Tag: Industry Trends

Wealth.com Named to the 2025 CB Insights’ List of the 100 Most Promising Fintech Startups

NEW YORK, October 23, 2025 – CB Insights today named Wealth.com to its eight annual Fintech 100, showcasing the 100 most promising private fintech companies in the world. 

“This year’s Fintech 100 showcases a new generation of companies turning AI, automation, and digital assets into the backbone of financial infrastructure,” said Laura Kennedy, Principal Analyst at CB Insights. “This year’s winners are building the infrastructure that will share the future of financial services.”

The list features early- and mid-stage startups driving the evolution of fintech. Utilizing the CB Insights Strategy Terminal, the 100 winners were selected based on several factors, including CB Insights datasets on deal activity, industry partnerships, investor strength, hiring momentum, and private company signals such as Commercial Maturity and Mosaic Scores. CB Insights also reviewed Analyst Briefings submitted directly by startus and leveraged Scouting Reports, powered by CB Insights’ Team of Agents. 

Quick facts on the 2025 Fintech 100: 

  • The 100 winners include 20 companies across digital assets solutions, 16 in financial operations and HR, 14 payment companies, and 13 in wealth management. 
  • 60+ companies on the list deploy AI in their solutions, and AI agents in particular are moving from workflows to financial infrastructure.
  • $5.6B in equity funding raised over time, including more than $2B in 2025 so far (as of 10/22/2025). 
  • 60 companies from outside the United States, across 26 countries on 6 continents. 
  • 640+ business relationships since 2021, including with industry leaders like Mastercard, Visa, Worldpay, Coinbase, and Circle. 

Fintech 100 - CB Insights 2025

About CB Insights
CB Insights is the leader in predictive intelligence on private companies. It delivers instant insights that help you source and analyze private companies, focus on the right markets, and stay ahead of competitors. Our AI agents are powerful because they translate signals into the exact outputs your teams need to move first – defensible, sourced, and board-ready. To learn more, please visit www.cbinsights.com

Contact: [email protected]

About Wealth.com
Wealth.com is the industry’s leading estate planning platform, empowering 1,000+ wealth management firms to modernize the delivery of estate planning guidance to their clients. As the only tech-led, end-to-end estate planning platform built specifically for financial institutions, Wealth.com helps drive scale and efficiency, meeting client needs across the wealth spectrum.

The company has been widely recognized for innovation and leadership, including winning Best Estate Planning Technology and Best Estate Planning Implementation at the 2025 WealthManagement.com Industry Awards, being named the 2024 Best Technology Provider in the Trust category, CEO Rafael Loureiro receiving the Advisor Choice Award for Technology Providers: CEO of the Year, and as the #1 estate planning platform in the 2025 Kitces Advisor Technology Survey.

Contact: [email protected]

Wealth.com selected for Google’s Inaugural Gemini Founders Forum

PHOENIX – October 15, 2025 — Wealth.com, the leading end-to-end estate planning platform for financial advisors, today announced its selection to Google’s inaugural Gemini Founders Forum, a global program recognizing 53 AI startups from nearly 1,000 applicants. Hosted at Google’s Mountain View headquarters on November 11–12, the two-day summit brings together a select group of founders working hand-in-hand with experts from Google Cloud and Google DeepMind to accelerate innovation and shape the future of artificial intelligence.

Wealth.com’s inclusion underscores its position as an AI leader in wealth management technology, where its proprietary AI, Ester, powers intelligent workflows that help financial advisors and their clients visualize and summarize estate plans with unprecedented speed and accuracy.

The inaugural Gemini Founders Forum will bring together a diverse cohort of global startups leveraging AI to redefine industries, from healthcare to finance to climate technology. Participants will collaborate directly with Google engineers, researchers, and product leaders to tackle technical challenges, refine product strategy, and scale their impact globally.

Wealth.com’s proprietary AI, Ester, has been developed by an in-house team of experts from leading technology companies and is purpose-built for the wealth management industry. It helps advisors review estate plans in minutes, streamlines compliance workflows, and identifies opportunities for advisors to strengthen client relationships and grow assets under management.

To learn more about Wealth.com’s AI-driven platform for financial advisors, visit Wealth.com.

2026 IRS Inflation Adjusted Numbers Reference Guide for Estate Planning

The IRS has officially released its inflation-adjusted numbers for the 2026 tax year. These can have a significant impact on transfer tax and estate planning. 

Due to the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the lifetime estate and gift tax exemption was previously announced in July with a new base of $15 million per individual. The IRS has confirmed this number for 2026 and further clarified that for tax years beginning after 2026, this new $15 million dollar base will again be adjusted annually for inflation.

In a notable departure from recent trends, the annual gift tax exclusion will remain at $19,000 for 2026. This breaks a four-year streak of increases. For those accustomed to the $1,000 yearly increase, it will be key to inform your clients that this amount is remaining unchanged. 

