A married couple can gift $38,000 per recipient per year without tax consequences and no form filed.
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Why are people stuck on 19k? You just need to file a tax, no taxes paid.
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I thought there was a penalty. My bad.
A gift of more than $19K by a single person to a recipient counts against your lifetime exemption whereas $19K does not.
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If you gift more than the $19,000 per year that is allowed, you fill out form 709, and as everyone has said, no tax is due. Form 709 captures the amount of the gift, and reduces your $15 million lifetime exclusion by the amount of the gift reported on form 709.
If your estate is nowhere near $15 million, then this will not be an issue. I have no idea what will happen if the federal government should reduce the $15 million estate tax limit. As in, will these previously filed form 709 amounts be subtracted from a future lower estate tax limit.
The form is fairly easy to fill out; I had to file it when super funding 529 account.
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Agree! I just wrote the same, but used far more words to say it!
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Most people think you would need to pay taxes if it’s over 19k. As you stated it only counts toward cumulative amount. I don’t think most people will have more than 15 mill in their estate. But maybe it’s not the case with the CC crowd. 
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The tax code is so much more complicated than it needs to be.
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He might be a ‘short-timer’ in CA, or maybe long-timer. He has to weigh out costs and opportunities, get used to the higher cost of living and taxes there. Maybe this move will advance his career to where he can then move back to lower cost-of-living area. I know a couple who worked in CA as engineers and then moved to Atlanta area, and then bought a home in GA. But I also know some that work and stay in CA. My aunt/uncle/cousins are in CA (San Jose area) - and they say when their friends move out-of-state, they don’t move back. A cousin’s son is doing well in DFW area and no plans to move back to CA.
Instead of putting more into retirement fund I would suggest he build up a personal stock account - and then if he decides to purchase a condo or house (and stay long enough to have that be worthwhile), he will have a good down payment.
I also know people that moved away from CA (career moves) and the next generation got jobs there, so the parents went in on a home with a very generous parent suite. The ‘know’ CA and have a lot of relatives there.
I’m glad our DDs are in TX and FL. We lived in TX and plan to live there again to be close to the 5 grandchildren (ages 1 - 8 now). Not moving for the climate (super-hot in San Antonio and we like the climate and life in N AL) and other negatives - but we can do fine. Also our DD is a nurse and down the road can help with input on our continued life/medical issues.
I just talked to a gal who has no children and is contemplating retiring early (she is not quite 64 yet). Her husband is working - and he might exit before 65 and pay COBRA for healthcare.
I agree about the same amount at the same time - and we have been doing this with our two DDs. When DD1 got married, DD2 got same amount (she actually needed a car, so she got the value in the car). Since DD1 has kids, when we put money into each grandchild’s stock account (for college), the same amount of cash goes to DD2. It seems DD2 may get married within 2 years to her BF (steady BF) that has had remote jobs and now has a career job in her location. The amount we will give to DD2 for her wedding reception - we will then give equivalent amount split to the five grandkids’ stock accounts (which is what DD1/SIL want to have done).
We have some moving pieces going on with us in the next few years. With us then entering RMDs, will look to paying the taxes from the 401k funds that have to be spent down, and having the money moved into our personal stock account or perhaps doing some gifting to DDs.
Thank you - we ran his scenario through several diff AIs and all came back that he should stick with maxing the traditional 401k and HSA, backdoor Roth, and some tax friendly brokerage accts that break down the split in stocks v bonds and intl vs domestic, really pretty good detail as guides but all come out with the same recommendations for retirement. He will have enough left over after expenses and “wants” that he should be good for non-retirement investment as well. He does not want to settle in CA, at least going in he feels that way. His brother lives in SF and may be moving to Mountain View for rental price reduction (although it’s not much!), he also has no intent to buy anything because he wants what he had in Georgia and it “ain’t gonna happen” there. We will not move anywhere until one of them has a family and is settled and even then, maybe not as the boys will follow the career which is fluid. We will just have to take multiple long weekends to visit several times a year.
