Financial and estate planning – Though it is difficult and somewhat scary to think about, your financial and estate planning is very crucial no matter how large or small your property is. Sure, you’re not a famous singer or artist with mansion the likes of Queen Elizabeth’s but making sure that your financial and estate planning is in order is very important.
Both for your peace of mind as well as making sure that the transfer of your financial and estate planning progress as smoothly as possible.
Click Here to Learn More About : Commercial Real Estate – Why You Should Get Involved
1. Financial and Estate Planning Itemize everything
The first step on financial and estate planning is definitely one of the hardest ones. But you need to itemize and categorize every valuable item that you possess such as the house itself, television, valuable pieces of jewelry, vehicles, and most of everything.
This list will not only take a long time to produce, but it can also turn out to be very, very long depending on how many valuables you have in your possession.Â
So strap in and make sure that you have a lot of free time before tackling the first step in your financial and estate planning.
2. Financial and Estate Planning Continue with your non-physical assets.
Now that you’re done itemizing your physical assets and valuables, it’s time to move on to the non-physical ones. This might sound a bit confusing at first because you might not know what non-physical assets you have with you.
To make it easier, non-physical assets are things like your IRAs, bank accounts, insurances, retirement plans, and others. Sort through them first and then put them on the list and you’re done. This one is less taxing compared to the first step, but it can still a considerable amount of your time due to its complexity.
3. Financial and Estate Planning Soldier on with a list of debts
After we’re done with your assets, next in line to put in your financial and estate planning list is the list of your debts should they exist. These are things like open credit cards, loans, mortgages, as well as other obligations you may have.
Make sure to include the account numbers, contact information, and the signed agreements relating to said debt.
You can also put a little note for every credit card that you own, detailing which are the ones more frequently used and which ones are the ones that you barely even use in your lifetime.
4. Proceed with a list of memberships
Next, after you’re done detailing your lists of debts and assets, the next thing to tackle is your memberships in life. It is important to do this as some organizations such as your college alumni group come with insurance of some sort that could be eligible for your beneficiaries to collect.
5. Financial and Estate Planning Copy everything
Now that you’re done composing every list of important matters related to your financial and estate planning, it’s time to copy everything to make sure that they’re safe and you always have backups available one way or another in case you lose them.
Make at least three signed copies of your lists and give the original ones to your estate administrator. Meanwhile, as for the second and last copies, you can give the second one to your spouse or significant other, and as for the last one, you can keep it to yourself for safe-keeping.
If you’re not married, however, you can also keep the second copy alongside the third copy with yourself.Â
6. Draft a will
Now here comes the most integral part of financial and estate planning: the Will. Having a will is integral when it comes to financial and estate planning. Thankfully though, it’s not that expensive to compose a will for your estate as lots of attorneys can help you write your will in $1,000 or less.
And if you don’t want to pay someone to help you write your will concerning your financial and estate plan, you can write it yourself through online will makers or other software programs out there.
It goes without saying that you should sign and date your will and notarize it. After everything regarding your will is all said and done, make sure that other people know where this will is located so that they could find it when the time calls for it.
7. Review your documents
Life is ever-changing, so to make sure that your financial and estate planning is correct, make sure to review documents related to big life events such as marriage, divorce, and other documents of that nature.
If there’s anything wrong or outdated, make sure to correct it immediately. These documents need to be to be as up-to-date as possible to make sure that no inconsistencies arise when the time to pass your property comes.
8. Consult with an estate attorney
Generally speaking, you’re pretty much done with the steps on financial and estate planning. And if you’ve done everything thoroughly thus far, there’s barely any need to consult with an estate attorney regarding this planning of yours.
Still, there’s no harm in consulting with a professional in person to make sure that everything is in order and ready to go.
Conclusion
And those were everything we can say for this article detailing what you need to do in concerning to your will. It is a lot to prepare, but it is important for the benefit of your beneficiaries. You’d want the best for your loved ones, after all.Â
As such, we hope that this article on estate and financial planning can help you with your endeavor in preparing your estate and finance for your heirs.
Click Here to Learn More About : 3 Short Term Investment Strategies You Should Look Into
And that’s truly all from us for now. We hope you find this article useful, and if you do, feel free to share it with others who might require an article like this. And if you have some light questions on this topic, you can put them in the comments down below and we’d love to help you out with them.
Financial and estate planning – Of course, it’d be better to consult a professional for more intricate and personal matters related to this estate planning business, but we’d still love to help you in any way we can.
About Author
