Most of the time when people set their beneficiaries on things like 401(k)s, IRAs, life insurance policies, and brokerage accounts they name their spouse as “primary” (assuming they have one), and their kids as “contingent.” We’ve been told this eases the burden on our family, so they can avoid probate when we pass - a noble goal! Unfortunately, if your children are under eighteen, this well-intentioned plan can lead to unintended complexities – even if you have a will.
A lot of the issues in running a business are solved by simply doing a great job for your clients, being honest about what you know and what you don’t, and being a clear communicator. Many others, like those around efficiency and sustainable growth, are a little more complicated yet vitally important to the survival and success of a business.
Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies.
While death is a universal point of human connection, the circumstances behind each are distinct – because each life is distinct.
Clients frequently come to us looking to get a trust. My first question is usually, “why do you think you need a trust?”
Good planning situates people so that they are poised to react strategically no matter the path forward. So, depending on the value of your estate and the type of assets you own, there may be tactics that can be utilized now to properly position yourself to made the right changes (if necessary) between election day and the 1st of the new year.
Most of the time when people set their beneficiaries on things like 401(k)s, IRAs, life insurance policies, and brokerage accounts they name their spouse as “primary” (assuming they have one), and their kids as “contingent.” We’ve been told this eases the burden on our family, so they can avoid probate when we pass - a noble goal! Unfortunately, if your children are under eighteen, this well-intentioned plan can lead to unintended complexities – even if you have a will.
Good planning situates people so that they are poised to react strategically no matter the path forward. So, depending on the value of your estate and the type of assets you own, there may be tactics that can be utilized now to properly position yourself to made the right changes (if necessary) between election day and the 1st of the new year.
Our lives have been affected in countless ways, different for each of us, more difficult for some than others, but undeniably impactful to all. Still, it’s important to make sure that we don’t allow important housekeeping matters to slip through the cracks while adapting to the current circumstances.
Our lives are increasingly digital. Many of us have gone largely paperless with bank and other financial statements. Bills of all kinds arrive by email and are paid online. Our photos, music, movies, and documents sit on phones and computers and are backed up to the cloud. We spend substantial portions of our days on Facebook, using Gmail, listening to Spotify, networking through LinkedIn, scrolling through Twitter, buying on Amazon, and on and on. Well, what happens to all this when we pass away?
Creating a will or trust is a vital part of anyone’s estate plan, but it’s not where the planning ends. Ensuring that the beneficiaries you’ve listed on 401Ks and other retirement accounts, insurance policies, annuities, etc., are coordinated with those estate planning documents is essential to the success of that plan.
