Mini Drilldown

Ethics… Values... These words can really stand out on a page. It's not always easy for people to evidence how values and ethics manifest in their lives, but some basic, everyday examples of commonly understood good habits, that are a result of sound ethics and values, include things like throwing your trash where it belongs (not on the street) or by holding a door for someone with their hands full. These are very simple, common values and ethics that many of us have instilled from a young age.

An issue that The Unger Company is monitoring for 2023 is the introduction of wealth tax proposals in eight state legislatures: California, New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Illinois, Washington, Minnesota, and Hawaii. We aren’t in the business of politics, however from our perspective, we don’t see these measures as having a great chance of being signed into law in any of those states. That said, this isn’t the time to declare that this is a dead issue – in fact, very much the opposite.

Today’s “do it yourself” culture and easy access to information has made informed consumers of all sorts of things, from appliances to medical care. Unfortunately, a lot of the information can lead to confusion for people whose needs are more involved and complex than they realize. And to make matters worse, a noticeable amount of information on the Internet is really disinformation.

New York is one of a dozen states that apply state-level taxation on estates. The estate tax in New York, fortunately for state residents, doesn’t begin at the $1 million threshold as it does in Massachusetts and Oregon, but that’s where the good news ends.

The Unger Company Ltd. was established exclusively to serve people who are defined as high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) and ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI) with estate tax planning that will enable smooth wealth transfer to the next generations.

People say that planning is all about the inevitable: death and taxes. In reality, that’s not correct. It’s about a family’s legacy, both the monetary gifts and the ethical values. If one can successfully plan for both, then one has created a legacy worth shouting about.