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As you prepare for retirement, or if you are already retired, working with estate planning professionals can be incredibly beneficial and can help you avoid potentially costly mistakes.  Professionals can ensure various considerations and protections are in place. Your plan should be personalized to you for it work the most efficiently.

This can include having a revocable trust with a tailored definition and determination of disability to you to keep you in control. It can also include ensuring your beneficiaries inherit what you want, in the way you want, when you want. Putting protections in place for inheritances can prevent future creditor, predator, and tax issues. For example, you can make sure a beneficiary who is not financially responsible receive education on investing or guidance from a financial advisor before they inherit. You could also have provisions in place in case a beneficiary divorces after your death, so their outlaws do not receive your hard-earned money. Similarly, you can include remarriage provisions, so your intended beneficiaries are the ones who inherit. Furthermore, you can put special needs trust provisions in place to protect beneficiaries who require that kind of assistance. By being proactive, professionals can advise you on how to best remain in control and achieve protections for your loved ones.

Estate planning attorneys can also work with your financial advisors or CPAs to make sure your plan accomplishes your fiscal goals. While preparing for retirement a revocable trust can and should be optimized regarding estate, gift, and capital gains taxes. Working with experts can ensure you’re protecting as much as your nest egg as possible for your enjoyment and to pass on to your beneficiaries. They would make sure to consider various tax strategies based on current regulations, so your plan continues to work for you.

Additionally, having a team of professionals on your side as you near retirement would make sure your plan includes managing Social Security, pension, and retirement account assets. This is for both while you are alive, if you become disabled, and after death and your beneficiaries are distributing the accounts. Funding these accounts into your plan can help during transition phases so you and your loved ones are able to handle step ups in basis or required minimum distributions and your plan still works how intended.

Approaching retirement can also provide an ideal time to review your plan if you already have one in place and update it as needed. You should check that your plan includes any life changes. For instance, if you had a new grandchild and wanted to contribute to their education or leave them a sum of money, that could be factored in. Or, if you went through health changes you should make sure your power of attorney for healthcare decisions and any advance directives you have in place reflect how you currently feel about medical decisions to give your loved ones the best guidance. Also, if you are thinking about moving when you retire, you should make sure your plan works in conjunction with your new state’s laws.

Finally, as you approach retirement it is also a great time to think about what you have learned over the years and how this can be incorporated into your plans. Creating an estate plan is more than just leaving wealth behind to your loved ones, you should be able to leave a legacy as well. Helping instill wisdom on your beneficiaries and sharing your experiences can help your loved ones navigate stressful times in their lives and feel more connected to the family. Passing your family legacies to the future generations can help reinforce your core beliefs and extend your traditions to let your values be passed down throughout the years to come.

Retirement is meant to be a time for you to enjoy the fruits of your labor. You shouldn’t have to worry about how you will be taken care of, potential familial disputes, your loved ones getting frustrated by the probate process, or any of the other complications that can be involved in estate planning. To hear more about our process and how our plans could benefit you or to have a current plan updated contact us for a complimentary initial consultation, (248) 409-0256.