Quote:
Originally Posted by FatfreeGTO
Another good item to talk about for people is what to do if they actually have a little bit of a nest egg... Most people just assume that if they die their spouse, kids etc will get the money. Well that is not true, I'm not an estate planner but there are some basics that I'm aware of.
-Most common way someone could potentially die? Car accident probably. Who is usually sitting right next to you in the car? Spouse. Who is usually the beneficiary? Spouse... Well now we have a problem... Your both dead who do you think will get the money? Kids... WRONG!! Minors cannot be the beneficiary. Your money will get tied up in a huge legal battle where the children will be the biggest loser.
You need to setup some sort of a Living Revocable Trust. Minors can inherit that money and take control of it at a time that you laid out in the details. Since this is a "living" trust you can modify it at anytime while you are alive. It really is something that should be thought about and discussed with a pro, well I'm sure Greg can add some insight to this subject  |
Good addition!
There are beneficiary designations on all your brokerage accounts... most of these you can choose percentages to give to different people etc. and a Primary and secondary(s).
I hadn't redone our wills etc (or estate planning) for 10 years.... but as part of the sale of Isilon to EMC -- the execs (my wife not me - I'm too stupid to have a job) -- got estate planning and wills etc paid for provided they were completed by 2011. In our case - that can (is/was) several thousand dollars worth of a "freebie". There's all manor of new rules... passthroughs... etc etc. I learned a ton... and it was fun as well as 'hard'. Hard in the fact that our kids are now 21 and 25... so if we're both croaked - how do we manage our money for them. We're not raising any trust fund brats! So we had to have a family discussion about what we were thinking and why - and what they thought about that etc. It was very productive -- and ONCE AGAIN -- it's NOT something most families do! We should all talk about this stuff. Do your kids have any idea of how you'd like to be handled if you die? Buried? Where? Cremated? Etc... Heck -- for that fact - does your wife? Do you know what she's thinking?
