Gary Bleetstein

Senior Vice President
Agent Support Group

The current agenda being discussed in Congress has some proposed changes that if implemented, will give you a reason to talk to your clients about their Estate Planning needs and their Life Insurance.

As noted in recent articles, Democratic lawmakers wish to tax estates worth $ 5.85 million or greater which reverts back to the 2017 exemption limits. Currently, estates of over $ 11.7 million are taxed. An estate tax is based on the transfer of wealth from a deceased person and is enacted before beneficiaries receive their inheritance. Today, the federal estate tax of 40% applies to estates above $ 11.7 million for single filers and above $ 23.4 million for joint filers. There are even some states that also impose additional estate taxes.

Over the last 20 years, the exemption has progressively increased as the number of estate tax returns filed have decreased. In 2020, only 1,900 taxable returns were subject to federal estate tax, down from just over 50,000 returns in 2001 according to the data from the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.

The per-person exemption was $675,000 in 2001 and is now at $11.7 million. The effective estate tax in 2018 was only 16.5%.

Reviewing these proposals is a great reason to start a conversation with your clients regarding their overall Estate Planning and Life Insurance Planning needs.

Now is the time to begin the conversation, and all of us at Agent Support Group are here to assist you with your clients current and future Life Insurance Planning needs.