I'm 66. I have two sons that I want to leave as much as possible. (Hopefully not soon, but eventually.)
I have a too-large house. It's a beautiful place, on a lake, and it's been wonderful to live here for the last 33 years. (It was nicer before ex-DW decided to take a hike, but ohwell.) But it's stupidly large for one person, over 4000', expensive to keep up, and *lonely*. I built a separate apartment in the walk-out basement which helps the cashflow and reduces the loneliness, but ... Lately I've been thinking of down-sizing. Maybe move into one of those over-55 communities so I have more social interaction opportunities.
But I have over $500k equity/gains in the house, and I would rather that money goes to my boys instead of my Uncle. If I kept it until I died, the basis would reset and my sons wouldn't owe any tax on it. But if I downsize, I would get a $250k exemption and then taxes on $250k or so would go to Uncle.
What's the smart way to keep the $$ for my boys?
I have a too-large house. It's a beautiful place, on a lake, and it's been wonderful to live here for the last 33 years. (It was nicer before ex-DW decided to take a hike, but ohwell.) But it's stupidly large for one person, over 4000', expensive to keep up, and *lonely*. I built a separate apartment in the walk-out basement which helps the cashflow and reduces the loneliness, but ... Lately I've been thinking of down-sizing. Maybe move into one of those over-55 communities so I have more social interaction opportunities.
But I have over $500k equity/gains in the house, and I would rather that money goes to my boys instead of my Uncle. If I kept it until I died, the basis would reset and my sons wouldn't owe any tax on it. But if I downsize, I would get a $250k exemption and then taxes on $250k or so would go to Uncle.
What's the smart way to keep the $$ for my boys?
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