Why bother with an estate plan? You can probably think of many reasons to put it off. You might think your
estate
won’t be large enough to warrant a plan. You might think you’re too
young to worry about it. The issue might seem too complicated. Or maybe
there are just more pleasant things to do at the moment.
Then
think again. There are good reasons to start estate planning right now.
Of course there are financial reasons — minimizing legal fees and
taxes, for the most part. But there are also equally important personal
reasons. Your estate plan can be designed to support people and causes
you care about long after you’re gone. Especially if others are
financially dependent on you, an estate plan can give you peace of
mind, knowing you’ve taken care of them to the best of your ability.
The more you know about what you can accomplish with estate planning
and how to go about it, the more you may be motivated to think about
how you can actively shape the future.
By leaving the wealth
you’ve worked hard to accumulate to your heirs, you
give them the big responsibility of managing it. You might
consider it part of your own responsibility to prepare them
for the task. One way to do so is to go over your investments,
property, and financial plans with them now, and perhaps
even to introduce them to your financial advisers. Ideally,
what you leave behind is not just money, but also the knowledge
necessary to handle it.
