How is Growth Affecting Your Financial Plan?
Posted on November 12, 2026
Strong investment returns are obviously a good thing. But sustained growth can create a planning issue that is easy to overlook: your estate may be growing faster than your estate plan anticipated.
At Florida Trust, we have seen the impact of successful investment strategies and market appreciation firsthand, with meaningful growth across many client portfolios. For families with substantial wealth, that growth can materially change the amount ultimately subject to estate tax, the liquidity that may be needed at death, and the strategies that make sense today.
The key is to think beyond what an estate is worth today. Consider a hypothetical $20 million estate growing at 6% annually. Without accounting for spending, gifts or other changes, it would grow to nearly $48 million over 15 years.
Under current federal law, the basic estate and gift tax exclusion is $15 million, adjusted for inflation, per individual in 2026. A family that previously viewed itself as comfortably outside the reach of federal estate tax may, over time, find itself with a taxable estate simply because its assets continued to appreciate. Add a successful business, concentrated stock position, real estate or other appreciating assets, and the numbers can change even more dramatically.
Projections Matter
Estate planning projections are increasingly important. A good projection takes the family’s current balance sheet and looks forward. What is the estate worth in 10 or 20 years? What happens under different rates of return? What if a business is sold? How much wealth may ultimately be exposed to estate tax? And what would the family like to accomplish with that wealth?
For some families, the answer may be to begin transferring assets earlier. Lifetime gifting can remove both the value of the asset transferred and its future appreciation from the taxable estate. Depending on the circumstances, trusts and other techniques can provide additional flexibility while balancing tax efficiency with access, control and protection.
For others, the priority may be liquidity. A family may have significant wealth but hold much of it in a closely held business, real estate or other illiquid assets. An estate tax liability at death can create pressure to sell assets at an undesirable time. Modeling that potential liability in advance gives the family and its advisors time to evaluate how it could be funded.
Planning Should Be Coordinated
None of this planning should occur in isolation. Investment management, tax planning and estate planning are interconnected. A change in the portfolio can affect the estate projection. A gifting strategy can create income-tax consequences. An estate-planning technique may affect how assets should be owned, managed or distributed.
Florida Trust’s role is usually to bring those pieces together. We work alongside a client’s existing CPA and estate-planning attorney, providing the financial information and long-term projections needed to evaluate alternatives. The attorney and CPA can then evaluate the appropriate legal structure and related income, gift, and estate-tax implications within their respective areas of expertise.
On Your Side of the Table
As a fiduciary, our responsibility is to remain on the client’s side of the table. We are not advocating for a particular legal document, tax strategy or transaction simply because it can be implemented. Our role is to help objectively evaluate, understand the tradeoffs and make sure recommendations align with the family’s broader financial goals, especially as wealth changes.
Is Your Plan Keeping Up?
An estate plan completed several years ago may still contain the right documents, but the assumptions behind it may no longer reflect reality. Growth is what investors want. The question is whether the rest of the financial plan is keeping up with it. Florida Trust can help you make that determination.
Is Your Current Estate Plan Keeping Up?
An estate plan completed several years ago may still contain the right documents, but the assumptions behind it may no longer reflect reality. Growth is what investors want. The question is whether the rest of the financial plan is keeping up with it.
Florida Trust Wealth Management can help you evaluate how changes in your wealth may affect your broader financial and estate planning needs, working alongside your CPA and estate-planning attorney. When you are ready, we are here to help. Visit floridatrust.com
Ian N. Breusch, CFA – COO, Portfolio Management
Matthew Rymer, CFA, CPA, Family Office Services
LEGAL, INVESTMENT AND TAX NOTICE: This information is not intended to be and should not be treated as legal advice, investment advice or tax advice. Readers, including professionals, should under no circumstances rely upon this information as a substitute for their own research or for obtaining specific legal or tax advice from their own counsel. Not FDIC Insured | No Guarantee | May Lose Value
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