Housekeeping

Where There’s A Will, There’s A Way!

The Challenge

In today’s world, every institution requires the proper legal documents to conduct business for yourself or for someone acting on your behalf. Think about how easy it was for a parent to ask the school nurse to give their child medication 25 years ago and the documentation required to do the same thing today.

Why It’s Important

No one loves to deal with estate planning because we are dealing with our own mortality. Estate planning helps your family manage their way through difficult times in the easiest way possible. The alternative is a lot of time, money, and headaches for loved ones.

Recommendation

It’s important to work with a qualified attorney to create these important legal documents so that they are current, correct and effective.

Will

A will is the legal document that enables you to pass real property, such as your home or car, to another person. The legal process through which property is transferred is called the probate process. Probate may be as short as a year or may last longer, depending on the complexity of your estate.

Financial or Durable Power of Attorney

This document gives legal authority for others to conduct business on your behalf. If you were to become incapacitated, the person who has Power of Attorney (POA) can buy and sell property, deal with utility companies, and manage your banking or retirement accounts. This is a very powerful document, so be sure to ask your attorney about safeguards and best practices.

Medical Power of Attorney

This is a very important document that will serve you in times of good health and bad. This gives your medical professionals the legal authority to discuss your health situation with your loved ones. It also allows the person with your MPOA to make medical decisions for you if you are incapacitated.

Another important note is that if your child is over age 18, you must have a MPOA in order to get information from their doctors, even if they are on your insurance plan. Also, it’s a good idea to keep a copy on a thumb drive so that you can have access to it should you need it while traveling.

Housekeeping you can do on your own

Beneficiaries

The Challenge

When is the last time you updated your beneficiaries on your retirement accounts, investments, or life insurance policies? Did you get married, divorced, or re-married? Did you have a parent who passed away that was your beneficiary?

Why It’s Important

The reason this is so important is that the beneficiary designations on your accounts trump your will. There are scores of stories I can share with you when a client forgot to update their beneficiaries, passed away, and their money didn’t pass to their immediate family.

Recommendation

Review the beneficiaries on all of your retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and TRS. This will not take very long and you can ensure that your hard-earned money goes to whom you intend it to go.

Account Titling

The Challenge

You have not reviewed your bank accounts since you set them up and are unsure of how or to whom your money will pass on to your loved ones in the event of your passing.

Why It’s Important

How your bank and investment accounts are titled is very important. For instance, if you have an account in your name only, your heirs will need to go through probate to gain control of an account that you willed to them. However, if you set it up in your name with the Transfer on Death (TOD) designation, the account would transfer to your heir without having to go through probate. There are other ways your accounts can be titled such as Joint Tenants or Joint Tenants with Right of Survivorship that are beneficial as well.

Recommendation

Review how all of your accounts are titled and discuss your options with your bank to make sure the titling will ensure that your accounts bypass probate and go to your loved ones.

A Survivor’s Guide

The Challenge

You don’t have your financial affairs organized and no one knows who to contact or where to look in the event of your death. Will your family know where to look to find your important documents? Will they know who your CPA is? That you still have a safe deposit box at a bank you haven’t used for checking in over a decade? How to find your passwords?

Why It’s Important

This will save your family a lot of time, money and stress. We have seen situations where one of our clients was about to finish a long probate process only to discover that their mother had a safe deposit box in a town they had not lived in for over 20 years. They had to delay the completion of the probate process for another 9 months.

Recommendation

A Survivor’s Guide is a road map to all your important data and documents so they can manage your affairs after you have passed away. Some of our clients have given a copy to their family for safe keeping while others have it in a secure place in their home and have let their family know where to find it. Either way, it’s a good idea to have one.

Our StrategyFor You

1. Get Organized –Know what you have and where it is located

2. Create an Income Plan –Know where you are, and if you need to make adjustments

3. Prepare for Inflation –This is a fact of life, and you should prepare for it

4. Get your Estate Planning in Order –Speak with an attorney

5. Update your Beneficiaries –Verify that they are correct

6. Complete a Survivor’s Guide –Ask us for a copy and let your family know where to find it

Securities and Advisory Services Offered through GWN SECURITIES, INC. A Registered Investment Advisor. Member FINRA(www.finra.org)/SIPC(www.sipc.org). 11440 N Jog Road, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418. (561) 472-2700. Echelon and GWN SECURITIES, INC. are non-affiliated companies. Information provided should not be considered as tax advice from GWN SECURITIES, INC. or its representatives. This is not an official site of GWN SECURITIES, INC. (GWN) or its affiliates. The site may contain links that are contained on a third-party website. GWN, its representatives or advisors do not endorse or accept responsibility for the content, or use, of the website. GWN, its representatives or advisors assume no liability for any inaccuracies, errors/omissions in or from any data or information provided on the pages. No part of this site is intended to make a recommendation or a testimonial for or about a security, service or product, to provide investment, tax or other advice. No strategy assures success or protects against loss. IMPORTANT: We do not provide customer service or enable financial transactions through this site. Should you have questions or concerns that are specific to your account, please contact your representative. Never post personal, account or transaction information anywhere on this site. Services are only available in jurisdictions where the Representative is licensed and registered to conduct business. Please contact the Representative for a list of these states. Past Performance is no guarantee of future results.