The baby boomers have created a new set of tax problems. And opportunities. It seems like successful business owners are getting younger. So are first time grandmas and grandpas.

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Almost half the readers of this column who call us to do their estate plans are baby boomers (early 50s to mid 60s) and list four basic tax and financial goals as follows, (Let’s call our tax-hero reader Joe):

1. If Joe enjoys a long life, he wants to assure a comfortable retirement for himself (and his wife, Mary).

2. If Joe gets hit by a bus tomorrow, he wants to provide for Mary and his kids (often all or some are married with their own kids).

3. Joe wants to transfer his business to the business kids and treat the nonbusiness kids fairly.

4. Joe and Mary want to set up a fund to educate their grandchildren.

Typically, the difference between this particular young Joe (say around age 55 and under, although there are exceptions) and Joe when he gets about 15 years older is the way he views wealth. The younger Joe is still in high gear, trying to accumulate wealth, while the older Joe is trying to get rid of this wealth (to his family) because he thinks that’s the way to save estate taxes.

Before going on, it’s important to note that at any age Joe, typically, has three other goals: (1) maintain my (and Mary’s) lifestyle as long as we live; (2) eliminate the estate tax, if possible; and (3) control his business and other assets for life.

Why have I spelled out the goals of Joe in such detail and at two different age brackets? Because our years of professional planning and experience shows that Joe’s attitude toward estate planning dramatically shifts when Joe (at whatever age) stops trying to accumulate wealth as a primary goal.

Rarely does Joe (at any age) want to stop accumulating wealth, but it’s amazing how this planning attitude intensifies when he realizes the impact of the potential estate tax blow. The IRS can (and will) grab up to 55 percent (using year 2011 rates) of Joe’s wealth.

We have found that the older Joe gets and the more wealth he accumulates, the more anxious he becomes about how much of this wealth — that took him a lifetime to accumulate — will be lost to the IRS after his last heartbeat.

But the boomers generally are smarter tax-wise than their dads were. Why? They begin the planning process (really an organizes system to accomplish predetermined goals) earlier.

Stop for a minute. Go back and reread Joe’s goals (whether you are a boomer or a bit younger or older). The plain fact is that the proper plan can accomplish all of your goals at any age. But let us be clear: It’s much easier to develop a lifetime plan that will transfer all (every dime of it) of your wealth (that you own now or will own when you go to the big business in the sky) to your family when you’re a boomer than when you’re 15 or more years older.

The message is simple: Procrastination favors the IRS. A lifetime tax plan (no matter what your age) puts you in the don’t-lose-your-wealth-to-the-IRS driver’s seat. An estate plan (typically, a will and a trust) is only the beginning. Your lifetime plan must dovetail with your estate plan. Then you can accomplish all of your goals, as they are today or as your goals change over time.

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Irv Blackman is a certified public accountant and lawyer who specializes in estate planning, business succession and asset protection. Contact him via e-mail at wealthy@bkadvice.com or call 417-9732. His Web site is http://www.taxsecretsofthewealthy.com.