That’s why it is critical to review these 2026 numbers alongside your clients’ plans to understand if there is any impact or opportunities for new estate tax strategies next year.

We reviewed Revenue Procedure 2025-32 and pulled out the most relevant numbers for transfer tax planning to provide you, and your clients, a simple reference chart. View it below or download a version that you can keep handy.

Actionable takeaways & impacts

While the impact of these transfer tax planning numbers on your clients’ estate plans will depend on their financial situation, for example, individuals with a taxable estate well under $15 million are likely to be unaffected by the lifetime exemption, there are potential strategies you can employ for those that could be impacted.

Here are some examples of how you can use these numbers to create a strategy for affected clients in 2026:

1. Maximize lifetime wealth transfer

Your clients can contribute significantly to irrevocable trusts and/or make substantial gifts without incurring taxes due to the increase in the lifetime estate and gift exemption to $15 million for individuals and $30 million for married couples. 

This allows you and your clients to optimize their estate planning strategies.

2. Monitor taxable gifts

Next year, the annual gift tax exclusion is remaining at $19,000. 

If a client already has a gifting strategy in place, for example providing gifts to their grandchildren every year, make sure they know that unlike in previous years the non-taxable gifting amount should remain the same. 

You should also ensure that you’re helping them track their gifting amounts. If they exceed the $19,000 they will need to file a Form 709 to report taxable gifts.

3. Evaluate trust tax implications

If your clients are considering irrevocable trusts, you should assess who will be the taxpayer for the trust. If the trust is considered a grantor trust, your client (and not the trust) will report and pay the taxes on income generated inside the trust.

This evaluation helps your clients weigh potential estate tax savings against higher income taxes, providing a clearer financial picture for them. 

4. Understand non-resident alien tax implications

Be mindful of the different estate and gift tax thresholds that apply to non-resident aliens. These can have a significant impact on planning strategies. 

This chart will help you navigate those complexities more effectively.

5. Address expatriation and foreign gifts

For your clients that are considering moving to a foreign country, renouncing their citizenship or green card status and/or receiving large gifts from abroad, you should be aware of the reporting requirements and tax implications.

Staying proactive now will help ensure your clients are fully prepared for the 2026 changes. Use these updated thresholds to revisit their plans, refine your strategies, and position yourself as the trusted advisor who helps them make the most of every opportunity.

Closing the AI Divide: How Ester® Is Driving Measurable Enterprise Impact

According to a new report from MIT, 95% of enterprise GenAI pilots fail to scale. Wealth.com’s Ester® has defied the odds and is proving what success can look like for purpose-built AI in financial services. With 30,000+ documents processed in the last year, an 800% YoY growth spike in jobs completed, Ester shows that when AI is built for workflows, compliance, and measurable ROI, adoption follows.

The Enterprise AI Divide is Real

A new report from MIT’s NANDA initiative, covered by Fortune on August 18, 2025, reveals a stark reality: 95% of enterprise generative AI pilots fail to deliver meaningful revenue impact. Only about 5% of promising AI pilot programs achieve rapid revenue acceleration, while the vast majority stall out despite a flood of new AI products and features entering the market. 

After analyzing 300 public AI deployments, MIT researchers found a sharp divide between success stories and failed experiments. Importantly, the issue isn’t the quality of the models themselves. Instead, the report highlights a persistent “learning gap” inside enterprises: AI that isn’t embedded into workflows, budgets that over-index on sales and marketing instead of back-office automation, and fragmented adoption strategies that never scale.  

For financial services, the challenge is even more acute. Compliance, auditability, and operational accuracy are non-negotiable. Generic chatbots may offer flexibility for individuals, but they can’t support enterprise-grade adoption where regulators demand transparency and firms require consistency. Firms need tools that learn from the work, fit the work, and can be documented for regulators.

As the report notes: “Generic tools like ChatGPT excel for individuals because of their flexibility, but they stall in enterprise use since they don’t learn from or adapt to workflows.” — The GenAI Divide: State of AI in Business 2025 (MIT via Fortune, 8/18/25)

How Ester Solves the Enterprise AI Adoption Gap

Most AI pilots fail because they aren’t built for enterprise workflows. Ester is different. It was designed from the ground up for estate planning and real advisor use cases, which is why it’s gaining adoption across leading broker-dealers, RIAs, and custodians.

