STEP 6 - Legacy Planning

The hardest part of planning is looking past your life and figuring out where you want your assets to go when you pass. The main considerations are:

• where you want your money to go
• how you can do it tax efficiently
• can you and do you want to utilize any of the assets while you are alive

The first step to legacy planning is to set up a will, trusts and health care proxies. This will help ensure your money goes exactly where you want it after you pass. You can also identify who will manage the money for any minors, who will take care of any minors and how much control you want over the funds for people or organizations on the receiving end.

Estate tax laws are constantly changing, but your estate should be evaluated on a regular basis to ensure their is a plan in place to reduce or eliminate estate taxes if you have significant assets. The earlier you start the more strategies will be available.

Most people put together great strategies to help family members and charitable causes after they pass away. To maximize your happiness we should look at potentially addressing these causes while you are alive so you can see the fruits of your labor. It is important to take care of yourself first, but once that is done you may be able to spend some of your legacy planning and enjoy it while you are alive.