Customer Reviews

The Art of Passing the Buck, Vol I; Secrets of Wills and Trusts Revealed

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Now I know how to get there

The real estate deals I made twenty years ago were a long-term gamble. Three out of five turned out to be enormous gains. In one year, I went from an average, hard-working administrator to a real-estate tycoon. A couple of more deals and I was on a roll with both accountants and lawyers advising me about how to handle my cash flow.

My daughter brought to my attention The Art of Passing the Buck. I thought I knew all the ins and outs--after all that is what the CPAs and lawyers are for, to ensure I do not make any mistakes; but lawyers and CPAs did not write this book! Obviously written by those with hands-on experience, the tidbits of information are vital for the survival of the family.

The unbelievable variety of trusts available to those with creative thinking bewildered me. Who thought up a trust where all the income is passed through to a child for ten years? After that, the parents get the original funds back, while the taxes saved pays for the child's education. I wished I knew about that one, but when my kids were young I did not have this kind of money.

Another shock was how ownership of anything at all can be used against me and how not owning anything worked to Ted Kennedy's advantage. The stories about beneficiaries and heirs and their gain or loss depending on how a trust is set up made me rethink everything I ever knew about inheritance, which I realize now was miniscule --except for the disaster stories told in the entertainment industry.

How the wealthy retain their goods did make me angry. Rigged by the power structure, they keep getting richer, while the rest of us live on a small portion of what they have not tied up.

Not much into politics, I read with interest the ways the rich abscond with the money and control it. While the author did not share this information to cause alarm, but to ensure those who handle money do not step on the "wrong toes," the methods described are still disturbing.

Now involved with professionals to set up a trust for my children, I find in some instances, I am clear about how to structure passing on my assets.

Suddenly my beloved uncle was gone. Just two days before he had come to our home for dinner with his new finance. My aunt, his first wife died of cancer three years earlier.

A week after his visit with us, I attended his funeral. Only 42 years old, he left three children. He did not have a will, or a living trust. All the children are under 16 years old. The legal complications could go on for several years to free up the funds.

Having seen this complex matter get more tangled up as time passes--his assets were impressive--I purchased a copy of The Art of Passing the Buck. Not only does the author emphasize setting up how to pass on wealth long before it is needed, but explains the complexities in simple terms.

I found myself reading and pondering, then being drawn back to the book. The chapter on Heirs: Favored and Flawed, alone is worth buying the book. What an eye opener!

With sufficient footnotes and court cases, this is not only a fascinating work to read, but it can also serve as a reference book.

My mother asked me to be her Trustee. Never did I think something, I though so simple, could be so confusing. My sister gave me a copy of The Art of Passing the Buck as a birthday present. Because I felt so overwhelmed about the subject, I didn't tackle reading it for at least a month.

Wow! The flashbulbs starting going off, as I read page after page. I began to put together what I was expected to do, what my priorities should be, and how to handle various parts of giving out the wealth. I found people to help me get my parents residential home properly transferred into their living trust so it could be sold, and I figured out the task of the paper work until the home sold--I'm still struggling with the administration, but at least I know what I am supposed to do.

Although many of the issues addressed in the book refer to how to educate beneficiaries about wealth-building protocols and learning how to discuss money with family members, I found the history of trusts more fascinating. Here is where I discovered what a political nightmare passing on and holding wealth has been since the beginning of time.

With the many trust types available, I'm surprised my parents did not get a little more education about the subject. Although the living trust I now manage is simple, it would have helped me if they had included more instructions. If they had read this book, they would have been more specific about many of the assets and where they were located. That would have helped me a lot.

Because some of my siblings are jealous, I found some of the insight about family relationships insightful. Unfortunately, the causes of our squabbles are rooted in how our parents raised us, and so the solutions are not so easily found.

There is much to be gained in this book, because if people want to keep their wealth in the family, they need to get the education, and this book was an eye-opener!