Where generic tools fall short, Ester succeeds because it’s:

  • Workflow-native: Embedded directly into the advisor experience, Ester makes it easy to upload estate documents, extract key details like trust terms, appointments, and assets, and produce a structured summary in seconds. This isn’t an add-on chatbot. It’s built into the way advisors already work.
  • Compliance-first: Every output is explainable, audit-ready, and securely contained. Information uploaded to Ester is treated like data in a vault: it will never be reused, reshared, or exposed to outside models.
  • Deeply integrated: Beyond summaries, Ester generates clear visualizations of complex estate structures, making it easier for clients to understand roles, outcomes, and amendments. It also supports real-time Q&A, helping advisors clarify terms and explore scenarios.
  • Purpose-built for financial services: Ester isn’t a wrapper on someone else’s LLM. It’s Wealth.com’s in-house AI, trained and tuned on the unique patterns, compliance requirements, and disclosure rigor that define financial services.

MIT’s research reinforces this approach: enterprises succeed more often when they partner with specialized vendors rather than trying to build generic tools internally. Internal AI builds succeed only one-third as often as building a partnership. Ester is proof of that principle. Firms don’t need to experiment with fragile DIY builds. They can adopt a domain-built, enterprise-ready AI that is already scaling in production.

Proof Points: Ester’s Measurable Impact

Ester’s growth is not theoretical. It’s measurable, repeatable, and happening inside enterprise workflows today. While most generative AI pilots never make it past the proof-of-concept stage, Ester is scaling across broker-dealers and RIAs with adoption metrics that speak for themselves.

  • 30,000+ documents processed all time (as of September 2025).
  • Sept 8–14: ~800% year-over-year growth compared to the same week in 2024.
  • Power users: Our top three most active enterprise customers each used Ester 100+ times in a single month, a signal of daily reliance, not experimentation.

What advisors are using Ester for
The most frequent workload? Revocable trusts with supporting documents, including amendments. This is important: advisors are turning to Ester for complex, high-stakes reviews, not trivial tasks. That trust signals Ester’s role as a workflow engine, not a novelty tool.

And it’s not just the numbers. Advisors themselves are validating the impact.

Danny McAuliffe, President of Brookstone Capital Management, explains how his firm uses Ester to simplify complex estate plans:

“Wealth.com’s AI extraction tool is one of the most useful features that we’ve come across so far. We’ve plugged some pretty complex estate plans in there, and it is really good. You can get an Ester summary in two to three minutes, and get a report that breaks a very complex estate plan down into a summary that is actually useful for clients to understand.”

 

Taken together, the usage growth and advisor feedback make one thing clear: Ester isn’t a pilot or a “chat layer.” It’s a workflow engine for estate planning designed to learn from document patterns, standardize advisor output, and deliver consistent attorney-grade documents at scale. It’s an enterprise-grade solution, already embedded in production workflows, delivering measurable ROI across financial services. 

What Financial Advisory Firms Can Learn

The MIT research is clear: enterprises succeed more often when they select specialized partners rather than trying to build their own generic tools. Ester’s success reinforces this. For financial institutions, the lessons are straightforward:

  • Choose domain-built AI. Generic chatbots weren’t designed for regulated industries and high-stakes work. Industry-specific models and tooling outperform because they’re designed with compliance, policy, and disclosure requirements in mind. Wealth.com’s Ester is purpose-built for estate planning and wealth management, with compliance and policy rigor baked in.
  • Start where ROI is measurable. The fastest wins come from automating back-office and review workflows, not flashy front-of-house demos. That’s where Ester has proven to cut time, reduce exceptions, and create measurable efficiencies.
  • Empower managers and advisors. Adoption scales when the people closest to the work can use AI directly in their day-to-day workflows. Ester is designed to fit seamlessly into those processes.
  • Make compliance foundational. Auditability, controls, and data safeguards aren’t optional. Compliance and security are foundational for AI to scale in financial services. With Ester, everything is secure.
  • Measure business impact, not hype. Real results come from metrics like jobs completed, documents processed, and reduced rework, not vanity stats. Ester’s enterprise adoption is proof of that.

The takeaway is clear: enterprises succeed when they partner with specialized platforms like Wealth.com, not when they attempt to reinvent AI in-house. Ester combines a powerful AI model with deep workflow integration and compliance alignment, delivering the kind of measurable ROI that generic tools can’t.

Where Estate Planning AI is Headed

Ester has already proven it can scale where most generative AI projects stall. But we’re only getting started. The next chapter of Ester includes:

  • Agentic capabilities that will automate multi-step advisor workflows end-to-end, saving even more time on complex estate planning tasks.
  • Deeper integrations across custodial platforms, CRMs, and document management systems—embedding Ester even further into the advisor tech stack.
  • Broader document coverage beyond trusts and supporting documents, with richer cross-document reasoning that gives advisors a full-picture view of every client’s estate plan.
  • Expanded governance controls for supervisory review, evidence capture, and regulatory alignment, ensuring compliance remains a core strength as usage grows.

Ester isn’t an experiment. It’s a proven, enterprise-grade AI platform that financial institutions are already using at scale to achieve measurable ROI. Where 95% of AI pilots fail, Ester is the counterexample, delivering results today while building for the future.

