Estate & Inheritance Planning

Understand how estate planning, inheritance, trusts, beneficiaries, and family communication work together. Learn how to prepare heirs, reduce avoidable mistakes, and coordinate legal structures with the financial outcomes your family wants.

Inheritance Planning 101: How to Protect Your Family’s Wealth

By Rachel Marshall / August 17, 2026 /

If you hear the phrase “inheritance planning” and immediately picture wills, trusts, attorneys, and a stack of complicated documents, you are not alone. The topic feels overwhelming before people even start, because it sounds like a legal ordeal rather than something they can actually approach with clarity. Here is the reframe. At its core, this…

5 Inheritance Planning Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

By Rachel Marshall / August 3, 2026 /

The most damaging inheritance planning mistakes are not always bad investments, poor tax planning, or even missing legal documents. More often, families lose wealth because the people receiving it were never prepared for the responsibility that came with it. When most people hear “inheritance planning,” they picture an attorney’s office: the will, the trust, the…

Roth Conversion Strategy: When It Makes Sense, What to Watch For, and How It Affects Your Heirs

By Rachel Marshall / March 23, 2026 / Comments Off on Roth Conversion Strategy: When It Makes Sense, What to Watch For, and How It Affects Your Heirs

“I’m Not Paying for Oil—I’m Protecting the Engine” There’s a moment in our house where Lucas will look at me—calm as can be—and say, “Rachel… I’m not paying for oil. I’m protecting the engine.” And every time he says it, it reminds me of how people think about taxes. Because an oil change feels annoying.…

How to Avoid Estate Tax Legally: The Planning Moves That Protect Your Family’s Legacy

By Rachel Marshall / January 19, 2026 / Comments Off on How to Avoid Estate Tax Legally: The Planning Moves That Protect Your Family’s Legacy

The “Billion-Dollar Asset” That Still Had to Be Sold A story Bruce shares in our retirement class teaching always stops people in their tracks. A family inherited an NFL team worth just under a billion dollars. The asset was valuable. The legacy was real. But the planning wasn’t there. When estate taxes came due, the…

Premium Financing Life Insurance: Could Be Right, Sometimes Smart

By Rachel Marshall / October 27, 2025 / Comments Off on Premium Financing Life Insurance: Could Be Right, Sometimes Smart

Premium financing life insurance for estate planning is one of those strategies that sounds impressive—and sometimes is. But for most families, it introduces more complexity and risk than benefit. At The Money Advantage, we don’t lead with premium financing, and we rarely recommend it. But in a recent conversation with a client facing an eight-figure…

SLAT vs ILIT for High Net Worth Estate Planning: Which One Protects Your Legacy Best?

By Rachel Marshall / August 4, 2025 / Comments Off on SLAT vs ILIT for High Net Worth Estate Planning: Which One Protects Your Legacy Best?

SLAT vs ILIT for High Net Worth Estate Planning isn’t just a legal distinction—it’s a strategic decision that could determine how well your wealth serves your family, both now and for generations to come. We were deep into a conversation with Andrew Howell, one of the foremost estate planning attorneys in the country, when he…

Estate Planning with Life Insurance: How to Protect Your Wealth and Prepare Your Family

By Rachel Marshall / May 12, 2025 / Comments Off on Estate Planning with Life Insurance: How to Protect Your Wealth and Prepare Your Family

When we first started talking about estate planning with life insurance, it was because we saw a massive disconnect in how families were thinking about their wealth. Not just the numbers. But the purpose behind it. Bruce and I were in the middle of one of our deeper conversations—talking through how most people think life…

The Pros and Cons of an ILIT: Is It the Right Move for Your Legacy?

By Rachel Marshall / May 5, 2025 / Comments Off on The Pros and Cons of an ILIT: Is It the Right Move for Your Legacy?

What do the St. Louis Rams and Prince have in common? Their stories illustrate the pros and cons of ILIT insurance – or, more accurately, what happens when estate planning tools like an ILIT aren’t used at all. They both became cautionary tales of what happens when estate planning falls short. When Georgia Frontiere passed…

Leaving an Inheritance to My Great-Grandchildren

By Rachel Marshall / August 26, 2024 / Comments Off on Leaving an Inheritance to My Great-Grandchildren

Do you want to give your kids the best possible chance at life, but you’re afraid of spoiling them, or worse? Are you concerned that leaving an inheritance will only end in disaster? Learn why “leaving an inheritance to my great-grandchildren” is a good thing and how to do it. Many parents are undecided about…

Estate Planning 101: Protecting Your Loved Ones

By Rachel Marshall / March 18, 2024 / Comments Off on Estate Planning 101: Protecting Your Loved Ones

Can you confidently say your family’s financial future is protected? Staring down the barrel of a life-altering moment, I was forced to confront the fragility of existence and the critical importance of having one’s affairs in order. That harrowing experience became a catalyst for today’s soul-searching episode of the Money Advantage podcast, where we navigate…

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