Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is!

Topic Outline

1. Please choose topics and/or sub-topics that you would like to write about, and write the number or name of the topic on the Contributing Author Application & Profile where indicated.
2. Remember that you will be submitting 25 questions and answers, and those questions may be allocated among several topics.
3. Feel free to add related topics or sub-topics of special interest to you where appropriate.

SECTION 1: HOW FAITH and VALUES IMPACT FINANCIAL and ESTATE PLANNING

1. The connection between faith, values, and money
2. The impact of faith and values on financial decisions
3. The impact of wealth on faith and values decisions

SECTION 2: THE SCRIPTURES ADDRESS MONEY and PLANNING

1. What we can learn about wealth and prosperity
2. What we can learn about giving and stewardship
3. What we can learn about passing wisdom to future generations

SECTION 3: THE IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING AHEAD

1. Proper planning crucial for people who want to include their faith and values
2. The risk to your wealth during life if you don't do financial planning
3. The risk to your wealth after death if you don't do estate planning

SECTION 4: FAITH and VALUES BASED FINANCIAL PLANNING

1. What is financial planning?
2. Who needs financial planning?
3. Why people fail to do financial planning
4. Preparing for financial planning
5. General investing principles
6. Risk analysis
7. Portfolio diversification
8. How to coordinate lifetime charitable giving with financial planning
9. Faith and Values Based investment choices
10. Retirement planning
    1. The importance of retirement planning
    2. Retirement plans and IRAs
    3. Retirement plan distributions
    4. Retirement plan beneficiaries
    5. Charitable beneficiaries for retirement plans
    6. Retirement plans and taxes
    7. Coordinating the retirement plan with the estate plan

SECTION 5: FAITH BASED ESTATE PLANNING

1. What is estate planning?
2. Who needs estate planning?
3. Why people fail to do estate planning
4. Preparing for estate planning
5. Foundational Planning Techniques
   1. Faith and Values Based Choices about People
      1. Guardians for minor children
      2. Health Care decision-makers during incapacity
      3. Property managers during incapacity
      4. Trustees after death
      5. Choices about who receives your wealth
   2. Planning for illness or mental incapacity
      1. Choices about continuing or discontinuing life support
      2. Powers of Attorney for health care
      3. Living Wills
      4. Advanced Health Care Directives
      5. HIPAA laws
   3. Powers of Attorney for property
   4. Wills and Probate
   5. Distribution of personal property
   6. Revocable Living Trusts
      1. Differences between wills and trusts
      2. Disability planning with a trust
      3. Planning for your spouse
      4. Planning for minor children
      5. Planning for adult children
      6. Planning for pets
      7. The importance of title
      8. The importance of trust funding
      9. Disinheriting a family member
   7. Advanced Planning Techniques
      1. An Introduction to the Tax System
         1. Income Tax
         2. Capital Gains Tax
         3. Gift Tax
         4. Estate and Inheritance Tax
         5. Generation Skipping Transfer Tax
      2. Valuation Discounts
      3. Irrevocable Trusts
         1. What is an irrevocable trust?
         2. When would I want to use an irrevocable trust?
         3. Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs)
         4. Grantor Deemed Owner Trusts (GDOTs)
         5. Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs)
         6. Special Needs Trusts
         7. Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRTs)
      4. Family Limited Partnerships (FLPs)
      5. Medicaid Planning Trusts
      6. Faith and Values Based Philanthropy
         1. Outright gifts
         2. Gift annuities
         3. Gift of interest in a retirement plan or insurance policy
         4. Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRTs)
         5. Charitable Lead Trusts (CLTs)
         6. Charitable Trusts and Taxes
         7. Conservation Easements
         8. Donor Advised Funds and Supporting Organizations
         9. Family Foundations
         10. Coordinating charitable planning with family inheritance planning
      7. Life Insurance
         1. Purposes of life insurance in financial and estate planning
         2. Types of insurance
         3. Choosing a life insurance company
         4. How to keep life insurance outside the estate for tax purposes
         5. Use of life insurance to pay estate taxes
         6. "Second to Die" life insurance
         7. Insurable interest
         8. Charitable life insurance
      8. Faith and Values Based Business Owners & Entrepreneurs
         1. Servant Leadership
         2. Faith and Values Based Business Choices
         3. Business Philanthropy
   8. Legacy Planning Techniques For People Of Faith
      1. A Multi-Generational Perspective
      2. Passing Your Wisdom, Faith, and Family Values
      3. A Statement of Faith or Values as Part of Your Planning
      4. Incentive Trusts
         1. To encourage particular behavior
         2. To discourage particular behavior

SECTION 6: BUILDING AN EFFECTIVE ADVISORY TEAM

1. The members of the advisory team
2. The Attorney's Role and How to Choose One
3. The Financial Advisor's Role and How to Choose One
4. The Accountant's Role and How to Choose One
5. The Insurance Professional's Role and How to Choose One
6. Others that might be included on the advisory team
7. How to ensure a team approach to your planning
8. Keeping your financial and estate plans current

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