Three Key Elements of Smart Estate Planning
It’s likely that you expect to use your assets to give your family a good life in the here and now—things like travel and college tuition. But have you thought nearly as much about positioning your assets so they’re ready and able to help the people you love after you’re gone?
Even if you have made some headway in this area, your plan for your estate could be a little—perhaps a lot—out of date.
If that describes your situation, don’t panic. Chances are, you can get on track by focusing on three main areas of estate planning: wills, trusts and fiduciaries.
The all-important will
A will should be the basic foundation of every estate plan—the starting point for a well-conceived strategy to transfer assets at death.
A will identifies precisely what you want to have happen to your assets and estate. Dying without a will means you have decided that the state knows what’s best for you and your family. Having no will also can make the settling of your estate difficult, costly and highly publicized.
We strongly believe the benefits of writing a will far outweigh the drawbacks.
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Robert J. Pyle, CFP®, CFA, AEP® founded Diversified Asset Management, Inc., in 1996 to provide personalized, comprehensive wealth management services to successful individuals, families, single women, and business owners. His specialty is addressing the complex financial needs of self-employed professionals, corporate executives, and small-business owners. Our disclosure can be found here. The views, opinion, information, and content provided here are solely those of the respective authors, and may not represent the views or opinions of Diversified Asset Management, Inc. Diversified Asset Management, Inc. cannot guarantee the accuracy or currency of any such third party information or content, and does not undertake to verify or update such information or content. Any such information or other content should not be construed as investment, legal, accounting, or tax advice.