Estate Planning

by Accident

Brian Weatherdon MA, CFP, CLU, CPCAAuthor, Speaker, Financial Planner.

Aligning your Wealth & Life to overcome fears andsecure your income, lifestyle, & comfort to age 105

“I’ve forgotten . . . .”

• The family was gathered around grandpa’s bed when suddenly and unexpectedly ....

• He sat bolt upright and exclaimed, “I’ve forgotten what I want to be remembered for!”

• A little late, would you say?

“Have I done enough . . . .”

• In another room near grandpa is someone worrying about her family, whether she has done enough to leave them safe, keep them together, and provide for their future.

• Time comes, when such worries should be already settled and in place. Don’t leave it to chance & don’t keep your plans a secret!

Exercising your Estate Wishes

• Like many kinds of exercise, many people avoid their estate planning. Did it seem like too much work? Did they want to avoid discussing it with spouse, family, others?

• Don’t fail to: write out a plan, discuss fully with spouse & family, have estate lawyer finalize it, align with financial plan/accounting, satisfy yourself all is good & you’re still well.

Would you leave it to others?

• The planning, I mean. Would you leave the planning to others? Without a Will the govt will make your decisions for you (and not as you would wish). With an old & outdated Will the wrong people (or the govt) will do it.

• If you’d leave an estate to others, don’t leave the planning to others. Others cannot fulfil your wishes without you.

Everyone knows what you want?

• Face it, this has never been true. Choosing meals in a restaurant, selecting a new car, or deciding clothes you’ll put on today, are personal choices, aren’t they?

• And without your estate directions, family will never have all the same information, or agree what you’ve said of your wishes. Burial or cremation? Gifts to whom & when? Why?

Even good and devoted families

• Even the best of families need our written wishes to guide choices they make during times of grief and loss. Don’t add to their confusion & complexity – it won’t help them.

• Wife or husband, son or daughter, ex-spouse or business partner may recall something said that can only be settled by written direction through our wills, agreements, & trusts.

Sharing your plans with . . . .

• People share these plans with spouse and children• People share these plans with their lawyer / estate lawyer.• People share plans with their certified financial planner• People may share this discussion with other family/friends• People promptly share these intents with their executors.• People often share future gift intentions with their charities.• and specified gift/trust strategies with life insurance carriers.

• And then REVIEW:– Any changes annually with your certified financial planner– Every 3-to-7 years with your estate lawyer

If you delay estate planning in business?

• This is vital. Some businesses immediately fold when one partner dies. Incorporated businesses can leave the deceased’s spouse as a ghost partner, unable, unwilling, & with different needs and ideas. Financial & estate planning help avoid disaster.

• Sal died before selling the company or doing succession to next generation, and with no written or funded estate plan! Business failed, tax bills hit, family wealth went up in smoke.

• See & subscribe... “Exit Strategies for Business” http://www.guaranteedincome4life.ca/blog/exit-strategies-for-business/

Without estate planning for pension assets?

• Elsewhere we reveal how to perpetuate your pension for spouse ...and even grandchildren!

• Absence of planning can steal the value of your life’s work from your family.

• If spouse may need high income for health care – if you could gift before or after-tax pension value to your children. . . do you want to know?

• See & subscribe, “Exit Strategies from a Pension” http://www.guaranteedincome4life.ca/blog/exit-strategies-from-a-pension/

Key questions to discuss / decide:

• What are my wishes?

• Who will I discuss this with?

• How soon will this be legally completed?

• Who else will I advise about my desires?

• How often should I review these plans?

• What resources will help me along the way?

Resources to help get what you want

• Experience this website to help focus on your future: www.GuaranteedIncome4Life.ca

• Get 5-star book, Amazon/Kindle/bookstores: “A Lifetime Of Wealth – And How Not To Lose It” http://www.amazon.com/Lifetime-Wealth-how-not-lose/dp/1489579540/ref=sr_1_1?

ie=UTF8&qid=1380311791&sr=8-1&keywords=a+lifetime+of+wealth+--+and+how+not+to+lose+it

• Visit www.ALifetimeOfWealth.info