DIE RICH: Making It, Keeping It, and Passing It Along Under the New Tax Laws

by Charles & Stephan Leimberg Plotnick ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 18, 1983

The tacky title apart, this is a responsible, reliable primer on providing for one's heirs--and oneself. Since recent tax-law changes are taken into account, it has a certain edge over both Patrick Flaherty and Richard Ziegler's Estate Planning for Everyone (1981) and David Larsen's Who Gets It When You Go? (1982). Plotnick and Leimberg provide expert advice on minimizing IRS liabilities--via marital deductions, low or no-cost loans to poorer relations (e.g., college-bound offspring), gift-giving gambits, private annuities, qualified pension programs, trust creation, charitable contributions, and/or life insurance (which, they observe, may now be advantageously included in some estates). But the chief plus of their thoroughgoing review is the emphasis on estate planning as a lifelong project. They cover the usual, essential ground--asset inventories, will preparation, probate, the perils of intestacy, etc.--in exemplary fashion, with a wealth of cautionary case studies. Their ounce-of-prevention approach also highlights the importance of allowing for contingencies: from sudden death at an early age to debilitating strokes that may require guardianship. (For those whose time is certifiably short, a ""financial firedrill"" is included too.) But, readers are reminded, professional help is essential to navigate the tax-law maze. A handy, all-round reference.

Pub Date: March 18, 1983

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Coward-McCann

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1983

Categories: NONFICTION