By Jim blackburn By Jim blackburn You’ve spent decades building wealth through real estate investments, business ventures, and disciplined saving. Your net worth exceeds $5 million across properties, accounts, and businesses. Yet when your attorney asks about your legacy planning, you realize you haven’t documented asset locations, prepared heirs for inheritance responsibilities, or structured transfers […]
By Jim blackburn By Jim blackburn You’ve spent decades building a rental property portfolio now worth $5 million generating substantial passive income. Your goal is transferring this wealth to your children and grandchildren while minimizing estate taxes that could consume 40% or more of your life’s work. Your estate planning attorney mentions something called a
By Jim blackburn By Jim blackburn Your estate planning attorney just calculated that your $3 million life insurance policy, combined with your real estate portfolio and investment accounts, pushes your taxable estate to $18 million—$4.4 million over the federal estate tax exclusion. At 40% estate tax rates, your heirs face $1.76 million in unnecessary taxes
By Jim blackburn By Jim blackburn Landowners seeking to preserve family property, reduce tax burdens, and create lasting environmental legacies discover conservation easements offer powerful financial and philanthropic benefits. By permanently restricting development on your land, you can claim substantial conservation easement tax deductions—often worth 40-60% of your property’s fair market value—while maintaining ownership and
By Jim blackburn By Jim blackburn Your estate attorney just explained that without a living trust, your family faces 6-18 months of probate court proceedings befWhat Is a Living Trust and How Does It Workore accessing your home, investment properties, and financial accounts. During this time, estate details become public record, costs accumulate, and your
By Jim blackburn By Jim blackburn Most people creating wills carefully designate who receives major assets—primary residences to surviving spouses, investment properties to children, retirement accounts to named beneficiaries, and specific valuables to designated heirs. Yet these careful asset-by-asset distributions typically cover only 60-80% of total estates, leaving substantial portions unspecified: forgotten bank accounts, recently
By Jim blackburn By Jim blackburn Most people delay estate planning until it’s too late. They assume it’s only for the wealthy, only for the elderly, or something they’ll handle “eventually.” Then a sudden illness strikes, an unexpected accident occurs, or time simply runs out—and families face devastating consequences navigating probate courts, fighting over inheritances,
By Jim blackburn By Jim blackburn When you invest as limited partner in real estate partnerships with capital partners providing funding while general partners handle operations, you’re entering legally binding relationships where your rights, protections, and return priorities get defined through operating agreements governing partnerships. Many passive investors commit substantial capital—often $50,000-$500,000 per deal—without thoroughly
By Jim blackburn By Jim blackburn Senior Citizen Property Tax Exemption: Reducing Housing Costs in Retirement “Can I reduce my property taxes now that I’m retired?” This practical question addresses one of homeownership’s largest ongoing costs—and the answer brings welcome relief for millions of senior homeowners. Property tax exemptions, freezes, deferrals, and reductions specifically targeting
By Jim blackburn By Jim blackburn Escrow and Mortgage: What’s Included and How It Works Most homeowners pay into escrow accounts monthly without fully understanding what they’re funding or why their payment changes annually. Then an escrow shortage notice arrives, announcing a payment increase that strains your budget—and you’re confused about what happened and whether
By Jim blackburn By Jim blackburn Recast vs Refinance: Understanding Your Payment Reduction Options Most homeowners know about refinancing to lower their mortgage payment, but few have heard of mortgage recasting—a lesser-known strategy that can achieve similar payment reduction with dramatically lower costs and complexity. Understanding both options helps you choose the strategy that delivers