7 Often Overlooked Areas of Long-term Planning Post-Retirement
Long-term planning is intricate, and navigating it can be overwhelming, especially considering the complexities of a rich and fulfilling life. In this article, we'll delve into seven commonly overlooked areas of long-term planning post-retirement and provide guidance on how to address them effectively.
Organizing Financials
One of the most basic yet commonly overlooked steps in planning is documenting your financial assets. Consider putting together a simple list of important information about each account or provider. Try to include items like life insurance, the location of your safety deposit box, and where to find important documents. This can help your loved ones have a guide to handle this important matter with much less confusion and headache. Familial, a long-term planning app, can guide you through a comprehensive list of categories.
2. Detailing Digital Assets:
In today's ever-increasing digital world, people tend to accumulate online accounts, data, and even digital currencies. Long-term plans can neglect these, leaving loved ones unsure about how to access or handle these assets responsibly. When building plans, it can be helpful to include a method for sharing passwords, designating beneficiaries for digital assets, and outlining your wishes for those online accounts, instead of letting them lapse!
3. Laying Out Healthcare Wishes:
While estate planning often focuses on financial considerations, healthcare planning is equally vital. When building a plan, consider creating documents like a Durable Power of Attorney and Healthcare Proxy to empower trusted individuals to manage your finances and healthcare decisions if you become unable to do so yourself. Explore tools like Five Wishes and other documents that enable you to articulate the type of care and treatments you desire, ensuring your loved ones can make decisions on your behalf with a clear understanding of your preferences.
4. Caring for Pets:
Furry loved ones also deserve some consideration in planning! Steps like documenting their veterinarian or outlining specific instructions for their well-being in an absence can give you peace of mind. It’s not uncommon for our pets to have needs as detailed as a person’s. It might be good to think about these in the event you aren’t able to refill their water bowl.
5. Planning Business Succession:
Many people work very hard to build something of their own, but these same people often don’t take steps to properly facilitate what should happen in the event of their absence. If you own a business, consider envisioning what a transition might look like, if it was ever needed. Among many options, this could include: appointing successors, creating buy-sell agreements, or outlining business continuity procedures. These steps, among others that might be more specific to each situation, could help avoid significant hardship for your loved ones.
6. Exploring Charitable Giving:
Are you passionate or devoted to a cause? It doesn’t need to end when you stop writing checks. There are many ways to continue that support via your will or trust to continue your support even after you are gone. There are many ways to support an organization beyond financial assets. Consider donations of valued personal property, for example seeing that a personal library gets donated to a local school, or a prized art collection to a museum. If you deeply care for these items, consider how you want them to be cared for by the next generation.
7. Understanding Tax Implications:
Often forgotten are the tax realities of an estate. Some people seek to minimize the tax burden on their beneficiaries by understanding complex tax laws and implementing tax-efficient strategies. Consider consulting with a tax expert to understand if you might want to optimize your estate plan for tax efficiency.
Remember, a comprehensive estate plan goes beyond just creating a will. By addressing often-overlooked areas important to you, you can help ensure your most important wishes and values are respected and managed responsibly.
Start planning today with Familial.
Familial Takes the Stage: Showcased on NPR's Planet Money Summer School
Familial, as featured on NPR’s Planet Money Summer School, is an app designed to help make the long-term planning process easier on you and your loved ones.
Exciting news is in the air at Familial! (Or should we say ‘on the air’!) We're thrilled to share that our innovative platform, dedicated to collaborative family preparedness and long-term planning, recently took center stage on NPR's popular podcast, Planet Money Summer School. In an episode fondly dubbed the "Guppy Episode," Familial was showcased as a crucial contributor to the mission of equipping individuals with the tools they need to secure their family's future. We're truly grateful to NPR for giving us this incredible opportunity to discuss how Familial can make a real difference to families across the nation.
Planet Money Summer School's knack for simplifying intricate topics found a perfect match in Familial's philosophy. In the spotlight, Eleanor Jacobs succinctly conveyed the essence of Familial's purpose – to help more families get prepared for long-term and end-of-life by making collaborating on planning easier. Listeners gained a glimpse into how Familial's interactive modules and user-friendly resources transform seemingly complex family preparedness and long-term planning into manageable, actionable steps. This podcast feature emphasized the significance of Familial's approach in fostering proactive collaboration within families.
Being recognized on NPR's Planet Money Summer School is a significant achievement. Introducing Familial to a national audience speaks volumes about the importance of family preparedness. With more people learning about Familial, we're enthusiastic about helping families feel secure and ready for whatever lies ahead. Join us in exploring how Familial can simplify long-term planning for your family!
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