Monday, August 15, 2011

So the next time someone starts the "Warren Buffett says rich people

aren't taxed enough!" crap, bring up some of this. Here's one of my favorites:
Did you know that the life insurance lobby is actively lobbying to restore the estate tax?

Why would the life insurance industry care about that? It turns out that ten percent of life insurance industry revenue is related to the estate tax. Wealthy people take out life insurance in order to reduce estate taxes because when you die, your life insurance payout doesn't count as part of your estate.

Did you know that Warren Buffett owns six life insurance companies? Did you know he supports the estate tax? You do now.

Warren Buffett isn't just noted as an owner of life insurance companies and a supporter of the estate tax. He's also noted as a buyer of family businesses. As Dick Patten shows, these two business strategies support each other.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I believe life insurance IS included in (and taxed to) your estate when you die, but it isn't taxed as income. It still is a valuable estate planning tool because estate taxes have to be paid in cash, and if you have an estate tax to pay you probably don't have enough cash to pay it with. (You don't get estate-taxable rich holding lots of cash.) Life insurance can be used to provide (some of ) the cash the estate needs to pay its taxes.

trailbee said...

I have never understood WB's fascination in being a mouthpiece for the rich and famous. All he has to do is send a check to the Pres., naturally, to be used exclusively for the National Debt, not his re-election. All his friends can do the same. No one is stopping them, so what up with this? Why now?
If his intent is to make us, those of use making under $250K, feel guilty, boy is he megaphoning up the wrong tree. I'm already paying into the new healthcare system, passed by his friends in Congress. I'm keeping what I have left over. No shame, no guilt.