How to Use the Estate Exemption Usage Calculator
Korea gives financial assets like cash, deposits, and stocks their own dedicated inheritance deduction — up to 200 million won, on a sliding scale — because financial assets are easier to tax than illiquid property. The US takes a completely different approach: there is no item-level deduction that singles out financial assets from real estate or anything else within an estate.
Instead, everything you inherit is simply measured against one blanket federal estate tax exemption, which stands at roughly $15 million per individual as of 2026 (about $30 million for a married couple using portability). Because that number is so large, the overwhelming majority of Americans who inherit cash, brokerage accounts, or retirement funds never come close to owing federal estate tax — no special financial-asset carve-out is needed.
Enter the net financial assets you inherited and your filing status to see what percentage of your exemption they use up and how much exemption remains for the rest of the estate. Note this only covers federal estate tax — a handful of states levy their own separate inheritance or estate taxes with much lower thresholds, so check your state's rules too.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Unlike Korea, the US does not carve out a special deduction for cash, stocks, or other financial assets within an estate. Everything you inherit — cash, real estate, financial assets — is simply measured against one blanket exemption.
Because the federal estate tax exemption is so high (roughly $15 million per person as of 2026) that the overwhelming majority of inheritances, including financial assets, never come close to triggering estate tax in the first place.