Celebrating Fatherhood

FATHERHOOD celebrating

Father’s Day is on June 19, and the Shores would like to celebrate all local dads and honor the memory of those who are no longer with us. Thank you to those who responded to our request for photos for this “Celebrating Fatherhood” feature. Fathers and father figures are the men who have shaped us, believed in us and marveled at the privilege of watching us grow. Dads, we love you – whether you are here with us or forever in our hearts.

Middle Left: Joe Fresard and Corinne Streicher with their daughter Dora. Submitted by Joe Fresard Middle Right: (L-R) Jerry Dancey, David Schelosky, Molly Schelosky, Jeremy Schelosky, Dave Schelosky and Dianne Schelosky – Jerry is Dianne’s father; Dave is David’s father and Molly and Jeremy’s grandfather. Submitted by Sandy Schelosky Bottom Left: Brett Drinkwater with son Maddox Drinkwater Submitted by Brett’s fiancé Tiffani Stack Bottom Right: In Memory of Bill Addis, who is pictured here at his 90th birthday with his daughter Sandy Schelosky. Submitted by Sandy Schelosky In Memory of Mark Drinkwater pictured with grandson Maddox, top, and his wife Kelly, left Submitted by Tiffani Stack

Smart LEGAL TIPS

Estate Planning: Why A Will Is Not Enough

BY PATRICK M. SIMASKO

An estate plan is just a legal toolbox. Every good toolbox should be filled with a variety of tools that serve specific purposes. Make sure you have the appropriate tools and understand how each of them work.

While a will is a very important tool, in most situations it’s the least important. Why? Because if you use your will, your estate will go through probate. So, people try to avoid this by setting up beneficiary and joint owner designations on their financial accounts and house. These designations are known to be will substitutes. Their mistake is this: they believe their will controls their estate. It doesn’t. Remember this rule: joint ownership and beneficiary designations supersede the will. That sounds awesome, but let’s see if it really is. If you put your daughter on your bank account and she is sued, files for bankruptcy or divorce, her problems just became your problems. Your accounts are now at risk. If you put the bank account in your son’s name and you die, he does not have to split it up with his sibling as directed in your will. Not so awesome. Don’t get me wrong! In most cases, beneficiary and joint designations work perfectly, but you must understand the rules.

Revocable trust agreements are a very popular tool because they protect estates from children’s problems and still allow families to avoid probate. You designate a successor trustee – that allows the trustee to distribute your estate to your beneficiaries without probate court involvement or relying on family members to do the right thing. A trust agreement can also be used to protect minor children from themselves. You choose someone to watch over their money until they are old enough while still having money available for their needs.

But what if you have a stroke or develop dementia and need someone to care for you? You will need a medical and financial power of attorney in your toolbox. You choose someone to go to the bank for you or tell your doctor to operate if you become incapacitated and can’t take care of yourself. If you don’t have these documents your family will need to go to probate and appoint a guardian or conservator for you. This is a waste of time and money – not to mention stressful.

A comprehensive estate plan has a will, revocable trust, medical power of attorney, financial power of attorney and the necessary deeds and forms required to transfer your estate to your trust when you pass away.

Planning is the key. Reach out to an elder law attorney and find the best plan for you.

Patrick joined Simasko Law Firm in 1989 after graduating from Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School. The practice was founded in 1955 by Patrick’s father Leonard Simasko. As well as being a successful elder law attorney, Patrick is a licensed financial advisor for Simasko Financial. He is also an adjunct professor for Michigan State University. the shores 17

PLANNING Financial

Caution: Your Worldview May be Harmful to Your Wealth

BY JEFFREY BRAYTON

In the last 20 years, do you believe the proportion of the world living in extreme poverty has… A. Almost doubled

B. Remained more or less the same

C. Almost halved

It’s not a trick question. The late Hans Rosling, a medical doctor and professor of international health, posed big questions like this to thousands of people over many years.

What he found is that people in general are massively ignorant (his words, not mine!) about the world we live in. The answer to the above question is C. If you got it wrong, don’t feel bad. Of those polled in the U.S., only 5% picked the correct number. Over the past 20 years, the proportion of the global population living in extreme poverty has halved. You could make an argument that this is the most important development in the world in our lifetime. How is it that so few of us are aware of this fact?

Hans Rosling discovered that not only are we uninformed about the condition of our world, but we are also often “devastatingly and systematically wrong” about it. This is true across countries, backgrounds, cultures and levels of education. He shared his research and findings in his book, Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World – and Why Things are Better Thank You Think.

This revelation, based upon interviews and hard data, was eye opening to me. I believe having a semi-accurate big picture worldview is important. It stands to reason that our worldview can influence our psychology and potentially our investment behavior. In short, I think understanding the world as it is can potentially make us better investors and decision makers. At the very least, it might help us ignore some of the constant negativity bombarding us every day.

As a financial advisor dedicated to helping our clients invest successfully in an increasingly complex environment, Mr. Rosling’s research sent me on a reading binge. In addition to Factfulness, the best book on this topic I could find was Ten Global Trends Every Smart Person Should Know by Ronald Bailey and Marian L. Tupy. I keep it within reach at my office. The book is a factual chronicle of the progress humans have made in areas like farming, health care and technology. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Photo courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division

The other item I keep close by to fight off my own occasional negativity bias is the photo above. This features a typical middle-class family in the 1880s, and this picture would have remained accurate into the early part of the 20th century. The size of our homes and our present standard of living would appear as science fiction to this family. It makes me wonder what life will look like 50 or 100 years from now. And I think of the incredible investment opportunities innovation and progress will continue to present patient long-term investors. Jeffrey Brayton is a graduate of the University of Michigan and has an MBA from Wayne State University. He is the co-owner of Lakeshore Financial Planning in St. Clair Shores and has spent the last 29 years helping individuals and families clarify and work toward achieving their unique financial goals. For more information about Lakeshore Financial Planning, go to www.lakeshorefinancialplanning.com