Winter 2010
THE PORCH READER Financial and Gift Planning Ideas for Donors and Friends of Portsmouth Abbey School
12 Months to a Well-Planned Estate If you’ve put off writing your will or
jointly or, in certain states,
making plans for how your estate
as community property).
will be distributed after you’re gone, you’re not alone. Estate planning is a chore. But it’s a task that, once completed, feels great.
2. List all obligations and other liabilities. 3. A list of life insurance policies indicating the insured, the owner, and the beneficiary of each policy.
Getting started is often the hardest part,
INSIDE
Having an effective estate plan ensures that the people and causes you care about benefit after you’re gone.
• Do You Want to Help Continue Our Work, But Can’t Right Now? • Creating Your Will: Costs And Considerations
4. Details about deferred
so we’ve put together a simple plan to
compensation, such as from a
help you begin right now. Every few
401(k), including the beneficiaries.
months, tackle the next step in the plan.
5. The names of those parties or
If you keep at it, by year’s end, you will
agencies who you would like
have the peace of mind that comes from
to benefit from your estate.
having a solid plan for protecting yourself and your loved ones.
MONTH 1: Tally your assets.
6. The location of your will, securities and other valuable papers.
The first step in creating your estate
MONTH 4: Make decisions about your will.
plan is the preparation of an inventory
An up-to-date will serves as the bedrock
of personal data. You should include
of your estate plan by expressing your
the following:
current intentions and creating tax-
1. A list of your assets that
saving opportunities. If you do not
shows current value as well
have a will, state law will divide your
as title (whether held in your
estate according to a rigid formula
name, your spouse’s name,
Continued on Page 2