As one of the fastest-growing states in the nation, Nevada has a lot to grapple with: housing, taxes, construction, and education have all been hot topics for locals.
Behind the scenes, a boom in the retirement population has driven even more change across the state. In 2025 alone, nearly 40 percent of new moves to Nevada were retirees, with the number projected to climb as more locals reach retirement age.
Retirement-Friendly
While the warm weather and entertainment venues attract plenty of retirees, it’s actually Nevada’s economic structure that makes the state so compelling for the 60-plus demographic.
“We as a state are a very, very favorable trust jurisdiction,” said Clark Knobel, a Reno-based trust attorney at Snell & Wilmer. “Nevada is one of the best states in the country to create a trust, not only for ultra-high net worth individuals, but also for everyone else.”
It’s the taxes (or lack thereof) that make Nevada easy. “There is no state income or inheritance tax,” Knobel said. State law not only keeps more of the assets in the trust initially but is also proactive in retaining them long-term.
“We’re known as an anti-creditor state, primarily because of the Nevada domestic asset protection trusts,” Dana Dwiggins, a Las Vegas-based trust attorney with Solomon Dwiggins Freer Steadman, said.
Nevada Asset Protection Trusts (NAPT) do not allow creditors to make claims on assets within the trust, safeguarding the assets for the beneficiaries.
Nevada is also one of the few states that still protects dynasty trusts – an estate planning tool that allows family wealth to go from generation to generation “in perpetuity.”
“You can pass down your assets for 365 years in Nevada,” Knobel said. “This is without the state income tax, and with special tax exemptions on transfers.”
Who Needs a Trust?
Even without a dynasty to maintain, a trust should still be in the typical retirement plan. “It’s very, very common for people to think they do not own enough assets to warrant a trust,” Dwiggins said.
But a car, a house, a checking account, these are assets.”
Even if the assets aren’t objectively valuable, anything with sentimental value can be worth putting in a trust.
“A big benefit of a trust is personal property distribution based on your desire,” Knobel said. “Mom’s earrings, dad’s watch – things I have seen the kids fight over – can be placed in a trust and then given to who you’d like.”
Where there’s a will…
A will serves a similar function to trusts – asset delegation – but is less private. “If you have a will, your assets are directed to those terms, certain sums of money to your children, your spouse, whomever,” Knobel said. “But with a will, everything is public – you’re basically in a public forum.”
The strategy, Knobel said, is to combine a trust with a special kind of will.
“A pour-over will captures assets not placed in a trust,” he said. “It gives the individual more flexibility.”
Sweat the Small Stuff
Without a trust or pour-over will, assets are subject to probate, or court-administered allocation. Knobel said he sees this more often than he’d like.
“Cryptocurrency is something that’s coming up a lot lately,” Knobel said. “Take Coinbase, for example. Each wallet has a unique identifier, like Ethereum, Bitcoin – they all have their own wallets. If they’re in your name, they have to individually be put inside your trust.”
While it may seem like a small oversight, a few open, unassigned accounts can quickly result in time in a courtroom.
“I’ve seen this create a lot of frustration on the client’s side,” Knobel said. “If you’re going to spend so much money and time creating a trust, you have to be diligent about either putting every single asset into the trust, or building a safety net with the pour-over will.”
Leaving out a crypto wallet or otherwise stranding an asset from a trust or will is rarely the attorney’s oversight, Dwiggins said.
“Most estate planners, when they form a trust, with very few exceptions, set up pour-over wills in conjunction,” she said. “It’s not a mistake by way of the attorney – it is more often the client not following through by naming the assets for the trust, that final step.”
Keeping a running list of assets is the best course of action.
“The process of estate planning can be summarized as ‘What do you have? Who do you love? And how much do you want to give them?’” Knobel said.
Planning for Tomorrow and Today
The same goes for retirement financial planning. “The first step in budgeting for your retired years is to track your spending,” said Blake Candreva, owner and lead advisor at Nevada Retirement Planners and Senior Advisors. “Then, consider what you plan to do and how much income is needed to cover those expenses.”
Most of Candreva’s clients have big dreams in retirement: travel, visit friends and family, and, primarily, stay away from work. All these goals require a steady flow of cash – something that takes real planning.
“It’s always the little things that throw retirement budgets off,” Candreva said.
The biggest wrinkle? Subscriptions. “HBO Max, Netflix, and Hulu are common expenses that really build up when you’re not paying attention,” he said. “Suddenly, you have a monthly, triple-digit expense that you weren’t planning for. That’s the kind of thing that will really limit your ability to live out retirement in the way you want.
Candreva said clients also underestimate entertainment expenses, like going out to eat. “You have to be honest about your spending to have a viable retirement budget,” he said. On average, “even the best clients are 10 to 15 percent light on expenses.”
But that’s just on the day-to-day spending. What really sours a retirement dream are extraordinary and emergency expenses. “Hopefully your retirement is long,” Candreva said. “But a lot can happen in 20 years – your roof can collapse, water heater breaks, AC unit dies. That’s tens of thousands of dollars overnight.”
