This podcast episode supplements my prior article on sunset planning, which can be found here:
https://griffinbridgers.substack.com/p/planning-for-the-sunset-of-the-basic
This week, COLA figures were released under which the 2025 estate and gift tax basic exclusion is projected to be ~$13.99 million. This brings us closer to circling the true amount of the portion of the exclusion which could go away if either (1) the sunset of the 2017 TCJA occurs, or (2) there is a post-election lowering of the exclusion by a legislative change.
If nothing else, the point of this episode is challenging some of the marketing out there, which myopically focuses on exemption planning as the end-all-be-all of illustrating and adding value for clients. In poker, “chasing” can refer to speculative betting (as opposed to bluffing) in anticipation of being dealt a certain hand. Much of the current environment involves chasing, both from a planning and illustration perspective. My warning, if nothing else, is to avoid chasing - using estate planning software by itself will not relieve you of liability for a failure to holistically illustrate options.
