It Couldn't HurtIt Couldn't Hurt

Charles L. Ratner, director of personal insurance counseling, Ernst & Young LLP, Cleveland

Many estate planners these days see the estate planning marketing glass as half empty … and leaking. An ever-increasing portion of their clients and prospects — even the wealthy ones — simply don't find traditional estate tax planning either necessary or desirable. How could it be otherwise? Proposed estate tax reforms (forgetting outright repeal) would still leave more than enough for clients' children. But perhaps more to the point, clients are warned daily (maybe even hourly) to reduce their expectations for market returns and to increase their expectations for their life spans. Naturally, they are more concerned about the risks of living longer ...