Let Us Tell You A Story . . .

Actually, it's going to look like five stories, but we want to see if you can spot the common thread that ties them together. By the way, each person mentioned below recently inherited about $200,000 in retirement assets.

Upon hearing about his inheritance, Peter immediately scheduled an appointment with his financial advisor. The financial advisor gave Peter advice that will make the advisor thousands of dollars a year. Unbeknownst to Peter (and maybe to the advisor for that matter), following this advice will cost Peter hundreds of thousands of dollars in unnecessary taxes.

John's wife is leaving him after 20 years of marriage. She wants half of everything in the divorce.

Ashley was in a car accident. The driver and passenger in the other vehicle were killed. The police say the wreck was Ashley's fault. Now the families are filing a wrongful death lawsuit against Ashley.

Sarah decided to chase her lifelong dream of starting a business. She invested everything she had and took out an SBA loan to cover start-up costs. Things went great for a few years, but then a huge recession hit. Her business failed and now she is facing bankruptcy.

Matt was 17 when his parents died. When he turns 18 in a few months, he will have complete control over his inheritance. He's having a hard time choosing between the Corvette and the Porsche.

Do you see the common thread? These five people have five very different things going on in their lives, but they are all in for a world of financial hurt. What will happen to their inherited assets? Their parents worked and invested for decades and left behind a lifetime of hard-earned savings that is now at risk of serious depletion or even total loss.

They have something else in common too. Their parents could have protected their inherited assets from all of these problems by using a Retirement Inheritance Trust.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. My advisor told me not to name a trust as beneficiary of my retirement accounts. What gives?

That used to be good advice! There use to be very little benefit to leaving retirement assets to a trust, and there were (and still are) serious problems with leaving retirement assets to the wrong kind of trust. In fact, the right kind of trust didn't even exist until about a decade ago. Prompted by major tax law changes, clever attorneys designed a new trust specifically made for receiving inherited retirement assets. These trusts have major benefits, but it seems that most advisors still have not educated themselves on this new development. Unfortunately, that means they're still out there giving out the wrong advice to a public that has no way of knowing things have changed.

2. Who are you? Why should I trust you?

Providence Wills and Trusts is a law firm that focuses exclusively on estate planning and related areas of law. Our mission is to provide "estate plans that work, period." We do that by keeping up with changing laws and cutting edge planning strategies that will help your family by saving taxes, protecting assets from all kinds of risks, protecting your privacy, and simplifying post-mortem administration as much as possible (which saves more money on legal and accounting fees). For more information on our principal attorney, Zachary B. Setzer, please see his story here.

3. This sounds expensive. How much does the Retirement Inheritance Trust cost?

Yes and no. First, legal fees for trust planning are not so much a "cost" as an "investment". Cost implies the money is gone and you'll never see it again. Invested money comes back with interest. That is certainly the case here. This trust will pay for itself many, many times over. Just exactly how high a return on investment your beneficiaries will see depends on many factors. If you download our free guide, you'll get access to our calculator that shows you exactly how the numbers would work out for your particular situation. Most of our clients with significant retirement savings (over $200,000) call the Retirement Inheritance Trust a "no-brainer" once they see the numbers.

But that didn't really answer your question, did it? Well, we can tell you that our fee for establishing a Retirement Inheritance Trust is about the same as our Living Trust estate planning package. If you don't have a foundational estate plan or if yours needs updating, you should know that we offer a significant discount on advanced trusts when they are bundled with a foundational Living Trust estate planning package.

Finally, we have flexible payment plans available if you need them. We have never turned away a client who wanted to work with us because they couldn't afford the fee.

4. Aren't Trusts For Rich People?

Rich people definitely use trusts. Why? Because they are extremely powerful tools for avoiding unnecessary taxes and for building and preserving long-term family wealth. In short, they help the rich get richer.

But you don't have to be "rich" to benefit from a trust. And you certainly don't have to be rich to afford a trust. Most of our clients have a net worth between $300,000 and $2,000,000, including real estate, retirement accounts, and life insurance death benefits. For the Retirement Inheritance Trust, the main consideration is the extent to which you have tax-deferred retirement accounts like IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, etc. If you have $100,000 or more, you should definitely read the guide and check out our calculator to see how the numbers work out in your situation. If you are over $200,000, you're getting into "no-brainer" territory.

5. Won't My Kids Become Trust Fund Brats?

All trusts give you complete control over how your money will be spent. It's up to you to decide how much discretion your kids will have. They can have complete discretion or none at all, or anywhere in between. You can also set ages or milestones at which your kids will get more control. The flexibility is limited only by your imagination.

The Retirement Inheritance Trust has the added benefit of having a naturally graduated payment schedule. Your kids will get less when they are younger and more as they get older. The annual nature of the payments act as a supplement without encouraging lavish spending or vagrancy.

You Can Protect Your Financial Legacy from Unnecessary TAXES, Divorce, Creditors, Lawsuits, Bankruptcy, and Poor Decisions Made By Young or Irresponsible Beneficiaries!