Estate Planning
We’ve been talking to many clients about estate planning over the past few months. While we are not attorneys, we do play a part the estate planning process. HERE is a
blog that we published on the subject. Below are three things that you can think about right now.
1. Have you reviewed the designated beneficiaries on your accounts? In the event of your
death it is important to have primary and contingent beneficiaries designated. Not only does this help the fulfillment of your wishes, but also it prevents unnecessary delays for your heirs. If beneficiaries aren’t designed, assets are passed to your estate, and could result in probate process, additional estate expenses, and exposure to creditor claims. Come in for a review and we can review those with you on the accounts we manage.
2. Do you have a will and/or trust? This is one of those things, much like regularly flossing, that we know we need to take care of, but haven’t really gotten around to. A will is created to distribute your property in the event of your
death, designate executor, name guardians to your children, and even forgive debts. It may reduce family conflict and again, fulfills your wishes. Even if you have already created a will, make sure it is updated. Let us help by providing accurate account titles or even recommending an estate-planning attorney to help you with the process.
3. Talk to family and interested parties. Make sure that the person you designated as executor and/or guardian of you children knows what their role is. Review the plans with them. While this is a difficult subject to talk about, being proactive is important. If you have a trust it is helpful for us to have that on file.
What We Are Reading
Lynne Twist’s The Soul of Money: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and
Life challenges assumptions and brings to light that discovering the relationship we have with money allows us to assess our own values and goals. Originally published in 2003 and again in 2017 with a new forward and introduction, this book is a contemplative piece on how our soul and money interests can merge to create a rich, satisfying, and meaningful life.
Twist’s perspective from working in philanthropy, provides a different angle on the power and flow of money in our lives that can result in redefining life to include the notion of sufficiency and fulfillment. After
reading the book I hope that we can all move from the state of mind of scarcity to sufficiency.
Twist encourages us to reflect on our relationship with money and be more intentional with how we make it, save it, spend it, and give it away. She argues that the having an attitude of sufficiency can bring personal freedom and possibility.
I have it in the office if you would like to borrow it. Otherwise it is an excellent read and you might just want to add it to your bookshelf.
“You may have to look closely to find the money thread in our own story, but it is there and it has meaning.”
