In the Recommended Plan Scenario, what assets are NOT included in their Total Portfolio Assets when they pass away?

In the Recommended Plan Scenario, what assets are NOT included in their Total Portfolio Assets when they pass away?

• A. Real Estate
• B. Cash Assets
• C. Investments
• D. Retirement Accounts

Answer: (B)

In this planning context, Total Portfolio Assets at death are the assets that remain in the estate and are distributed through the plan. Some assets, however, pass outside the estate and aren’t counted in that total. Cash assets can be set up to bypass the estate—for example, cash held in payable-on-death accounts or in joint accounts with rights of survivorship goes directly to beneficiaries and does not go through the probate process. Because they don’t form part of the estate’s counted asset pool, they’re not included in the Total Portfolio Assets. Real estate and investments typically stay within the estate's planning base to be distributed, and retirement accounts often have beneficiary designations that bypass the estate as well, but the key idea here is that cash assets arranged to pass outside the estate are excluded from the Total Portfolio Assets.

In this planning context, Total Portfolio Assets at death are the assets that remain in the estate and are distributed through the plan. Some assets, however, pass outside the estate and aren’t counted in that total. Cash assets can be set up to bypass the estate—for example, cash held in payable-on-death accounts or in joint accounts with rights of survivorship goes directly to beneficiaries and does not go through the probate process. Because they don’t form part of the estate’s counted asset pool, they’re not included in the Total Portfolio Assets. Real estate and investments typically stay within the estate's planning base to be distributed, and retirement accounts often have beneficiary designations that bypass the estate as well, but the key idea here is that cash assets arranged to pass outside the estate are excluded from the Total Portfolio Assets.