Last year, I explored the risks tied to the scheduled sunset of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and the implications for wealth transfer.
Now, a significant development reshapes the conversation. In July 2025, lawmakers signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law, transforming the landscape of estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax planning.
Rather than facing uncertainty, families and advisors now have a clearer, and more favorable, roadmap for multigenerational wealth planning.
The new law introduces several key changes that expand opportunities for wealth transfer and provide long-term clarity:
2025 offers a unique window to act. The current exemption level of $13.61 million is still available and can be fully utilized alongside future-focused strategic planning.
Even with the law now in place, taking action this year can still make a real impact. Starting early on key planning steps like funding trusts, securing appraisals, finalizing legal documents, and coordinating with advisors, gives individuals time to layer strategies, lock in valuations, and maximize available exemptions. This is especially important ahead of year-end deadlines and potential market shifts.
Delays can create bottlenecks. Appraisals, legal documents, and trust setup often take longer than expected, and scheduling with advisors, attorneys, or valuation experts can stall execution.
Many existing estate plans also lack the flexibility and integration needed to meet the demands of today’s wealth structures and tomorrow’s tax laws. Updating these plans now helps ensure they remain effective, responsive, and aligned with evolving goals.
To navigate this landscape, families turn to a mix of traditional and modern estate planning tools. These approaches offer flexibility, tax efficiency, and adaptability when facing changing laws and family dynamics. Common strategies include:
Used in combination, these tools help build estate plans that are resilient and responsive.
High-net-worth families often face a paradox: their estates may be worth tens or hundreds of millions, yet much of that wealth is tied up in assets that aren’t easily converted to cash, like real estate, private businesses, or concentrated stock positions. When someone passes away, estate taxes are typically due in cash within nine months, regardless of how liquid the estate is.
This mismatch between asset type and tax obligation creates a planning challenge. Life insurance, especially when held in an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) or structured as private placement life insurance (PPLI) inside a trust, can help solve for liquidity while supporting broader estate, income, and investment goals.
Irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs) provide a powerful combination of liquidity and tax efficiency. They:
For example: An individual with a $40 million estate, primarily tied up in a closely held business and investment real estate, used $5 million of their 2025 lifetime exemption to fund an ILIT. The trust purchased a $15 million life insurance policy designed to pay out after both spouses pass away.
When that occurs:
PPLI adds another layer of strategic flexibility, especially for customers with complex investment portfolios or upcoming liquidity events. Benefits include:
Consider the case of an entrepreneur with a $120 million net worth, anticipating a major liquidity event, funded a grantor dynasty trust with $10 million to purchase PPLI. The policy was invested in a customized portfolio managed by their advisory team. Over time:
These examples illustrate how life insurance strategies can align liquidity needs with long-term goals, especially when integrated into broader estate planning strategies.
Don’t wait. Use 2025 to secure current exemptions, prepare for 2026’s expanded limits, and build adaptable strategies for long-term wealth transfer and multigenerational planning.
A well-designed estate plan, built with foresight and flexibility, can help protect your wealth and preserve your legacy for generations.
Matthew Friedson joined Risk Strategies in 2022 as the National Life Insurance Practice Leader. He is responsible for developing and leading the national growth strategy for the Life Insurance practice.
Matthew has more than 15 years of experience specializing in complex insurance applications of estate and business planning, educating clients and helping them to develop and implement powerful strategies to meet their objectives.
He spent nine years as a senior adviser with a mid-Atlantic (DC) area brokerage and consulting firm where he specialized in private client services, advising clients across the country on wealth transfer and tax planning strategies, as well as business succession planning. During the last five years, he also held a principal role for a boutique private client personal lines property and casualty firm.
Matthew holds a marketing degree from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and a Series 6 securities license. He is a member of the National Young Leadership Cabinet of the Jewish Federations of North America and previously served on the board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington for five years.
For six consecutive years including 2022, Matthew has been awarded the ‘Best Financial Adviser: Insurance’ designation by the Washingtonian and in 2023, he was listed into their Top Wealth Advisor Hall of Fame.
Securities offered through Lion Street Financial, LLC. (LSF), Member FINRA/SIPC. Risk Strategies is not affiliated with LSF. Receipt of an award should not be construed as an endorsement of the financial professional and is no guarantee of future investment success.