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Since passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017, advisors have repeatedly warned their clients that the increased Lifetime and Generation Skipping Transfer Tax Exemptions will sunset at the end of 2025. Many clients chose to take a “wait and see” approach or made plans to make a gift. but, through neglect or procrastination, failed to act. As we enter the Exemptions’ “twilight,”, clients must act or risk missing the sunset and ending up in the dark. Incorporating client case studies, this presentation will address superior gifting techniques for clients with various amounts of wealth to convert client intentions into action, by tackling the tension between transfer and income tax planning, the missteps and traps that can result in plan failure, and tools to overcome client lethargy, reluctance, and objections.

This session will cover regulatory, tax, and political trends for 2024:

• Spotlight on regulations — including updates on the DOL fiduciary rule, SEC, and more.
• Chairman Jason Smith of the House Ways and Means Committee anticipates 2025 as the “Super Bowl of tax” with TCJA sunsetting after 2025. Learn the latest about federal tax policy, wealth, and wealth transfer tax, as well as the upcoming changes to the tax landscape.
• In a tumultuous political landscape, the election outcomes will greatly influence interactions between financial advisors and their clients. Alex will offer clarity amid the uncertainty.

This session is always informative, insightful, and well received.

Lunch Sponsored by Ashar Group

This session will cover various timely annuity, IRA, and planning questions while also diving into various pitfalls, solutions, and best practices. In addition to audience-submitted questions/issues, topics will include:

• Using payments from zero balance annuities to offset RMDs from other IRAs
• Zero balance annuities in Roth IRAs
• Taxation of jointly owned policies
• The pitfalls of positioning annuities in revocable trusts

Most conversations with financial professionals fit into familiar techniques. Other ideas are “unique,” “interesting,” or “unicorns outside the norm.” This session will explore the history and logistics behind some lesser-known or new techniques in our business such as restricted property trusts and stacking discounts. This session does not provide direction regarding whether or not a technique should or should not be used. This session equips you, the planner, to spot the issues and provide direction.

This workshop will cover pros and cons of entity purchase and cross-purchase arrangements. It will also include a discussion of how to identify and avoid hazards like the transfer-for-value rule, and how to deal with the estate tax inclusion problem for entity purchases created by the Connelly case.

How to file for Social Security and Medicare are time time-sensitive decisions that every client must make in preparation for retirement. Failure to do so will result in major financial penalties which penalties that often cannot be revoked. Critical parts of the Social Security system change each year. It is important to understand these changes. In 2024, the restricted filing strategy was eliminated for spousal benefits. As a result, the “the split filing” strategy is has become a popular way to add flexibility to a retirement plan. Restricted filing, however, continues to be a viable option for survivor benefits. How do these and other changes impact a financial plan? With these changes, using software-modeling tools to see how the pieces of a retirement plan fit together is becoming more important than ever.

We will review these changes and tools to find ways to help clients make good or better decisions about both Social Security and Medicare.

The focus of this session will be on the Four Pillars of Passion, Purpose, Vision, and Mission; and the Four Threads of Thought, Preparation, Effort, and How You Live Your Life. Passion, it’s not a plan; Purpose, your own unique answer to the question why; Vision, your road map and your compass; and Mission, defining your legacy. Unlocking your one thing and discovering the four key factors necessary to build team momentum will be discussed, as well as what it takes to have a breakthrough in business and in life.

It’s 2016 all over again — the Department of Labor has again promulgated new rules converting “qualified” annuity and life insurance sales recommendations into fiduciary investment advice. While the lawsuits have already begun, it is likely that the new rules will go into effect before the courts finish their deliberations, and so producers, intermediaries, and carriers have a small amount of time to get into compliance with a large number of changes.

In this session we’ll discuss the big questions facing producers, intermediaries, and carriers: 

• What annuities and life insurance products are covered?
• When are sales recommendations now fiduciary advice?
• What compensation is prohibited and what is permitted?
• What process changes need to be implemented and documented for fiduciary recommendations?
• Which exemption is being used and who is responsible for compliance?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a topic everyone is talking about, and also avoiding talking about. In either case, it’s quickly making its way into the insurance industry. For this session, we’ve assembled a panel of humans who are involved with AI within our industry in various capacities to discuss some of the questions on everyone’s mind:  What exactly is AI?  What can it do and not do?  How is it currently being used by insurance carriers (and will they still need Advanced Sales departments)?  What are their predictions about developments that we might expect to see, both in the near future, and beyond?  This session is one not to be missed!