Without a realistic plan, compromises must be made.
“Worst case scenario, you’re back in the workforce,” he said. “But what I see often is that these grand plans have to give – instead of visiting your friends and family or going on your trips, you’re stuck at home.”
Candreva’s biggest piece of advice? “Pick a financial advisor you can be honest with,” he said. “Someone who will listen to you and then act in your best interest.”
Be Choosy
The same rule of thumb applies for trust and estate management.
“The fiduciary, or trustee in our case of overseeing trusts, will look over and manage your assets,” Knobel said.
The primary responsibility of a trustee is to “act prudently,” Knobel said, putting the trust’s beneficiaries’ needs first.
“Typically, our suits arise over breaches of this fiduciary duty to invest and manage the trust and its assets independently,” Knobel said. “When a trustee begins treating trust assets as their own, taking loans out against the trust or similar behavior, they’ve failed in their duties and created space for litigation.”
Mishandling a trust’s assets isn’t always malicious, Knobel said – but that doesn’t matter. “I’ve seen trustees put in place who did not have a firm grasp on what their fiduciary duties were – even some who receive estate plans and just don’t read them,” he said. “But unknowingly breaching your duties is still a breach.”
Selecting a solid trustee from the beginning is the best way to stay out of the courtroom. “Give great thought to picking a trustee,” Knobel said. “This individual or trust company will be managing what you worked your entire life to build. Whoever you select should not only be trustworthy, but capable and experienced.”
While a trust and will are preferred, the bare minimum, Dwiggins said, is powers of attorney for healthcare and finances.
“While you’re alive, if you’re somehow incapacitated, someone will need to make decisions,” she said. “Who you select could be paying your bills, filing your taxes, managing social security, and making decisions about your healthcare. It’s really, really important.”
Having a power of attorney avoids guardianship and ensures that the right people are taking care of the individual.
“You can select someone to manage your health and another to manage your finances,” Dwiggins said. “They don’t have to be the same person – in fact, they often are not. If your son is a nurse and your daughter is a finance professional, then they should serve in those separate roles.”
All these wishes should be documented. “Everything should be in writing,” Knobel said. “Everything. If you want a do not resuscitate order, that has to be put down, pen to paper – for peace of mind, formalize everything you want.”
Living Documents
Financial plans, wills, and trusts aren’t one-and-done processes. “One of the biggest mistakes I see clients make is not keeping things current,” Candreva said. “If your plans have changed, if your expenses have significantly increased or decreased, we need to know.”
Knobel also advises check-ins. “You should be updating all of your documents periodically,” Knobel said. “The beneficiaries you carefully picked two years ago, are they still the best choice? Are they even in your life still?”
Knobel said ex-girlfriends, former husbands, and estranged family members will sometimes end up with the hot potato due to outdated plans. “If you’ve had more children since you drafted your will, please update it,” Knobel said. “It’s cheaper to pay the lawyer now to make the change than fight through litigation.”
Dwiggins emphasized that any updates need to be made across the board. “What I see often with retirees is that they may say in their will that John gets the 401K, but the 401K’s beneficiary designation is to Jane,” she said. “They don’t realize that it’s the designation that controls, not the will – this mismatch results in your assets not necessarily going where you wanted.”
Don’t DIY These Plans
While some financial planning can be done independently, Candreva also advises consulting the professionals. “Have a trusted individual close to you look at your plan, but then bring it in,” he said.
Something Candreva sees often with retirees is misjudged income tax. “Many of my clients are moving from California and other high-tax areas for the tax breaks,” Candreva said. “But, if you are a snowbird, for example, or otherwise live in another state for six months plus one day, you’re now subject to that state’s taxes.”
The result is a budget with a large, understated income tax line. “That’s just one of the items we know to look for and can help you plan around,” he said.
When it comes to developing a will, trust, or picking powers of attorney, both Dwiggins and Knobel cautioned against going out alone, especially by using sites like LegalZoom.
“I see a lot of seniors using these sites,” Dwiggins said. “That is where all these tiny errors build up – the mismatch of beneficiaries, the assets left off the trust, ignoring joint tenancy controls. To ensure your bases are covered, it’s best to come in.”
Knobel said in his experience, DIY doesn’t just result in a few skipped details, but blatant errors.
“I’ve read some of these contracts that you can create yourself, and some of the terms are just absurd,” he said. “They’re not as well thought out, and sometimes, the plans within don’t even make sense. Trust and estate law is complicated enough that it’s in your best interest to seek professional advice.”
Professionals don’t have to be expensive, high-profile attorneys. In Nevada, seniors have access to the Senior Law Project, which provides free legal services to individuals 60 and up. Dwiggins serves on the board.
“We can help with everything we’ve discussed,” Dwiggins said. “Powers of attorney, simple wills, basic estate planning, it’s all free of charge for seniors so you’re not going into retirement without a plan.”
