Ascent insightsPersonal legacy planning

Wills and estate plans lay out who will benefit from your wealth after you’re gone. A financial legacy letter explains why you made these decisions. Here’s how to write one.

The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act raised estate tax exemption levels significantly, but it’s due to sunset in 2025. Congress could act to maintain them, but you should plan now for any outcome.

There are key emotional and financial factors to consider before loaning or gifting money to your adult children.

Managing tax liabilities is a key element in preserving wealth. A rising rate environment can be a good time to revisit your estate planning and tax strategies.

A look at cybersecurity and online fraud protection strategies that individuals and family offices can use to protect their assets.

Holidays and year-end gatherings are ideal times to discuss your family’s strategic philanthropic plan and the philanthropy you’re involved in. Doing so can help you find joy in giving back to your community and renew shared values across generations.

With Ascent’s help, a real estate developer revealed the wealth he’d built to his family and worked together to create a financial plan for the future.

Family secrets are not uncommon. These “skeletons" can launch potentially challenging but necessary conversations to redefine their family values and goals.

Establishing shared family values is essential to your family’s long-term financial wellness.

Donor-advised funds, qualified charitable distributions and gifts of appreciated stocks offer prime opportunities to enhance your giving and potentially take advantage of greater tax savings.

You may have the best of intentions when launching a family foundation, but that’s often not enough to avoid a failure. With proper planning, you can avoid three critical missteps that many foundations make.

A private family foundation can help families more effectively transfer intergenerational wealth to the next generations.

Every family tree is full of amazing female role models. Oral history can be an effective way to record their stories and raise the profile of the women in your family.

The emotional stages of inheritance often parallel the five stages of grief. Understanding how they correlate, and specifically how to move past the guilt stage, can help you find peace with your inheritance and focus on the future.

The best place to start engaging and educating family members of all ages and attitudes toward money is with what matters most: values.

Signing a prenup is one of many decisions to make when getting engaged. It may not be the most romantic part of wedding planning, but it can be a very practical decision for both parties.

A variety of factors can impact how you distribute your estate to your beneficiaries. Doing so fairly and equitably may require some creative thinking.

These steps can help you create a legacy plan that both reflects your values and incorporates tax-efficient ways to transfer your assets.

Progressing from a “checkbook” donor to a philanthropist can be one of the most rewarding privileges of wealth.