It’s Never Too Early to Estate Plan

A lot of people ask, “When should I start my estate planning?” The short answer is: it’s never too early. There’s lots of ways to go about planning, but generally there are three main steps to be followed when you start:

  1. Take stock of all the assets you own. This means all your investments, retirement accounts, real estate, business interests, insurance policies, and valuable items (i.e. cars, jewelry, china, card collections) should be accounted for.
  2. Now that you’ve taken inventory of your assets, think about what you want to do with them, and who you’d want to inherit them. On top of that, you should also write down who you would trust with your business affairs and medical care should you ever become too incapacitated to handle them yourself.
  3. Lastly, although it may make for a tough conversation, you should bring everyone involved in your plans together to discuss. The sooner you outline your intentions to your family and friends, the better. This severely lessens the chance for large-scale disagreements once you’re gone.[i]

We understand estate planning decisions can be difficult. Contact us and we can help you make the right decisions for you and your family’s future.

 

[i] http://money.cnn.com/retirement/guide/estateplanning_basics.moneymag/index2.htm?iid=EL

Share