Episode
The 5 Assets That'll Save Your Heirs (and the 5 That'll Destroy Them)
- Podcast
- The Tax Strategy Playbook
- Published
- Jul 14, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1503
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Summary
I want you to sit with one number: $177,500. That's the tax bill one of my clients avoided entirely — not through a loophole, but by understanding how step-up in basis actually works for real estate investors. In this episode of The Tax Strategy Playbook, I walk through the 5 best assets you can leave your heirs and the 5 worst estate planning traps real estate investors fall into — traps that can cost families six figures in avoidable taxes and legal fees. You'll learn: ✅ How step-up in basis can erase capital gains and depreciation recapture at death ✅ Why holding property in an LLC + revocable living trust keeps your estate out of probate ✅ How cost segregation studies compound across generations ✅ How real estate depreciation can fund tax-free Roth IRA conversions for your heirs ✅ Why an ILIT (irrevocable life insurance trust) solves the liquidity problem real estate creates ✅ The 5 worst mistakes: undivided ownership interests, unplanned depreciation recapture, un-documented short-term rental businesses, oversized traditional IRAs, and property left entirely in your personal name ✅ How the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) changed bonus depreciation and the federal estate tax exemption for 2026 Real-world case study included: how the "Wilsons" — a couple with a $4.4M real estate portfolio — could lose $350K–$500K in unplanned taxes and fees, or preserve it with proper structure. If you're a real estate investor with rental or commercial property and you've never had a real conversation about how your portfolio and your estate plan fit together, this episode gives you the questions to ask and the gaps to close. ⏱️ Want cost segregation, a 179D lookback study, or an R&D credit study for your own portfolio? Link in the description to book a call with our te…