Estate Plans: Not Just For Rich People.
Creating a will is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make in your life.
It’s one of those life events that you’ve likely avoided thinking about – I mean, we want to live forever, right?
There are so many stories of famous people involved in estate battles, and they can get ugly. (Michael Jackson and Anna Nicole Smith are great examples!)
The mental image that comes to mind is a pack of wolves fighting over scraps from a meal they were supposed to share.
You might think:
“Duh, Lee. Creating an estate plan is a no-brainer if you’re rich. Why does it even matter if I’m just an average person?”
Well, I’ll be real.
You need to create an estate plan regardless of how rich you are if the following matters to you:
- You want to have control over what happens to your money and material goods after you die
- You want to ensure that the people that matter most to you will respect those wishes
- You want to protect your estate as much as possible from taxation
The good news is even though it’s something we all want to put off, it doesn’t have to be super complicated to get started. I’ve put together a quick process you can follow:
- Create a complete list of your assets (with total value). Create a spreadsheet with your real estate, bank accounts, retirement policies, annuities, life insurance, investments, and other accounts or policies. Before you get overwhelmed, completing this step will ensure you’re not missing anything and get you in the right frame of mind to think about the next steps.
- Decide who will get your assets. Ask yourself: Who gets what? How can you make sure they get their inheritance? Remember, just because they are noted in your will doesn’t mean they’ll benefit from your generosity. You’ll need to make sure they’re listed as the account beneficiary in some cases. State laws can affect inheritances, so you’ll also want to plan for that.
- Choose your estate executor. Your executor should be someone you implicitly trust to follow your wishes. After all, they’ll be a key player in disbursing your estate.
- Understand estate tax implications. If your estate is large enough, planning can be essential to ensure that taxes do not demolish your assets.
- Create instructions for medical care. There’s more to estate planning than what happens when you die. What happens if you become incapacitated or require long-term care? A living will can serve as instructions for your family and can help them understand and implement what treatments and interventions you want. Why leave them with the doubt and potential guilt of making decisions during high-stress times?
- Get help from the pros. Where an attorney and/or an estate planner come in. There’s a possibility that your careful planning could be invalidated if done improperly – so cross all your t’s and dot all your i’s.
Estate plans are a must-have, and you should prioritize creating one if you haven’t already.
But, you should have a plan for retiring and managing your money, too. And that’s exactly where I shine.
When you book a complimentary 15-minute consultation with me, we can go over where you are now and where you want to be. We’ll create a complete plan to get you through retirement and beyond.
All you have to do is call (330) 836 7800 ext.1 or click here to grab a time in my calendar that works for you.
