Forbes/NAPFA iConference virtual conference – going on right now. (Michael Kitces is talking about fascinating research into a whole new way to think about asset allocation glide-paths in retirement – with *increasing* rather than decreasing equity allocations!)
So far, though, it’s a great conference, just like last year.
The session on tax planning for 2013 is one of the first places I’ve seen anyone address the vast increase in taxes on trust-retained income/long-term capital gains. On the Federal level alone, for any such income above $11,950, the rate went from 15% in 2012 to 23.8%.
This is a *huge* shift and for the first time makes the tax rate on retained capital gains vastly larger than the rate for most such income passed through to beneficiaries. Accountants are getting surprised by this. Attorneys are getting surprised by this. Trusts are going to have to be scrutinized to see if there are options for passing cap-gains to beneficiaries (often only ordinary income is passed through). At Meyers Wealth Management <http://www.MeyersMoney.com>, we’ve been pushing research and strategies on this issue *all year*.
Nevertheless, we want to give credit where it’s due – Forbes/NAPFA iConference is ahead of most for addressing this at all. There are going to be a lot of people scrambling like crazy over the next 90 days as the deadline for making 2013 distributions from trusts looms (65 days after year-end).
Meyers Wealth Management 