As planners, we are aware of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions that are scheduled to sunset at the end of 2025. Due to these changes, estate planning might look a little different while yet perhaps causing a resurgence of old ideas, like ILITs and SLATs. In this session, we will discuss the changes that impact our clients and the solutions available to address these changes. Join Tim McFarland in this general session to learn more about how to help the mass affluent after sunset.

Join us for an interactive session where we will share best practices and thoughts centered on:

• Talent management
• Resources
• Communicating your value
• What Advanced Sales teams are responsible for internally within our firms and externally to our clients

We will gain takeaways from our peers who understand the unique space that is Advanced Sales. Come to this session ready to share what makes you successful in your role and how we can improve and navigate the Advanced Sales landscape.

This session will focus on exciting changes to annuities brought about by SECURE 2.0, including those to QLACs, RMDs, 72(t) distributions, 529-to-Roth rollovers, and more. What were our initial thoughts and observations on the changes? What additional guidance (the Blue Book and Notice 2024-02) has there been—? What new marketing strategies emerged? What changes have carriers made in response to SECURE 2.0, if any? And, what’s next?

Farmers and ranchers across the U.S. own and operate complex highly concentrated businesses with cumulative land value alone worth more than $3 trillion. This workshop will explore the estate and succession planning challenges they face, including:

• Planning for the TCJA Sunset in 2025
• Protecting farm legacies through business transition strategies
• Understanding the importance of business entity choice

We will discuss how life insurance and annuities can be used to help farmers and ranchers achieve their planning goals.

Great employees are hard to find and even harder to retain unless they feel valued. What options are available to appropriately reward a company’s best talent? Come to this interactive workshop to explore different options as we dive into a case study. Come with your ideas and be prepared to work with a small group to generate creative solutions.

Please join Jay Kautt, VP and Director of Advanced Market Sales at Athene for a discussion of charitable planning strategies that are prevalent in today’s landscape. Previously, Jay spent seven years in the Planned Giving Department at the University of Minnesota Foundation.

This will be an interactive presentation and will start with the basics and ramp up to more complex giving strategies. The presentation will include, but is not limited to, the following topics: testamentary bequests, the qualified charitable distribution, donor advised funds, and charitable remainder trusts. The presentation will also focus on what assets clients might want to give to charity or use to fund other charitable vehicles. There will also be a discussion of the tax deductions available to donors based on the different gifting strategies they employ.

Charitable planning is quickly becoming a topic more and more clients are willing and eager to discuss. This presentation will provide the building blocks of understanding the options available.

The 2024 election is shaping up to be one of the nation’s most important. While polls currently favor Trump’s handling of the economy over Biden’s, sentiment could shift if inflation subsides and the Fed lowers interest rates. Two key questions are: (i) Will Trump reignite a trade war if he wins? and (ii) Will either candidate finally tackle the outsized U.S. budget deficit?

One piece of advice: Stay objective when making investment decisions. The session will explain why this is important to be successful.

A successful advance sales department needs a “sturdy hull” to navigate through the changing, often tumultuous, tides of advanced sales.

How does your company’s structure and practices compare to your peers? What services are you providing that give you a competitive advantage? What services can you add to be the company of choice for these sophisticated cases?  Is turnover a concern? Are you providing the technology and training to retain and upskill your key staff? Attend this session to hear the results of our 2024 Advanced Sales Department Company Practices survey, while hearing the perspective from a company active in this dynamic market.

Creating an integrated legal and financial plan for families with special needs is critical. For many legal instruments there is a financial backdrop. This session will dive into various important components of special needs planning including government benefits, special needs trusts, guardianship and alternatives, and a letter of intent. We will also discuss ABLE accounts and how they work in conjunction with special needs trusts in planning. We will provide an overview of spendthrift trusts, particularly special needs trusts, and how they can be used as part of the family’s planning process. Attendees will come away with a better understanding of some of the unique aspects of planning for this important community.