James C. Molet's Blog, page 32

Leave The Legacy You Want With This End-Of-Life Checklist

The following is a guest post from Jaime Cowper, president of Unity Financial Advisors, and an Investment Advisor Representative under Alphastar Capital Management, an SEC Registered Investment Advisory Firm.

A lifetime of hard work may have rewarded you with a nice home and hefty bank accounts, but what happens to all those assets once you’re gone?

Maybe you want everything to go to the kids. Perhaps a charity or a cause you champion should get a portion. And what happens if, before you die, your mental capacity diminishes and you can no longer make decisions for yourself?

Just thinking about your final wishes – or mentioning them to a close friend over coffee – isn’t enough.

[image error]

Too many people don’t do the proper planning to make sure that any wealth they’ve accumulated over the years ends up where they want it to. Of course, that’s not going to cause any problems for the deceased because they’ll be gone. Those left behind, though, could end up feuding over property, paying more taxes than necessary, or just becoming stressed as they try to put together the puzzle pieces of your estate.

Get Your Estate in Order

But you don’t have to leave your heirs guessing about your intentions. Whether you plan to move to a retirement home or community; or utilize in home health care services, an estate-management checklist is useful to ensure everything is in order. And if you’re lacking with any item on the list, a financial professional can help steer you in the right direction.

A will. This is perhaps the best known document for letting your final wishes be known, yet it’s not as widely used as you might assume. Just 36 percent of American adults have a will, according to a Rocket Lawyer estate-planning survey by Harris Poll. If you don’t have one, it’s time to remedy that. It’s especially important to have a will if you have minor children because you can use the will to name a guardian for them.
Healthcare documents. Like it or not, as you near the end of your life you could reach a point where you’re no longer capable of making medical decisions for yourself. The right documents can spell out your wishes for health care and you can also name someone to make the decisions for you if it comes to that. Documents you should consider include a living will, a power of attorney agreement and a durable power of attorney agreement for healthcare.
Financial documents. Similar to the health situation, you can also outline your financial wishes and appoint someone to make financial decisions for you if you become unable to make decisions for yourself, Cowper says. Documents to consider include joint ownership, durable power of attorney, and living trusts.
Beneficiary forms. In some cases, when you name a beneficiary for bank accounts and retirement plans, they automatically become “payable on death” to your beneficiaries. In other cases, you must fill out a form to make the accounts payable on death. Why is payable on death such an important distinction? The beneficiaries can get their money without the potential delays caused by probate.

Final Thoughts

Finally, make sure your heirs know where to find all of your important documents. When you’ve done all this planning, you don’t want to leave your heirs searching through closets, attics and dresser drawers in search of your important papers. You won’t be there to guide them, so someone should know exactly where to look.

Sallie Krawcheck on Death, Sex & Money

I’ve long been an admirer of Sallie Krawcheck. In the early 2000s, during her run as the chief of Sanford C. Bernstein and later Citi Global Wealth Management, she was considered the most powerful woman on Wall Street. She is now the CEO and Co-Founder of Ellevest, a digital  investment platform for women. She is... Read Article →

How Motorcycles Keep You Active During Retirement

If you’re preparing for retirement, you may be wondering how you will be spending all of your free time. Even if you have hobbies, they may not measure up to the amount of energy and investment that your job took. Therefore, you may need to supplement your activities with something else. One of the best... Read Article →

When Less is More

Documentary: Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things (2016). How might your life be better with less? The synopsis on the film’s website notes the purpose is to examine the many flavors of minimalism by taking the audience inside the lives of minimalists from all walks of life—families, entrepreneurs, architects, artists, journalists, scientists, and even a... Read Article →

What You Should Know About Trading Online

There isn’t a person I know that doesn’t want to find a new way to supplement their income. Developing multiple streams of income is critical in the quest for financial freedom. Either through taking on extra work, freelancing or even taking a second job, people who need that extra kick to help them out at... Read Article →

The Economic Insecurity of Families with Young Children

Report: The Parent Trap: The Economic Insecurity of Families with Young Children (2016). In this report, Demos experts Amy Traub, Robert Hiltonsmith, and Tamara Draut take a close look at the economic conditions facing parents of young children. They explore the demographics and economic data on households with children under five years of age and... Read Article →

Oral Health and Aging: Are You Protecting Your Teeth?

Although it can fall in priority, maintaining good oral health is crucial for aging Americans. Almost a quarter of adults ages 65-74 suffer from severe gum disease, proving that more could be done to manage and improve dental hygiene. Some seniors may think maintaining oral health stops at teeth, but really, failing to maintain every... Read Article →

The Fateful Vote That Made New York City Rents So High

By Marcelo Rochabrun, ProPublica At the end of a pedestrian tunnel, down a flight of stairs from street level, a plush bar with a Prohibition motif caters to wealthy newcomers who have gentrified Manhattan’s Lower East Side, displacing immigrants and blue-collar workers. Amid chandeliers, velvet couches and Rubenesque oil paintings, bartenders serve beer bottles in... Read Article →

Preparing for Your Permanent Vacation

All frequent travelers have one thing in common … they know that it takes time to prepare for a good vacation. You need to set up travel and transportation arrangements, secure lodging, and plan awesome activities and dining for when vacation finally starts! All in all, a good vacation happens from educating yourself on the location you want to... Read Article →

Running in a New Environment

My father, who qualified and ran multiple Boston Marathons, as well as over 125 other marathons, was a runner. While I have completed one marathon and multiple half-marathons, I am not a runner in the way that he was. Though I enjoy getting out and breathing fresh air on a run, for me running is... Read Article →