Over the past few decades, federal taxes have generally trended lower.

That era may be coming to an end, especially for well-off individuals.

The major factor to consider is that our country might finally be forced to confront the issue of ongoing huge federal budget deficits—which have been made that much bigger by costly federal COVID-19 relief measures.

Additional rounds of costly COVID-19 relief are probably in the cards.

Maintaining the current relatively benign federal tax environment might be viewed as conflicting with the suddenly important goal of reducing federal budget deficits.

Seeing our duly-elected politicians adopt that goal in any serious way would be amazing, but it could happen. If it does, it would not portend a continuation of the relatively benign status quo for federal taxes.

With the preceding thoughts in mind, this article focuses on federal estate and gift taxes. What happens to those taxes might be the biggest cause for concern for those who have spent their entire lives accumulating what they currently possess.

Can you protect what you currently possess from a possible oncoming federal estate and gift tax threat? Maybe. ... Log in to view full article.