The largest obstacle to effective estate planning is procrastination. Sitting down to prepare a Last Will and Testament is not at the top of anyone’s “this is a fun thing to do” list. Yet death, like taxes is a certainty.
If the distribution of your property is important to you, you can use a will or a trust to give instructions about who gets what when you die. If you die without a properly executed estate plan, state law will determine how the probate court will divide and distribute the things you own. Of course, the state of Georgia’s estate plan won’t take your particular wishes into account.
You’re getting close to 62, and wondering whether or not you should apply for your Social Security benefits. If you are eligible for benefits, you may begin receiving payments as early as age 62 – but is that a wise decision? At age 62, you would receive only 75% of your benefit amount – a reduction that continues for the remainder of your life.
It’s that time of year again. Yes, it is New Year’s resolution time. Was estate planning one of your unfulfilled resolutions for 2014? Is it on your “to-do” list for 2015? Take the opportunity to get it done this year.
We all know that an estate plan is a matter of personal responsibility. Only you understand your family’s priorities well enough to make the proper decisions. Legal and financial professionals are essential to understanding the best strategies, but the final decisions about what is right for your family can only be made by you.
December brings us the joy of Christmas, but also the beginning of preparation for tax season. Make sure you have done the things you can do to maximize your retirement assets, gain any available tax benefit, and/or avoid any tax penalty that may be linked to those investments.
Just over 1 in 4 of today’s 20-year-olds will become disabled before they retire.1 Over 37 million Americans are classified as disabled – about 12% of the population – and more than 50% of those are in their working years from 18-642.
Back from the brink!!! Yes that just might be the statement of the year. How many of you are suffering from website death. You know what I mean; when was the last time you completely overhauled your site?
“Trick or treat” rings out every Halloween as kids go door to door hoping for their favorite candy. My kids love sorting the candy at the end of the night and finding surprises in their candy haul. Part of the fun and excitement of trick or treating is the uncertainty —you don’t know what you are going to get. Dying without estate planning is a lot like trick or treat for your surviving family members—you don’t know what they are going to get.
“Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone” Pablo Picasso
Estate planning is about more than having a will to distribute property when one dies. Perhaps the most important aspect of estate planning is planning for how one will live as they age, which includes planning for disability and long term care.
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