan checkup. Why? First, various exclusion, exemption and deduction amounts are adjusted for inflation and can change from year to year, so it’s a good idea to see if they warrant any updates to your estate plan: 2013 2014...