If you’re a broker-dealer, RIA, or enterprise ready to move past pilots and see real outcomes, now is the time to act.

👉 See Ester in action. We’ll map Ester to your current review workflows and show you benchmarks for time savings, quality improvements, and compliance alignment.

Sources

  • MIT NANDA, The GenAI Divide: State of AI in Business 2025, summarized by Fortune, Aug 18, 2025 (Sheryl Estrada).
  • Wealth.com internal product analytics, Sept 2025 (usage and adoption figures cited above).

What We Launched at Wealth.com’s 2025 Summer Product Event

The Highlights:

  • Massive momentum: Cetera (12,000+ advisors), Schwab strategic investment, and Commonwealth exclusivity (2,300+ advisors).
  • Live today:
    • Smarter documents & reports (PDF-embedded signer checklists, standardized page numbering, custom report pages).
    • Ester® AI upgrades: open-ended Q&A, side‑by‑side answers from Gemini, Claude, Meta & Mistral, linked citations, follow‑ups with context, rich text editor, folder-level uploads, and more.
    • Planning enhancements: Ownership Balance Sheet flexibility, EstateFlow auto-populated tax & exemption data, client creation without email.
    • Security: SOC 2 Type II, PCI-DSS, AES‑256, per-document keys, and Vault upgrades (multi-file upload, “Presentation Materials” category).
    • Advisor enablement: Advisor Marketing Kit and Wealth Academy (self-paced, CE-ready content coming).
  • Coming later this year: Atomic Components—full visual, layout, and brand-level customization of Wealth.com.
  • New service: Mobile Notary—$175 for one document, $300 for an entire plan, with personalized scheduling to meet your clients where they are.
  • Stay current: Real-time legal and tax updates (including Washington’s estate tax changes and DC’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act) flow directly into EstateFlow, Report Builder, and more.
  • Save the date: The Estate Planning Conference — January 26–28, 2026, Montelucia Resort, Scottsdale, AZ. Admiral William McRaven, Michael Kitces, and Larry Fitzgerald will headline the event.

A year of momentum, and we’re just getting started

At the event, Co-Founder & CGO Tim White walked through a run of milestones that underscore how quickly estate planning is moving from “nice to have” to core infrastructure for modern wealth management:

  • April: Partnership with Cetera brings Wealth.com access to 12,000+ advisors nationwide.
  • Two weeks later: Charles Schwab makes a strategic investment—pairing modern, AI-driven innovation with a legacy of fiduciary trust.
  • May: We booked the Montelucia Resort for our first-ever industry conference—The Estate Planning Conference—January 26–28, 2026.
  • June: WealthManagement.com names Wealth.com a finalist in six categories, including Estate Planning Tech, AI Innovation, and CEO of the Year.
  • The very next day: Commonwealth Financial Network selects Wealth.com as its exclusive estate planning solution for 2,300+ advisors.

These aren’t isolated wins—they’re a signal of where the industry is going and who’s building the rails.

What’s live now: Platform innovations & AI enhancements

Danny Lohrfink, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer, showcased the product you can use today, not a roadmap.

Sharper document & reporting workflows
  • PDF-embedded signer checklists with exact page references and signature guidance.
  • Standardized page numbering across multi-document plans for a seamless client experience.
  • Report Builder, upgraded: Insert custom pages with editable text—think Goals & Objectives, Decision Makers summaries, and firm-branded takeaways.
Ester® gets (a lot) smarter

Ester®, the first AI legal assistant trained specifically on estate planning documents, just received major upgrades:

  • Ask open-ended questions (“Does this trust allow discretionary distributions?”).
  • Model transparency: See side-by-side answers from Gemini, Claude, Meta, and Mistral.
  • Linked citations in the Executive Summary—hover to see precisely where answers came from.
  • Conversational follow-ups with full context for deeper exploration.
  • Rich text editor to format and personalize replies before sharing.
  • Folder-level uploads: Drop an entire estate plan (trusts, wills, directives, etc.) and Ester® reviews it all at once.
  • One-click feedback helps our in-house AI team continuously improve.
Faster, cleaner planning
  • Ownership Balance Sheet: Rearrange columns, visually separate in- and out-of-estate assets, and set custom historical valuation dates.
  • EstateFlow: Auto-populates exemption and state-specific tax rates based on the client’s address.
  • Client creation without email: Stand up models and reviews faster—perfect for prospects or uninvited household members.
Security, elevated

Trust is non-negotiable. Wealth.com is SOC 2 Type II and PCI-DSS certified; data is encrypted in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest (AES-256), and every document has a unique encryption key. The Vault now supports multi-file uploads and a new “Presentation Materials” category for easy storage and sharing of client-ready deliverables.

