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Article:
Private Annuity Trusts - Supercharge your Retirement
by Paula Straub
You have made some great investments in Real Estate or in a Stock
Portfolio. Congratulations! Now you are ready to retire on your
gains. But wait. To benefit from your investment appreciation, you're
going to have to sell some or all of those assets.
If you sell
your investment property, you will need to pay capital gains tax
to the Federal Government, State, and you will also pay recaptured
depreciation. If you're in California, add another 3 1/3% in withholding.
That's a huge chunk of change, and a big blow to your savings.
If you sell
your stocks, you'll be giving up at least 15% to capital gains.
There is also no guarantee that the long term capital gains rate
will remain at 15% forever. It could increase down the road. How
can you start receiving income but not get hit with huge amounts
of tax?
For real property,
there is a 1031 exchange into a tenant in common property. This
works well for investors that don't want to manage property anymore,
but still enjoy the benefits of real estate ownership. This is a
subject covered in many of my previous articles.
There is another
powerful concept. It's called a Private Annuity Trust. These trusts
have been around since 1939, but until the last few years have primarily
been used for Estate Planning purposes. The Private Annuity Trust
also works extremely well for Retirement Planning.
It is fairly
complex to set up and administrate, so many financial planners,
real estate brokers, CPAs and Attorneys still don't know much about
them. The procedure is basically this:
1. A Private
Annuity Trust is established. You, the seller become the annuitant.
2. A fair market
appraisal is done to determine property value.
3. The seller
can negotiate a sale price at the appraised value.
4. The property
is transferred to the trust and the trust is now the seller of the
property and retains the proceeds.
5. The proceeds
are invested by trustees (not the annuitant) and an arrangement
is made to pay the annuitant (and perhaps their spouse) in monthly
payments for the remainder of their lives. The capital gains tax
is spread out over the course of your lifetime. If you pass away
before your estimated average calculated life span, the remainder
of the assets pass to the beneficiaries. The balance will be passed
free of Estate Tax, Gift Tax, Generation skipping tax, and Transfer
tax. Any capital gains tax still due will be paid before disbursement.
6. Other properties
or stocks can be added to the trust at a later time, and recieve
the same benefits. As an example, let's say you have a million dollar
gain on a property. You might very well owe 350K in taxes. With
a Private Annuity Trust, all one million goes to work for you, and
you can receive monthly income for the rest of your life. The exact
amount is determined by your age and the time you choose to begin
receiving your payments.
You have the
option to defer receiving payments until the age of 70 1/2. This
allows the assets to grow compounding and tax deferred, and allows
for greater income in the future. The trust removes the assets from
your estate, as the trust now owns them and the annuitant relinquishes
control over how they are invested.
Setting up a
Private Annuity Trust can definitely give a turbo boost to your
retirement bottom line. Ask yourself, would you rather give a "gift"
to the government in a big lump sum, or would you like to pay in
small chunks and have the bulk of your profits working for you and
earning compounded interest for years to come?
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About
The Author: Find out if you qualify to save thousands in
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