A Strategic Approach to Managing Your Wealth
As you go through life, you’re likely to accumulate some amount of wealth, assets, or family treasures. What will happen to all those things if you die or become incapacitated? That’s where estate planning comes in. An estate plan allows you to legally specify your wishes and how you want them carried out.
As you continue to increase your wealth, consider the following life occurrences as signs to start (or update) your estate plan:
- savings account;
- home ownership;
- marriage;
- travel;
- expanding family;
- new inheritance; and
- divorce;
Wealth Transfer as Part of Estate Planning
Wealth transfer is for anyone who wants to pass their wealth to the next generation at death, and provides an easy, seamless way to do this when paired with estate planning. In fact, it’s estimated that nearly 45 million U.S. households will transfer more than $68 trillion over the next 25 years.
By having a properly executed wealth transfer plan as part of your estate plan you can provide explicit instructions to the beneficiaries on money management, including creating their own estate plan and wealth transfer plan for the next generation and thereafter. You can also communicate with family members regarding the details of the wealth distribution to minimize any family disputes that may arise.
Without a secure wealth transfer plan as part of your estate plan set in place, you may run into the following hurdles:
- Beneficiaries of the estate may not be fully prepared for the wealth they inherit. It is not uncommon for the inherited wealth to be gone by the second or third generation.
- Some family members may feel entitled to more than what they receive, creating jealousy and animosity among other family members.
Peace of Mind
Estate planning and wealth transfer are two of the most important things you can do to protect yourself, your family, and your future. Through proven solutions, time, and commitment, together we can create a well-created estate plan and wealth transfer plan that meets your goals