Estate Tax Conundrum
The old maxim says that death and taxes are the only sure things in life, and when wealth changes hands in the United States, it's inevitable that Uncle Sam will want his share. In a new survey from The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., affluent Americans, especially those with more than $2 million in net worth, say they are more concerned than they were just a year ago about their families having to surrender significant chunks of an estate to federal taxes. Despite those concerns, however, nearly 40% say they have not taken any steps to plan their estates and one third say they don't know where to start.
Concern over the estate tax is rising, perhaps in connection with uncertainty over national elections now 13 months away. Just under half of those surveyed said they were more concerned about the estate tax than a year ago. The concerns, the research found, rose in proportion to the respondents' savings. Compared to the sample average of 49% who expressed greater concern about the estate tax, 73% of Americans with $5 million or more in assets, and 56% of those with more than $2 million in assets confessed that their fears were rising, the survey found.
The top causes of gray hair over the estate tax were the respondents' increase in their net worth (65%), the growing federal budget deficit that might imperil any estate tax cuts (47%), and their sense that the new Congress is less likely to repeal or reform the tax (41%). Respondents were allowed to offer multiple answers to surveyors' questions about estate tax concerns.
"The growing anxiety over the estate tax is well-founded as many more people will be subject to the tax-and have to pay more taxes-in 2011," said Patrick Smith, vice president and director of The Hartford's estate and business planning department. "Current law calls for the estate tax to be repealed in 2010 and then reinstated in 2011. Federal estate tax rates are scheduled to go up and personal exemptions are scheduled to go down, which means individuals who plan to pass more than $1 million in assets to their loved ones will have to take the estate tax into account. An additional concern is the growing impact of state estate taxes separate and distinct from the federal system."
While a majority of those surveyed (54%) indicated they had taken steps to plan their estate, a correspondingly large number (37%) said they had not. The survey found that 34.3% were unsure about where to start and approximately half hadn't yet found the time to put their estate in order.
In August, researchers for The Hartford gathered information about views on the estate tax from 750 adults with annual household incomes of $150,000 or more. Of the sample, 70% had more than $1 million and 36.6% had more than $2 million in net worth.
Women Making Impact At Raymond James
Revenue on Raymond James Financial Services' (RJFS) advisor platform has tipped the $1 billion mark, a historic first for the firm. At the same time, women advisors' assets grew at a blistering 37% pace year-to-date, executives announced earlier this autumn at the group's 13th Annual Women's Symposium in St. Petersburg, Fla.
"I can remember when we thought $100 million was a big number," Dick Averitt, RJFS chairman and CEO, told the broker-dealer's top women advisors. "Today, 10 of the 61 Raymond James' Chairman's Council are women. That's [roughly] 15% of the council. I see no reason why women can't be 40% of the council." The Chairman's Council is comprised of advisors with more than $1 million in annual production.
Averitt noted that he has added two women to his group of 14 recruiters. Karen Schultz, vice president and director of Raymond James Network for Women Advisors, said the goal is to recruit 15% more women in the next three years. Year-to-date, the firm has added 27 women advisors and 21 women brokers. Currently, a total of 451 women advisors account for 15% of the firm's 3,080 advisory network, while 124 women brokers make up 12% of the broker-dealers' 1,062 rep force.
Meanwhile, female advisors' trailing 12-month production and books of business are still significantly smaller than their female rep counterparts. "The most important next step is for us to help women continue to build their businesses and create unique client experiences," Schultz told the audience of more than 200 women.
-Tracey Longo