Hello, Ansley turned two this week! I wrote about how well she is talking a couple of weeks ago. What’s crazy is how she and Amelia are already having sister fights. It’s cute now, but we’re trying to nip it in the bud now. Family arguments are nothing to shrug off later in life either. You’ve probably heard the stories… If it hasn’t affected your family, it’s probably impacted somebody you know. Mallory and the girls below.

Mom and Dad pass away, and their family begins sifting through their parents’ documents like their will and various financial statements. Then it happens; for whatever reason the parents left one thing to one kid in greater proportion than the other kid. Or a family heirloom was left in the will to one sibling, but it was always the other sibling’s favorite family piece. Then the kid who got it is in an awkward spot of, “Should I keep it because Mom wanted me to have it? Or should I give it my sister because she really wants it?” Question after question comes up and the people who could answer the questions are gone.

Hard feelings may persist for years to come because of how things went down. And sadly, our minds have a way of remembering the last thing that happened in a situation more clearly than the vast history before the last occurrence. Clearly, this isn’t the legacy anyone wants to leave, but it can be difficult to have a talk with your kids or whoever will inherit your belongings. But we’d benefit by shucking off the misnomer that we don’t want to talk about money and religion. Our most impactful conversations may result from discussion of these topics. Did you know that “More than $84 trillion in wealth has been, or is set to be, transferred by estates big and small between 2021 and 2045, according to Cerulli Associates. That wave of inheritance has brought a rise in lawsuits and other conflicts over family assets.”   Which brings up another point. If you’re like most of our clients you worked for 30 to 40 or more years to save and build your nest egg. I don’t know about you, but the last place I want my money to go is to court costs and attorney fees. I’ve seen it happen. Children can be drawn into long drawn-out legal proceedings because there was ambiguity in what Mom and Dad wanted.

What’s alarming is, according to the article, “One-third of Americans say they don’t plan to have the inheritance talk with their family.” I think the point of saving money for retirement is so that it blesses our lives and our family’s lives or whoever inherits it. We don’t want it to become a curse to those who ultimately receive our things.   So, what’s the first step to figuring this out? Start with determining what may be left over when you pass away. Your advisor should be having a conversation with you about life expectancy and demonstrating to you what may be left over based on various spend down calculations. Ansley loves ducks!

Then the next step is to meet with an estate planning attorney to have proper estate planning documents created that precisely fit your circumstances. I love making my nickels scream and making my money go as far as possible. However, estate planning documents are not something you want to scrimp on. I’ve sat in many estate planning meetings with an attorney and client and the attorney has been able to just look at the documents and see the problems without even thoroughly reading the client’s documents. Yes, you can get prefilled documents online, but it may not be the wisest thing to do.   After you have your estate planning documents from an attorney, you want to ensure that your beneficiaries and contingent beneficiaries are properly listed on all your accounts. What you should list for beneficiaries may change based on the conversation you have with your attorney. Meaning, the attorney may recommend having your estate or trust be a beneficiary of your accounts but this may vary from person to person.   The final thought is that in most scenarios you want to think about your estate planning documents as living documents. People change, people lose or gain competency to be executor of your will or trustee of your trust, and the list could go on. Set a reminder on your calendar to pull your documents out every three years or so and review whether they are still accurate.   Any way you look at it, everyone would benefit from doing pre-planning when it comes to estate planning. Even your adult kids should be doing estate planning. I believe it’s the responsible thing to do and it removes the emotional burden from someone having to make decisions for you based on what they “think” you wanted. Until next week, David C. Treece, Financial Planner 864.641.7955

Did you miss one of our last newsletters? Beach For Easter: Click here We All Do It: Click here I Missed Out: Click here Did someone send this email to you? Click here to get in your inbox next week.

Clients Excel, LLC is an independent financial services firm that utilizes a variety of investment and insurance products. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through Creative One Wealth. Creative One Wealth and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Neither the firm nor its agents or representatives may give tax or legal advice. Individuals should consult with a qualified tax professional for guidance before making any purchasing decisions. Clients Excel, LLC is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. Clients Excel, LLC has a strategic partnership with tax professionals and attorneys who can provide tax and/or legal advice. Published on 04.10.2024.