Estate Planning Basics: Wills, Trusts, and Beneficiaries
What a will can and cannot do, how probate and beneficiary designations work, why families use trusts, and which documents cover incapacity.
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Tax-Advantaged Accounts Explained
How workplace retirement plans, IRAs, health savings accounts, and education savings plans generally work, and what tax-deferred and tax-free growth really mean.
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Preserving Wealth for Generations: Strategies for Legacy Planning
Legacy planning is not a single document. It is a coordinated system for assets, decision-making, relationships, and responsibilities. The strongest plans address what…
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Key Terms
Words You Will Meet
Short definitions from the glossary for this topic.
Open the full glossary- Beneficiary designation
- The instruction on a retirement account, life insurance policy, or similar account naming who receives it at the owner's death. Designations generally pass assets directly, outside of a will and outside of probate.
- Cost basis
- The original value of an asset for tax purposes, usually the purchase price plus certain adjustments. The difference between the sale price and the cost basis determines the taxable gain or loss.
- Power of attorney
- A legal document authorizing someone to act on another person's behalf in financial or medical matters. A durable version remains in effect if the person becomes incapacitated.
- Probate
- The court-supervised process of validating a will, settling debts, and distributing an estate. It is public, takes time, and applies only to assets that do not pass by designation, title, or trust.
- Tax-loss harvesting
- Selling an investment at a loss to offset realized gains elsewhere, while keeping the portfolio's overall exposure roughly intact. Rules about replacement purchases limit how it can be done.
- Trust
- A legal arrangement in which one party holds assets for the benefit of another, according to written terms. Trusts are used for control, privacy, continuity across generations, and planning for incapacity.
- Will
- A legal document stating who should receive a person's property after death, naming an executor and, where relevant, a guardian for minor children. It governs only assets that pass through probate.
Articles are general financial education, not individualized investment, tax, or legal advice. Read our important disclosures.