Practical Estate Planning - Yahoo Voices

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The very best estate planning takes into account life insurance, retirement accounts, housing,annuities, stocks and material assets. Death planning should be built on a solid foundation thatleaves the surviving spouse with as many assets as possible and provides liquid funds for college,home maintenance and other expenditures.

Retirement accounts and savings accounts should clearly label your spouse as the beneficiary.Whether it's a DUI attorney or Car Wreck Lawyer. Dallas has what you need. All too often they don't.In the event of your death a spouse can sometimes wait months before a judge grants access tothese accounts. If you me name a beneficiary on an account, your spouse could have access the dayafter you pass away. Imagine dying with more than $300,000 in your saving account and yourspouse can't get access to the money. Without a will or a clear articulation of where things are,money could be lost. Some people die with money in foreign accounts, safes, safety deposit boxesand a range of other investment instruments. A friend of mine kept $500,000 dollars in bearer bondsin his attic. If he had died, his wife would have never known he had that kind of money nor that hehid it up in the attic of their home. In that scenario, what if she'd found the bonds but not knownwhat they were and thrown them out? Estate planning must be straightforward and informationcan't remain secret. It must be video shared.

My perspective is that you should set your life insurance payout to match your home liability plus afew years worth of salary. This gives your spouse time to absorb the loss without having to worryabout finances right away. If your spouse owns the home after you die and your salaried income isprovided for http://techland.time.com/2012/10/22/25-best-blogs-2012/ a few years, it allows him/herto go back to school and get more education and prepare to re-enter the workforce. If yourretirement funds are much bonuses greater than your life insurance, then you should look at thefollowing scenario:

George owns a home with a $231,000 still owed on it. His salary is $70,000. He has $450,000 savedin retirement and carries a life insurance policy for $210,000. He has $50,000 in savings but onlyhas $10,000 in a college fund for his 4 children. He has 4 fixed rate annuities for the children but sofar they have only accumulated a total value of $15,000. What should happen when George passesaway?

A will is needed here. A will (even a basic holographic will) can provide clarity upon your death.Looking at the scenario above, a will can provide a college education for George's children. Heclearly has the money but if he dies without a beneficiary on his retirement account what willhappen to the $450,000? Do you have a will? These scenarios happen all the time.

In summation, a will and an insurance policy that pays off your home with 2 - 4 years salary attachedare the bare minimum you should go with for estate planning. I'd recommend setting up someannuities for college or using a Coverdell Education Savings Account. You want to leave yourchildren and spouse in the best situation possible upon your death.

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