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That’s interesting. My mil gifted us by transferring stock to our account in Dec 2025. Her other child wanted a check. MIL forgot to write the check so it was given in March or April 2026
Does that mean that the other child should wait until Jan 2027 to cash their check? That child and MIL share a tax accountant so I won’t muddy the water but let them figure it out.
We gifted our kids this year. One received a check but the other wanted theirs to be a contribution to their child’s college fund. Same amount
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Our DD1/SIL didn’t move away until July 2023 (and they moved for SIL’s career - moved with the Army), and the move was 3 weeks after baby #4 was born. When SIL was away for Army reserves and for periods of his training, I would come on weekends/other times and help DD1 and also had a lot of time with the grandchildren. During Covid, their daycare was closed for 6 weeks, and I was ‘live in nanny’ from Sunday afternoon to Friday late afternoon (GD1 was almost 2 and GS1 was almost 1), and I was a ‘lifesaver’ for them on the childcare. GS2 always got attention from Nana and of course shared in the excitement of his siblings when grandpa and Nana were around.
Thankfully DD1’s exact job opened up at the VA Hospital in new location of SIL’s Army job (10-day window of her job opening) and she won the position - so she had maternity leave and then starting the new job. SIL had paternity leave which he could use in one-week increments up until the baby was one year old. That was incredibly helpful as they set up their household. Suprise baby #5 - their maternity and paternity leave was a help, and I also had extended stays in their city.
If DD1/SIL had less children, it definitely would have affected us deciding on relocating. We might have just had a smaller 2nd home there - at least initially. They have ‘gone big’ and it looks like we will ‘go big’ with a move. Years ago, we had lived in TX. We have some other family in TX. We have no relatives in our area or our state. DD2 is fine with us moving - we are moving to her the crystal and other things she wants - by car in phased trips.
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We write the kids a check. They can decide what to do with it.
Oh, and as an aside, a couple can EACH gift the (sticking with this # for now, so assume no form) $19K and can write a check both to child and child’s spouse. Taking it down to the grandkids seems like a lot, but then again so is handing each family 4 checks!
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Just because he doesn’t ‘need’ it, doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be nice for it to fall from the sky. Why would ‘need’ be a requirement? I’m still stuck on why complicate things? I think it’s a great idea to start giving now, when kid one could really use the cushion and appreciate it. If kid two really isn’t interested, he could choose not to cash the check.
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@Youdon_tsay - Echoing the suggestions to gift to both kids. (And maybe for the one without current need the money could go into IRA and special vacations together etc)
I like the idea of sharing wealth with the kids in younger years, where there is a bigger impact. But… the risk (hopefully a very small risk) of gifting to only one kid is that eventually LTC expenses eat up your entire portfolio. Then in the end the other kid would get nothing.
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Exactly. We are happy to see them enjoy it/use it/save it whatever they choose, while we are alive. Its not likely they are going to buy a boat with the money after we die and name it “mom&dadsmoney” 
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I’ve deleted the post as only a couple of people addressed my actual question.
I love you, cc people! 
Wow, what great timing! Sounds like you have a family that truly needs grandparents around. I have no grandchildren and not sure if I will - would like to but I’m also getting up there. My kids grandparents on their father’s side were in their early 50s when the kids were born so we moved to Atlanta to be close to them. Well worth it, even though both worked and couldn’t give as much time as they like, my kids got to know grandparents and grow up with them. Me, military kid living everywhere and moving every 2 years, not so much. It’s definitely worth it to be close by if you can. Older son loves Calif and will likely find a place for he and his fiance / wife to settle down around SF. Younger son is really doing this move for his resume and future engineering positions back east or somewhere in between. I just wish I hadn’t waited so long to have the 3rd child, but he’s still my baby!
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I think your original question had to do with deciding the fair amount. That’s hard to answer since nobody has a crystal ball regarding future interest rates. Thinking more on it, here’s a way to do it fairly (if you are not concerned with your assets becoming depleted). Put $19k (or whatever amount) in an investment each year naming kid2 as TOD. Let the market decide how much it grows over time.
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