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Money & Estate Planning Guides

Plain-English guides on building wealth and passing it on — retirement accounts, beneficiaries, probate, taxes, and the money roadmap that leads to your estate plan.

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Sunset's Money Roadmap showing net worth and a completed financial journey

Money Roadmap · 05 Mins read

The Financial Order of Operations: A Money Roadmap That Ends in Your Estate Plan

The step-by-step order to use your money — emergency fund, 401(k) match, debt, IRA, HSA, investing — and the final step almost everyone forgets: your estate plan.

Money Roadmap

Money Roadmap · 06 Mins read

How Much Emergency Fund Do You Actually Need? The 3-6 Month Rule, With NYC Numbers

Build the right emergency fund size: 3-6 months of essential expenses (9-12 if self-employed). Learn where to hold it and how it protects your estate plan.

Money Roadmap · 06 Mins read

Employer 401(k) Match: Why It Is Free Money and How to Capture All of It

Capture your employer 401(k) match — a guaranteed instant return up to 100%. Learn the vesting rules, true-up mechanics, and how to avoid the front-loading trap.

Wealth & Will

Sunset Estate Bridge showing accounts and the beneficiaries who receive them, outside probate

Wealth & Will · 06 Mins read

Beneficiary Designations vs. Your Will: Which One Actually Controls Your Money?

Beneficiary designations almost always override your will. Learn which assets pass by designation, the ex-spouse trap, and how to keep your will and forms in sync.

Wealth & Will · 08 Mins read

Inherited IRA and the SECURE Act 10-Year Rule: What Your Beneficiaries Will Owe

Learn the SECURE Act 10-year rule for inherited IRAs: who must empty accounts by year 10, which beneficiaries are exempt, and what your heirs will owe in taxes.

Sunset financial journey map showing each account flowing toward the Wealth-to-Estate bridge

Wealth & Will · 08 Mins read

Where Your Money Goes When You Die: A Map of Every Account From Emergency Fund to 529

Learn where each account—401(k), IRA, brokerage, 529, HSA, life insurance—goes after death. Probate vs. beneficiary rules and tax treatment for 2026.

Sunset Roth vs Traditional IRA step with a contribution simulator and tax comparison

Wealth & Will · 07 Mins read

Roth vs. Traditional IRA: Which Leaves Your Heirs a Bigger, Tax-Free Inheritance?

Inherited Roth IRAs are tax-free to heirs; Traditional IRAs are fully taxable. Learn the 10-year rule, tax implications, and how to choose based on your bracket.

Wealth & Will · 08 Mins read

What Happens to Your 401(k) When You Die? Probate, Beneficiaries, and Heir Taxes

No probate for named beneficiaries. Learn what happens to your 401(k) at death, the 10-year rule, spouse rollover options, and how to avoid tax surprises for your heirs.

Wealth & Will · 07 Mins read

Transfer-on-Death (TOD) and Payable-on-Death (POD) Accounts: Skip Probate on Your Cash and Brokerage

POD and TOD accounts let your cash and brokerage skip probate without a trust. Learn how to set them up, what they won't protect, and why your will still matters.

Wealth & Will · 07 Mins read

Step-Up in Basis: How Your Heirs Inherit Investments Without Paying Tax on Decades of Gains

Inherited stock, real estate, and investments get a step-up in basis to date-of-death value—erasing capital gains tax on decades of growth. Here's how to use it.

Account Guides

Account Guides · 06 Mins read

Your 529 Plan and Estate Planning: Name a Successor Owner, Superfund Gifts, and Avoid Probate

Learn how to name a 529 successor owner to skip probate, use superfunding for estate tax savings, and roll over unused funds to a Roth IRA without losing control.

Account Guides · 06 Mins read

Does Debt Pass to Your Heirs? Who Pays What After You Die

Heirs generally don't inherit debt personally—your estate pays debts before anyone inherits. Learn the exceptions (co-signers, joint accounts) and the payment order.

Account Guides · 05 Mins read

The HSA Inheritance Tax Trap: Why a Non-Spouse Heir Gets a Tax Bill (and How to Avoid It)

A non-spouse HSA beneficiary pays income tax on the full balance in the year of death. Spouse beneficiaries inherit tax-free. Learn the trap and how to plan around it.

Account Guides · 09 Mins read

Update Your Beneficiaries After Marriage, Divorce, or a New Baby: The Complete Checklist

The checklist for updating beneficiaries after marriage, divorce, or a new baby—401(k), IRA, HSA, life insurance, and TOD/POD. Divorce doesn't auto-remove your ex.

New York

New York · 07 Mins read

New York Estate Tax Cliff: How a $7M+ Estate Can Lose Its Entire Exemption

New York's 105% estate tax cliff means estates over $7.7M lose their entire exemption and face taxes from dollar one. NY has no portability. Here's how to plan.

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