Coming later this year: Atomic Components

Think of this as granular control over every pixel. Fonts, colors, layouts, interactions—everything can be configured to reflect your brand. Our goal isn’t to extend your brand. It’s to let our outputs become your brand. Rollout begins later this year.

Legal experience & Mobile Notary (live today)

Alaina Lacter, Senior Product Counsel, highlighted how our in-house legal team—with experience from Willkie Farr & Gallagher, McDermott Will & Emery, Commonwealth, Fox Rothschild, and more—keeps you aligned with evolving law and regulation.

Introducing Mobile Notary (now available)
  • Request directly from Wealth.com—we coordinate with your client to schedule the notary (and witnesses, if needed).
  • Clients can initiate it, too, right from their portal—advisors stay in-the-loop without the back-and-forth.
  • Simple, transparent pricing:
    • $175 for a single document
    • $295 for a full estate plan

No more delays due to logistics. Higher completion rates, faster turnarounds, and a better client experience.

Note: Some accounts may not have access to mobile notary yet.

Real-time legislative updates, built in

From Washington State’s estate tax changes to DC’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, our legal + product teams push updates directly into EstateFlow, Report Builder, and all tax/exemption logic—so you never operate on stale numbers.

Want to go deeper on the One Big Beautiful Bill? Visit Wealth.com/OBBB for:

  • A CFP CE-eligible session led by in-house counsel Dave Haughton
  • Client-ready PDFs that clearly explain what changed and why it matters
  • More resources to help you turn hundreds of pages of legislation into minutes of clarity

Integrations, marketing enablement & education

David Thompson, VP of Product Strategy, walked through how we’re expanding the Wealth.com ecosystem so estate planning snaps directly into your tech stack and client journey.

Deeper, faster integrations
  • eMoney: Import client profiles and asset data in seconds—no manual entry.
  • Black Diamond: Bring in client assets and flow them throughout the platform.
  • More coming soon: Advyzon, Orion, and MoneyGuide Pro.

Check our integrations page for the latest lineup.

Announcing the Advisor Marketing Kit (available today)

Everything you need to launch, promote, and scale your estate planning offering:

  • A three-part email campaign
  • Customizable press release
  • Client presentation deck (in-person or virtual)
  • Office flyers & posters
  • Six social media graphics (multiple colorways)
  • Animated explainer video with your logo
    Folder design template for printed materials
Wealth Academy
  • Wealth Academy: Our new learning hub, with self-paced courses that mirror the in-app experience—plus advisor-led sessions, CE content, and more on the way.

A follow-up email to all attendees will include the full recording and a direct link to the Advisor Marketing Kit.

See you in Scottsdale: The Estate Planning Conference (Jan 26–28, 2026)

Tim White and Danny Lohrfink closed with one more big invite:

We’ve bought out the Montelucia Resort in Scottsdale for The Estate Planning Conference—a first-of-its-kind, industry-defining event for modern advisors and firm leaders.

Keynotes & featured speakers include:

  • Admiral William McRaven
  • Michael Kitces
  • Larry Fitzgerald

If you’re building for the future of wealth management, this is where you need to be. Reserve your spot at Wealth.com/EstateCon.

Watch the recording. Talk to us.

We’re just getting started. Thanks for building the future of estate planning with us.

What the One Big Beautiful Bill Means for Advisors And Clients

Signed into law on July 4, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act brings sweeping and permanent changes to the tax code. Whether you find it beautiful or not, the law is here, and it’s here to stay, at least until Congress says otherwise.

At Wealth.com, our job is to help you cut through the noise and understand what matters to you, your clients, and their long-term planning. Below is a breakdown of the key provisions, ranked by relevance to financial advisors.

1. Estate Tax Exemption Increased

Effective 2026:

  • $15 million per person exemption (indexed for inflation), or $30 million per couple with portability.
  • Modestly higher than the current $13.99M exemption.

Why it matters:

  • Ultra-HNW families now have added breathing room.
  • We don’t know where the political landscape will be in future years, so advisors should revisit gifting, trust strategies, and dynasty planning to take advantage of the unprecedentedly high exemption level

2. SALT Deduction Cap Increased but Be Careful

The SALT deduction cap rises to $40,000, but phases out between $500k and $600k AGI. It sunsets after 2029.

Why it matters:

  • For high-income clients in high-tax states, $500k–$600k AGI is a major planning danger zone.
  • Marriage penalty remains (thresholds not doubled), so filing strategies may need a fresh look.

3. Ordinary Income Tax Brackets Made Permanent

The current seven-bracket system (10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, 37%) is now permanent.

Why it matters: 

  • Offers long-term visibility for Roth conversion strategies, bracket management, and retirement distributions.

