As we head to the end of the year, there is no finalized tax policy from Congress. 

Things have been scaled back considerably from the initial proposals. It appears the tax on inherited as­­sets is dead. This was a huge concern of farmers who were passing on land and other assets to family. 

It seems likely that the capital gains tax may increase from the maximum of 20% to 25%. Currently, an individual may pass on $11.7 million of assets tax free at death, or $23.4 million if married. Discussion has been to lower this to $5 million or $3.5 million per person. Those may seem like adequate amounts, but when ...