Funding Future Family Generations and Charities Are Great Exit Strategies

The first problem for retirees is the “estate stall.” American seniors are a significant demographic of what I call, the procrastination nation. They don’t have wills, no trust documents or family attorneys. But one thing they all have in common is dying and dying intestate or without a will. And if that happens, get ready for the bureaucratic meat grinder that is called going through probate. 

#1 Uncle Sam is not your uncle or any other relative. The dispassionate state rules by law, not by your will. The state is not clairvoyant. It cannot assume you intent or motivations. Probate proceedings run your assets through a gauntlet of rules and regulations that could hand over your assets to people you never intended to have them. You have to have a will and trust documents to hold your assets. You need to have a family meeting to discuss the disbursement of financial assets, the family home and personal items. If there are dependent children, then a custodial discussion needs to take place. The last discussion may be the hardest conversation of all; you have to create a health directive and decide who makes the medical decision on you if you can’t.

#2 There maybe some legacy planning for your family, friends and charities. The conveyance of family assets from one generation to another is a means to perpetuate your bloodline, not only for their prosperity but on into succeeding generations. Never before has “family giving” taken on such a multi-generational approach as it does now in the 21^st century. Enter the age where four generations are alive; great grandchildren living in the times of their great grandparents. Leaving a financial legacy to your bloodline is as almost as important as the transfer of DNA from one generation to the next.

#3 Tax strategies and tactics have emerged over the years that encourage giving with economic benefits back to the donor. Products like annuities and life insurance play huge roles in guaranteed income and leveraging lump sum giving. This is especially important for people who have big hearts but small wallets. In our society, people love to give and there’s so many ways to accomplish funding charities. There’s an old quote from the Reverend John Wesley that seems to sum up the economy of the heart, “Make all you can, give all you can, save all you can.”