4. Bonus Depreciation & Section 179 Expansion

Bonus Depreciation: Permanently reinstated at 100% for assets placed in service after Jan 20, 2025.

Section 179:

  • Max deduction: $2.5M
  • Phaseout starts at $4M

Why it matters:

  • Business-owner clients have powerful new tools for capital expenditure and tax strategy.
  • Time to revisit cost segregation studies and acquisition planning.

5. QBI Deduction Extended But Still Mostly Off-Limits to Advisors

The deduction is now permanent, and the income phaseout range is modestly expanded, but most white-collar professionals (advisors, CPAs, attorneys) remain excluded.

Why it matters:

Most advisors still won’t qualify, but many business-owner clients will. This can be a prompt to revisit income levels, entity structure, and whether clients are leaving deductions on the table.

6. Trump Accounts: New Child-Focused Savings Vehicle

  • $5k annual contributions allowed before child turns 18
  • IRA-like tax treatment (no upfront deduction)
  • Employers can contribute $2,500 tax-free for dependents
  • IRS pilot program contributes $1,000 for 2025–2028 births

Why it matters:

  • A brand-new vehicle for education and long-term child savings strategies
  • Strong planning opportunity for multigenerational wealth discussions

7. Standard Deduction + New Senior Deduction

New standard deduction (2025):

  • MFJ: $31,500
  • Single: $15,750
  • HOH: $23,625

New Senior Deduction: $6,000 per taxpayer age 65+, phases out above $150k MFJ / $75k others, expires 2028

Why it matters:

  • Seniors near the phaseout cliff need modeling
  • Great lead-in for broader retirement income planning

8. Child & Adoption Credits Expanded

  • Child Tax Credit: $2,200 per child, inflation-adjusted, and permanent
  • Adoption Credit: Now partially refundable (up to $5k) starting 2025

9. Car Loan Interest Deduction (2025–2028)

  • Deduct up to $10,000 annually for new car loans only (no leases & other stipulations)
  • Phases out above $200k MAGI MFJ, $100k others

10. Student Loan Repayment: Employer Benefit Made Permanent

Employers may contribute up to $5,250 annually toward employee student loans tax-free

Why it matters:

  • Business-owner clients can enhance benefit offerings
  • Great way to attract and retain younger talent

11. 529 Plan Qualified Expenses Expanded

529 plans may now be used for a broader set of K‑12 and homeschool-related expenses, including:

  • Curriculum and instructional materials
  • Books or digital educational content
  • Tutoring and outside‑home educational classes
  • Testing fees
  • Dual enrollment tuition
  • Educational therapies and adaptive learning tools

Why it matters:
 529 accounts have become more versatile – they’re not just for college. This opens up powerful opportunities for families funding private school, homeschooling, supplemental learning, or special education. Smart planning here can help manage overfunded balances and support long‑term multigenerational strategies.

What’s Next:

Hear from Sr. Corporate Counsel, Dave Haughton, JD, CPWA® 

We hosted a special webinar session, “The One Big Beautiful Bill: What Every Advisor Needs to Know,” led by Wealth.com’s Sr. Corporate Counsel, Dave Haughton, JD, CPWA®.

Watch the Recording Here

Send Key Takeaways to Your Clients

Looking for a resource to send directly to clients and prospects as a helpful resource? We have a client-friendly downloadable PDF with all the relevant estate and tax planning highlights from the Big Beautiful Bill.

Download the Client Takeaways PDF Here 

The tax code may have changed, but the core of great advising hasn’t. In a sea of new rules and revised deductions, your role as a trusted guide is more important than ever. The advisors who lean in now, who anticipate, educate, and elevate, will be the ones who grow deeper client loyalty and lasting impact. At Wealth.com, we’re equipping you with the tools to turn complexity into confidence, and deliver lasting legacies for your clients.

Big Changes to Washington’s Estate Tax: What Financial Advisors Need to Know

On May 20, 2025, Washington Governor, Bob Ferguson, signed new tax legislation that will have a significant impact on estate planning for clients in the state. These changes—which include both a higher exemption amount and steeper tax rates for larger estates—will take effect on July 1, 2025. Here’s what financial advisors should know to guide clients effectively.

What’s Changing?

Higher Estate Tax Exemption

Effective July 1, 2025, the estate tax exemption will increase from $2.193 million to $3 million. This means that the first $3 million of an estate’s value will be exempt from Washington’s state estate tax. For many clients, this increase offers additional room to pass wealth to heirs without incurring state-level estate taxes. The exemption amount will also be adjusted annually for inflation. The legislation also increases the state qualified family-owned business interest deduction to $3 million from $2.5 million.

