Exercise the Will to Plan
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Building wealth is only half the job. Protecting wealth for your loved ones and yourself is equally important. Through estate planning, business planning, and asset protection, our firm will help you protect everything you love — family, friends, and favorite charities. For more information, be sure to visit our website, where you will have access to our blog, events schedule, and a complimentary newsletter subscription!
The Will to Plan
Despite the hectic pace of life in America today, most of us still enjoy a fair amount of leisure time. Almost all Americans (95 percent) engage in some leisure activity every day. In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we get about five hours of leisure time a day and spend most of it (almost three hours) watching television. The rest of the time, we do other activities like reading, relaxing and thinking, socializing,
playing games, surfing the web, and participating in sports and exercise.
Conspicuously absent from that list is estate planning. Americans are almost overwhelmingly opposed to the idea. Harris Interactive recently polled more than 2,000 adults on the subject and found that 28 percent of us would rather do anything else, and nearly one-third said they would rather do their taxes or get a root canal.
Most Don’t Have a Will
Little wonder then, most of us (61 percent) don’t even have a Will, one of the most basic of estate planning documents. Dig a little deeper, though, and the numbers are even more disturbing. Among parents with minor children in the household, only 30 percent have a Will – the most universally accepted legal document for naming backup parents in the event the children are orphaned.
Of course, Wills are not the only documents needed to protect you (and your assets) in the event of death or incapacity. Another Harris survey found that only 29 percent of us have a Living Will to direct end-of-life medical procedures. Even older Americans are hardly prepared. The same Harris survey found that only 48 percent of those over age 65 have a financial power in place authorizing someone to make financial decisions for them if they are incapacitated, and only 51 percent said they had a healthcare power in place.
Even though estate planning is not on anyone’s list of Top Ten Favorite Activities, most of us realize the need to get at least basic planning in place to protect ourselves, our loved ones, and our assets from life’s uncertainties (and the one certainty of death). And yet, most of us haven’t done it.
Despite Good Intentions
Why not? The number one reason, given by more than 55 percent of respondents, is simple procrastination. Most people say they just haven’t gotten around to it.
If you’ve ever made a New Year’s Resolution, you know we all have good intentions … but our follow-through could use some work.
Piers Steel, a psychologist at the University of Calgary and one of the leading experts on procrastination, says it’s a “common pulse of humanity” to procrastinate despite our best intentions. “One thing that defines procrastination isn’t a lack of intention to work,” Steel says. “It’s the difficulty of following through on that intention.”
Steel goes on to say that for most of us, procrastination isn’t a pleasant experience. It’s a feeling of growing pressure – of knowing we will have to deal eventually with whatever it is we’re putting off … like creating the necessary legal documents to name backup parents for minor children, state our preferences for end-of-life medical care, designate financial and health care decision-makers in the event of our incapacity or death, and outlining a plan to distribute our assets after death. As difficult as those decisions can seem – putting them off by procrastinating only adds to the pressure and makes us feel worse. In fact, Steel writes in his book, “The Procrastination Equation,” that procrastination leads to lower overall well-being, worse health, and even lower salaries.
Beating Procrastination
If you have resolved to get your estate plan in place or up to date in 2024 – good for you!
Now, here’s a plan to beat procrastination: Steel says the trick is to reframe broad, ambitious goals into concrete, manageable, immediate
chunks.
So, instead of saying, “This year, I’m going to get my entire estate plan in order,” break that down into smaller, less formidable goals. For example, the first step is to call our office and schedule an initial consultation of review meeting. Don’t let yourself get stalled by thinking of all the decisions you must make to complete a comprehensive plan. Focus on one quick, easy decision. a
Get a date on your calendar in January 2024.
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your own state’s plan, you may get a healthy deduction on state income taxes. In addition, funds in the account grow tax-free, and there are no taxes on capital gains. For grandparents, funding a 529 account is an excellent way to help pay qualified education costs, while reducing their taxable estate. However, there are limits to contributions, which vary from state to state.
Will, and HIPAA form.
and communicate with all step-siblings. The nature and quality of the relationships should be considered in weighing out responsibilities. Dividing along biological lines may not be the right solution. This needs to be discussed and resolved.
even funeral arrangements should all be discussed. Expectations should be set for inheritances now—it is best for stepsiblings to know what the future holds to eliminate surprises.
. Although the forms are not yet in, the register of wills has presented a basic overview.
gatherings? Intermingled with the joy, there may be some sorrow in those walls, too.
dollar value, others may protect the homestead to varying degrees depending on how long you have lived in your home, and still, others may provide complete protection to married couples when they jointly own the home as tenants by the entirety. In the end, state law will control when it comes to the degree of protection afforded your home ownership. An experienced estate planning attorney can explain the protection unique to the laws of your state.
revocable and amendable by you during your lifetime, too.
valid last will and testament.
beneficiary. If giving to a charity is a significant part of your estate plan, directing IRA or 401K benefits to the charity makes sense, as they don’t pay income taxes. One beneficiary everyone wants to avoid, however, is the IRS!
followed. The terms of payout from the retirement plan to the trust is a very income tax complex decision and should be made and ultimately orchestrated with an estate planning attorney, CPA, and financial advisor.
power of attorney requiring some specific proof of your disability defined in the document itself. Otherwise, the authority of your agent may become effective immediately.
trust only after the maker of that trust dies.
Alternatively, the trust may authorize you to appoint an institutional trustee to handle all the “heavy lifting” responsibilities, with you overseeing that trustee.
