When you hear “estate plan,” your first reaction might be to push it off until you’re old and grey or when your kids are older. While it’s understandable that you think you can put this off, it’s actually something that should be a priority. Your estate plan “allows you to get your affairs in order and ensure that everything you own with value attached to it goes where you want it to without complication” (New York Life).
Let’s first talk about what estate planning is and how it can help.
Estate planning helps you do 2 things:
- Manage your family’s finances while you are alive
- Manage your family’s finances after you pass
More often than not, people hear about needing a will before they die. While this is true, a will is only one part of your estate plan. An estate plan could have some of the following components: a will, a trust, power of attorney, letter of intent, and provisions for your kiddos.
Whether you are just getting started in your career, or have a family, or you’ve accumulated a nice nest egg, you need to have an estate plan. The components of it will be different depending on the stage of life you are in, but… the need is the same. If you unexpectedly pass, become incapacitated, or some other unforseen circumstance, your estate plan will make it much easier for your loved ones to handle your affairs and protect relationships. One of the worst things you could do is leave those you love stressed about trying to figure out how you would’ve liked everything to be handled.
Your estate plan also helps outline a plan for your assets. We like to say it helps answer the questions of Who? What? When? and How? By outlining the answers to these questions, it points you in the right direction and articulate who your beneficiaries should be and outline how you want them to benefit from your stuff.
We can’t iterate enough how important this is for someone who has accumulated wealth. Your estate plan is made up of several different documents and if you need help putting everything together, please reach out today for assistance.