Steeper Tax Rates for Larger Estates

While the higher exemption is welcome news for smaller estates, larger estates will face higher tax rates under the new legislation:

  • Estates exceeding $9 million will be taxed at a rate of 35%—up from the current top rate of 20%.
  • Estates valued between $1 million and $9 million will see marginal rates increasing on a graduated scale, ranging from 15% to 30%, depending on the estate’s taxable value.
Taxable Estate Value in WashingtonCurrent Tax RateNew Tax Rate (Effective July 1, 2025)
$0 – $1M10%10%
$1M – $2M14%15%
$2M – $3M15%17%
$3M – $4M16%19%
$4M – $6M18%23%
$6M – $7M19%26%
$7M – $9M19.5%30%
$9M+20%35%

Washington’s Capital Gains Tax: An Additional Planning Consideration

Effective retroactively to January 1, 2025, Washington now imposes an additional 2.9% surtax on capital gains exceeding $1 million per year. This is on top of the existing 7% tax on long-term capital gains over $270,000 (2024 inflation-adjusted amount). As a result, gains over $1 million will now be taxed at a combined state rate of 9.9%.

While the capital gains tax is separate from the estate tax, it’s an important planning consideration for high-net-worth clients. Large capital gains may reduce estate liquidity and potentially influence how clients structure wealth transfers and trust funding.

Why This Matters to Your Clients

Washington is one of several states that imposes a separate estate tax in addition to the federal estate tax. In addition to the federal estate tax at 40% for taxable estates greater than $13.99 million for 2025, larger estates will be subject to both the federal tax and the highest state estate tax rates in the country. For Washington clients with estates exceeding $3 million, it’s essential to:

  • Review existing estate plans and trust structures to ensure they align with the new exemption amount and higher rates.
  • Consider lifetime gifting strategies to reduce the taxable estate before death. Remember, Washington does not tax lifetime gifts, offering a powerful planning opportunity.
  • Integrate capital gains planning with estate tax mitigation strategies, especially for clients with taxable estates or those anticipating a large transaction, like the sale of a business.
  • Explore family-owned business deductions and other planning strategies to manage the potential tax impact.

Stay Ahead of the Curve

At Wealth.com, we understand that staying ahead of legislative changes is crucial to delivering exceptional service to your clients. To review the new legislation in full, click here.

Curious how to bring estate planning into your practice or how these changes could impact your clients? Book a demo to see how Wealth.com can help you deliver deeper value through modern, compliant estate planning. Our platform’s tools make it easy to integrate these changes into your clients’ estate plans, ensuring they remain aligned with the latest tax laws.

Commonwealth Chooses Wealth.com to Deliver Estate Planning Platform Access to Network of Advisors

PHOENIX, AZ – June 3, 2025 — Wealth.com, the leading end-to-end estate planning platform, today announced it has been selected by Commonwealth Financial Network® (“Commonwealth”) as an estate planning solution for its more than 2,300 affiliated independent financial advisors. The partnership positions Wealth.com as a core component of Commonwealth’s broader effort to bring specialized planning services to advisors looking to attract and retain high-net-worth (HNW) clients through seamless, integrated estate planning as part of a comprehensive client experience.
“We continually seek innovative solutions that help our advisors get time back in their day while also becoming strategic partners for their clients, including HNW clients,” said Heather Zack, JD, director, high net worth, at Commonwealth. “Wealth.com simplifies estate planning nuances with a modern, tech-enabled approach. This partnership enables our advisors to grow, scale and deepen relationships by delivering a full spectrum of wealth management solutions to their clients.”
Wealth.com’s platform includes powerful tools such as Ester™, an AI-powered legal assistant that automates document review and generates client-ready summaries. For Commonwealth advisors, these innovations can translate into time savings, deeper planning insights and the ability to deliver more proactive, personalized estate guidance. Advisors gain the ability to seamlessly incorporate estate planning into their broader wealth management process, with the opportunity to strengthen client relationships, improve retention across generations and drive growth at scale.
By introducing Wealth.com into its suite of planning services, Commonwealth is equipping advisors with tools that simplify the estate planning process, transforming what was once a complex and static task into an accessible, ongoing part of a client’s financial life.
“We’re honored to be named Commonwealth’s estate planning partner,” said Tim White, co-founder and chief growth officer at Wealth.com. “This partnership reflects not only the strength of our platform, but also the shift taking place across the industry. Scalable, modern estate planning solutions are in demand, and Commonwealth is enabling their advisors to meet the evolving needs of their clients.”
Additional onboarding resources and training sessions will be made available to Commonwealth advisors in the coming months to support implementation and engagement. To learn more about Wealth.com’s advanced, end-to-end estate planning platform, please visit Wealth.com.

