Three Estate Planning Tips You’ll Wish You’d Heard Sooner

Who says estate-planning tips can’t be riveting?

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I’ve been dealing a lot lately with friends struggling with estate-settlement issues. We’re gonna have to do a podcast on estate planning soon. I know what you’re thinking: “I’m dying to listen to that.” Hey, that was both a pun and sarcasm. But seriously, you’ll enjoy it and learn a lot. Very important subject

fraught with challenges. Today, though, I want to hit on three very quick tips. Three things my experience tells me we should all follow. 1) Experts are for good reason, always pushing us to review our wills every five years. Life involves a lot of changes. Unforeseen changes. Deaths, divorces, an investment windfall, an investment disaster, an inheritance for you that affects the way you’re going to leave an inheritance for others, a new charity involvement, for example, et cetera, et cetera.

The advice here is solid. But the time frame is off. Please review your will every year or two, not every five. I could give you so many real-life examples of families who wish a suddenly deceased had done this. Again, forget five years, do it more often. Hey, if you don’t want to make a change, you gave up 15 minutes of reading time.

No biggie. But if you do, well, there you go. 2) When you are reviewing your will over the years, don’t focus on only the who-gets-what part. Also review whether your executor choice still makes sense. So many times I see cases where it doesn’t. At all. Over ten, twenty, thirty years, people change.

Circumstances change. Relationships change. Because your neighbor made sense when you were 28, doesn’t mean they will when you’re 48. They may live far away. They may have turned into a weirdo. Who knows? Take your choice of executor or executors very seriously. It’s a big responsibility you’re placing on someone.

Re-examine that choice periodically. 3) I’m begging you to listen to this last piece of advice. I’ve said it in another video. I say it on stage, but it’s not sinking in. Please keep an updated net-worth statement with one of the copies of your will and make sure your executor knows where to find both.

And give a little colour to this net-worth statement. Not just what you own and what it’s worth, but also where to find it. The institution names. The account numbers. The passwords. The passwords. If you have any debts, list them in full detail. Any private-company holdings? Any safety-deposit boxes? Any crypto?

Where does the executor find the keys? Passwords to social-media accounts to close them down. Help the executor out. You’re asking them to take on a lot, make it as easy on them as possible. I’ve shared all this with my dad and he responded, “Solid advice, David, but I’m going to live to be 110.” I told him, “Do not threaten me!”