ESTATE PLANNING ISN’T the cheeriest of topics, but it’s one where a little care can help your family immensely—and some carelessness could cost them dearly. Here’s a look at some of the latest developments:

The federal estate tax exclusion is $13.61 million in 2024 and $13.99 million in 2025. In 2022, just 3,170 estate tax returns were filed that included the payment of federal taxes. That year, there were some 3.2 million deaths in the U.S.

IF YOUR DEBTS ARE too large to pay down and creditors are unwilling to forgive enough debt to make it manageable, you may need to file for bankruptcy. This isn’t a step to be taken lightly. The bankruptcy will stay on your credit report for up to 10 years, and you will likely have little or no access to credit for a number of years.
If an individual files for bankruptcy, it’s typically under either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 of the bankruptcy code.

GOT SO MUCH DEBT that you can’t see any way out? To find a reputable nonprofit credit-counseling agency, try the Financial Counseling Association of America (FCAA.org) or the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC.org). Identify a local credit-counseling agency and ask for a list of fees. If the fees aren’t modest, you may have mistakenly contacted a for-profit credit counseling agency, debt-settlement firm or some other company hoping to profit from your misfortune.
If your debts are overwhelming,

IF YOU ARE WELL above the debt ratio used by lenders, which means you’re devoting more than 36% of your pretax monthly income to servicing your debts, there’s a good chance you have borrowed too much. But you probably don’t need the debt ratio to tell you that because it’s already painfully obvious.
What to do? The first step is to put yourself on a cash diet, which means not spending more than you earn and avoiding all new borrowing.

SUPPOSE YOU HAVE $200,000 in bonds—and you also have $200,000 in mortgage and other debt. You should think of those debts as “negative bonds” and subtract them from your bond position. Result: In this example, your net bond position is zero. After all, while your bonds are paying you interest, your debts are costing you interest. In fact, the interest rate charged on your debts is likely greater than the interest you are earning on your bonds.

AROUND 30% OF ALL new cars are leased, rather than bought outright. A big reason for leasing’s popularity: It allows cash-strapped consumers to drive cars they couldn’t afford to buy. Historically, most leases have been for luxury cars. Lately, however, consumers have been leasing less expensive vehicles, as they struggle to make ends meet and as they grow more comfortable with monthly financial commitments for everything from cell phones to music streaming services to cable TV.

THE FEDERAL RESERVE’S Survey of Consumer Finances found that 86.6% of U.S. families own a car or other vehicle and that 34.7% have a car loan outstanding. Looking to buy a vehicle and need a loan? The major auto lenders include banks, credit unions, auto-finance companies, car manufacturers and car dealers.
It might be convenient to get financing through the dealership. But you will likely get a better rate if you shop for a low-cost loan before you head to the car dealer.

IF YOU HAVE a permanent life insurance policy and you’ve built up some cash value, you could potentially borrow against the cash value. The loans are easy to obtain, with no credit check required, because you’re effectively borrowing from yourself.
Still, tread carefully. In theory, you don’t have to repay life insurance loans. But any loan outstanding at the time of your death will reduce the policy’s death benefit. Even if you don’t repay the loan itself,

IF YOU HAVE MAXED out on 401(k) loans and you have an urgent financial need, you may be able to take a hardship withdrawal from your employer’s plan. Hardship withdrawals are typically allowed for unreimbursed medical expenses, college bills and funeral expenses, to prevent foreclosure or eviction, or to buy or repair your principal residence. Similar rules apply to 403(b) plans.
While hardship withdrawals are legally permissible, your employer isn’t obligated to allow them.

MANY FOLKS FIND 401(k) and 403(b) loans appealing, in part because the loans are easy to obtain and the interest that’s charged goes back into their account, so they’re effectively paying interest to themselves. But the loans can quickly lose their luster.
Borrowing has two costs. First, a 401(k) loan isn’t really a loan. Instead, the money you’re supposedly borrowing is actually removed from your account, which means you lose out on any investment returns the money might have earned.

IF YOU HOLD YOUR investments in a margin account at a brokerage firm, you can typically take out a margin loan equal to 50% of the account’s total value. This is the so-called initial margin requirement, and it effectively allows you to control investments worth twice as much as you could otherwise afford.
A margin loan doesn’t have to be used to purchase additional investments. Some folks use margin loans to buy cars or pay the kids’ college bills,

WHEN YOU OVERDRAW your checking account, you’re borrowing money from the bank—and the effective interest rate could make carrying a credit card balance or taking out a payday loan seem like a bargain.
Banks might charge around $35 for overdrawing an account. A common scenario: You buy a $2 coffee with your debit card, which overdraws your account, and suddenly the $2 coffee is costing you $37. To avoid getting hit with overdraft fees,

CREDIT CARDS DON’T just offer rewards. They also offer a slew of perks, many of which aren’t heavily promoted, so you may be unaware of them. Check to see whether your credit cards offer these benefits:

Extended warranties on items you purchase with the card.
Price protection if you buy an item and then see it advertised at a lower price soon after.
Protection if an item you buy quickly breaks or is lost or stolen.

IF YOU USE A CREDIT card, you should use one that gives you rewards, whether it’s cash back, rewards points, frequent-flier miles or some other bonus. Typically, these rewards are worth around 1% of the amount you spend, though some cards give as much as 2% and others have rotating categories where you can earn extra rewards, such as 5% cash back on restaurants or grocery store purchases. Some cards also offer a onetime bonus if you spend a specified sum in the initial months that you carry the card.

CREDIT CARDS HAVE become so integral to American life that many folks almost never pay cash and instead charge even the smallest expenses. That’s convenient, it can be safer than carrying cash and it could come with a monthly bonus, in the form of credit card rewards. Set against that is the well-known downside: If you aren’t careful, you will charge too much, won’t be able to pay off the balance in full and get walloped with finance charges.