About Commonwealth Financial Network®

Commonwealth Financial Network, Member FINRA/SIPC, a Registered Investment Adviser, provides financial advisors with holistic, integrated solutions that support business evolution, growth acceleration, and operational efficiency. J.D. Power ranks Commonwealth “#1 in Independent Advisor Satisfaction Among Financial Investment Firms, 11 Times in a Row.” Founded in 1979, the firm has headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts, and San Diego, California, and an operations hub in Blue Ash, Ohio. Learn more about how Commonwealth partners with approximately 2,345 independent financial advisors overseeing more than $344 billion* in assets nationwide by visiting www.commonwealth.com. Commonwealth received the highest score among independent advisors in the J.D. Power 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2018‒2024 U.S. Financial Advisor Satisfaction Studies. Presented on July 10, 2024, for January to May of 2024, it is based on responses from 4,072 advisors employed by or affiliated with the firms included in the study. Not indicative of the firm’s future performance. Your experience may vary. Study is independently conducted, and the participating firms do not pay to participate. Use of study results in promotional materials is subject to a license fee. Visit jdpower.com/awards for more details.

* As of 12/31/2024

About Wealth.com

Wealth.com is the industry’s leading estate planning platform, empowering 1,000+ wealth management firms to modernize the delivery of estate planning guidance to their clients. As the only tech-led, end-to-end estate planning platform built specifically for financial institutions, Wealth.com helps drive scale and efficiency, meeting client needs across the wealth spectrum. Financial advisors ranked Wealth.com as the #1 estate planning platform in the 2024 T3/Inside Information Advisor Software Survey. In 2024, Wealth.com was honored by WealthManagement.com as the ‘Best Technology Provider’ in the Trust category, and CEO Rafael Loureiro received the Advisor Choice Award for Technology Providers: CEO of the Year.

MEDIA CONTACT:

StreetCred PR
[email protected]

Hannah Dixon
317-590-0915
[email protected]

Rob Farmer
415-377-3293
[email protected]

Wealth.com Announces Inaugural Estate Planning Conference

PHOENIX–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Wealth.com, the leading digital estate planning platform for financial advisors, today announced plans for its first annual industry-wide event: The Estate Planning Conference, taking place Jan. 26-28, 2026, at the Montelucia Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona, which has been reserved in its entirety for attendees. Designed to unite financial advisors, estate planners and wealth management leaders, the conference will feature more than 15 hours of CFP® continuing education (CE)-level content, world-class speakers and a fully immersive resort experience dedicated to education, collaboration and community.

Attendees will gain access to top-tier insights from a roster of leading experts and thought leaders who are shaping the future of estate planning and finance. By establishing a dynamic platform for estate planning education, Wealth.com is setting a new standard for professional development in the wealth management space. The Estate Planning Conference will further empower advisors to integrate estate planning with confidence and help firms meet evolving client needs while deepening trust and value. It is open to all financial professionals with firms of any size and all affiliations. For those unable to attend in person, Wealth.com will share select sessions and key takeaways online, helping to ensure the educational impact reaches the broader industry.

“Estate planning deserves a place at the center of advisor education,” said Dan Bolton, head of marketing at Wealth.com. “That is why we are dedicating significant resources to make The Estate Planning Conference the premier event of its kind. Attendees can expect sessions led by global leaders, unmatched opportunities to collaborate with peers and an experience designed to inspire long after the conference ends.”

This announcement builds on a period of rapid momentum for Wealth.com, which now serves as the preferred estate planning platform for more than 1,000 wealth management firms. Over the past year, Wealth.com has attracted funding from Google Ventures, Charles Schwab, and Citi, which continues to fuel its evolving platform. In March, the company unveiled its Scenario Builder—the industry’s first all-in-one estate planning modeling tool—enabling advisors, planners and estate attorneys to evaluate the potential impacts of various strategies on a client’s estate. Together, these advancements reflect Wealth.com’s continued appeal as well as its commitment to meeting the growing demand for modern, scalable estate planning solutions across the wealth management landscape.

Registration for The Estate Planning Conference is available now at wealth.com/estatecon. To learn more about Wealth.com’s advanced, end-to-end estate planning platform, please visit Wealth.com.

About Wealth.com

Wealth.com is the industry’s leading estate planning platform, empowering 1,000+ wealth management firms to modernize the delivery of estate planning guidance to their clients. As the only tech-led, end-to-end estate planning platform built specifically for financial institutions, Wealth.com helps drive scale and efficiency, meeting client needs across the wealth spectrum. Financial advisors ranked Wealth.com as the #1 estate planning platform in the 2024 T3/Inside Information Advisor Software Survey. In 2024, Wealth.com was honored by WealthManagement.com as the ‘Best Technology Provider’ in the Trust category, and CEO Rafael Loureiro received the Advisor Choice Award for Technology Providers: CEO of the Year.

 

Contacts

MEDIA CONTACT:

StreetCred PR
[email protected]

Audrey Love
865-253-6082
[email protected]

Rob Farmer
415-377-3293
[email protected]

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