Rarely do we learn from our successes, hopefully we at least enjoy them. From loss, disappointment and pain we find ourselves and our strength.
When all seems lost, then we ask the hard questions. When money is plentiful most people just cruise along. When something happens and suddenly there is much less or much more money, we suddenly began to think about our financial lives. When someone close to us dies, we think about our estate plan (or lack thereof).
About 80% of the time an attorney will draft the proper documents for a client’s estate, but the client will not “get around” to making the little changes necessary to insure that are called for in the attorney’s document. An example of this is often found in the example of the Family Trust. As soon as the person dies, inevitably one finds that their IRAs and pension plans leave individual names as beneficiaries rather than the family trust resulting in more paperwork for the attorney and more cost for the estate.
I think it might be helpful if clients leave their attorney’s office with an action plan and a deadline. Many people do not realize that changing the beneficiary on an IRA is as simple as asking for and filling out a form same with an annuity. Not following through creates more problems and expenses for those who are left behind.
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