Many private practice physical therapists work long hours in their practice to achieve a higher quality life and invest a lot of time into planning for future prosperity. One would think that they would finish the process by doing effective estate planning. The reality is that many private practice professionals fail to pursue estate planning despite the fact that it is easy to do, says P. Christopher Music, author of What Every Private Practice Physical Therapist Needs to Know About His or Her Financial Future.
Music discusses the importance of estate planning for private practice professionals in What Every Private Practice Physical Therapist Needs to Know About His or Her Financial Future and he emphasizes the fact that once income and assets have been accumulated it is necessary to plan them out in the event of death, illness, incapacitation, or other factors that prevent income and asset management. Effective estate planning ensures that there are legal instructions in place to take care of the spouse, kids, business partners, employees, and others that are dependent upon the income of a physical therapist.
Estate planning involves making up a last will and testament, designating a durable power of attorney for healthcare decisions, a living will, and durable power of attorney for financial and legal matters. Without putting these elements in place the people who are designated to take over will be required to go to the courts to obtain permission to take care of all of these things.
According to P. Christopher Music, estate planning is very inexpensive and easy to do, yet it is the most neglected part of a private professional’s income and assets. Music says he has seen the aftermath that is left for the survivors due to lack of estate planning by private practice physical therapists and it creates the worst havoc for survivors more than anything he has seen.
About P. Christopher Music:
After 18-plus years of being a financial planner, P. Christopher Music decided there had to be a better way. Witnessing financial debacles of big industry and government-driven economies caused Christopher to take action, developing an instrument that measures the success of any financial plan. The Financial Prosperity IndexTM (FPI) is the back bone of Music’s firm, Wealth Advisory Associates (WAA). WAA is a financial planning firm focused on helping private-practice physical therapists understand and implement the most effective strategies to achieving financial success and security. Visit www.wealthadvisoryassociates.com
