 All right, it's the first of the year 2018 and you've got questions about the latest changes in the tax laws. Let's go over a few of those changes. Well, one of the best items of news is for those of you that do not itemize your deductions and that's about 70% of tax filers. The individual exemption has gone from a little over $6,000 to now $12,000 for individuals and it's gone from a little less than $13,000 for married couple to a standard deduction of $24,000. That's good news. And what about inheritance taxes? This obviously affects estate planning and there's been a significant jump in the deduction. Now, your estate can pass on over $11,200,000 worth of assets in a properly planned estate if you're a single person. If you're a married couple and you dot all the I's and cross all this T's, it's going to be over $22 million. So that means the vast majority of us can pass on millions of dollars worth of assets and businesses to our loved ones with a properly planned estate. Well, with all these huge deductions and exemptions, does that mean you don't have to worry about estate planning? On the contrary, these exemptions are set to expire in 2025. So you really can't count on them. Besides, planning for the estate tax exemption is not the reason you do an estate plan. Sure, it's one of the reasons, but you want to pass on your assets correctly to your individuals, to your loved ones and in the right way so that you can benefit yourself and benefit them. And this requires a properly planned, properly coordinated estate. There are limits and restrictions on most of these deductions and many of the deductions will expire by 2025 or 2026. So we can't take everything for granted. And in California, we've lost a significant right off in mortgage deductions and interest deductions. It's now limited to a cap of $10,000. So we give a little, we take a little bit, but hopefully for most of us, the bottom line is we're going to pay a little bit more in taxes or we're going to pay a little less in taxes. And if you're a non-itemized deduction person, which is 70% of the population, you're going to actually get a little bit more in your paycheck. So one of the resolutions, and I don't make many, but one of the resolutions I for sure make is either setting up an estate plan or having your old estate plan reviewed by your estate planning attorney. That's the best resolution you can make. I hope you've learned something from this little short video on some of the basic glaring changes in the new tax law. And I'd love it if you'd share what you've learned with friends and family. In fact, please feel free to share this video. Click the share button and give it to friends and family. No matter what, I hope you have a wonderful, happy, prosperous, new year.