How to Create a Digital Estate Plan – 3 Steps You Can Take
Let’s run through a scenario: you are driving home tomorrow and are hit by a reckless driver. You die on the spot. What happens to your digital assets? Do you have a digital estate plan? How do your family or friends access it? I’ve helped people pick up the pieces after a death and know […]
How to Talk to Adult Kids About Money and Inheritances
I’ve heard and seen many families make mistakes about inheritances, estate plans, and talking about money. Unfortunately, money is a taboo topic in most families. Parents might say, “We are doing fine.” They might also say, “Yes, we prepared for long-term care”, without actually understanding what it means to be prepared. Adult kids are thinking […]
Family or Professional Trustee? Pros and Cons of a Professional Trustee
While people create trusts during their life, estate plans often include the creation of trusts at death. Knowing who you will put in charge of the trust is vital, including backup options. You have to specifically name them in the documents. They will be responsible for carrying out the terms of the trust, making distributions, […]
How to Choose Beneficiaries with Taxes in Mind
Unlike most experiences in life that you can do more than once, you get one opportunity to choose your beneficiaries wisely. Once you die, it’s nearly impossible for your heirs to undo your beneficiary mistakes. Before reading this article, I recommend reading my article about costly beneficiary mistakes to avoid. It will help make sense […]
What To Do When Your Loved One Dies + Checklist
When someone dies, they often leave behind a mess that needs to be sorted through. There is a web of personal belongings, bills, and financial accounts that need to be handled. You may be the widow, executor, a family member, or a friend that is tasked with picking up the pieces. After the death of […]
8 Tips to Help Prevent Elder Financial Exploitation
“Financial institutions reported a total of $1.7 billion in suspicious activities in 2017, including actual losses and attempts to steal the older adults’ funds”, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Elder financial exploitation is incredibly common. It feels like people are constantly attempting to scam seniors. Sometimes it is from an outside party, but […]
Are Your Beneficiaries Correct? Costly Beneficiary Mistakes to Avoid
Are your beneficiaries correct? Are you sure? Because beneficiary mistakes can be one of the most costly and heartbreaking mistakes in financial planning. Plus, they are easy to make. Someone gets married or divorced and forgets to update a retirement account beneficiary. An account is opened quickly naming one child as the beneficiary, but they […]
Gifting Money to Family Members: 5 Strategies to Understand
Most people spend a good portion of their lives working towards financial independence. They enjoy it for some time. Then, many people start wondering what to do after they feel they have enough. The next question becomes, “what next?” They start to think about family and how while inheritances can be helpful, gifting while alive […]
Elder Care Consultant: What Do They Do?
I received the question, “What does an elder care consultant do?” last week, and thought it would be a great question to answer. I frequently recommend an elder care consultant, often known as a senior care consultant, to families with aging parents. Elder care consultants, or senior care consultants, can fill a variety of roles: […]
Common Estate Plan Mistakes – The 7 Step Guide to Reviewing Your Estate Plan
An estate plan is one of the most important pieces of your financial life. Are you sure yours is how it should be? Does it have the right people in the right roles? Are your assets properly titled? Does it have common estate plan mistakes? Do you even know what it says? Despite it being one […]
