I have been keeping current a FLOP (Financial life on one page). On that page I have all accounts/passwords and places to look for what and items I wish for whom.. My will is super simple and current.
Yes. I got my HCD,POA, RLT, and Will, LTC,even more as a Singleton. At early to mid 40. It's a must. Like you said, do not scrimp on this part. It's your foundation for your retirement and life. !
Having been the executor of my mother's will and then having to manage my brother's estate (who passed without a will or health care directive) this is one of the most important things people can do for their love ones they leave behind. Thanks for tackling a difficult conversation. Love the show, it's been so helpful as I hopefully prepare to FIRE in 2023.
I set up a trust this year and funding it was the most aggravating thing. Also they haven't let me dictate how much money could be issue out per year upon death either. I'm going back to address this issue
Jason here - sorry to hear it! Mine situation wasn’t too bad. Just some paperwork with the brokerage. Personally, I’m with you on circling back. It’s an individual decision of course but so what makes sense for you after consulting with an attorney. Good luck
@@Cenlalowell To be sure I'm clear: The only part they helped with was moving things from individual (i.e. mine or my wife's) into trust-titled accounts at the brokerage, which represented the bulk of the funding of the trust. It was also easy for me to get our bank to retitle the accounts we had in the name of the trust. At the time we set up the trust, we were renting so there was no real estate to move into the trust. So it was rather simple.
States can have an estate tax in addition to the federal one. Maine's appears to kick in at a little over $8 million. Still, probably not something you need to worry about, but they vary from state to state.
Like a lot of people and you noted it, it takes a while to get to a point in life to think about estate planning. My wife and I have no kids so a will was not something we thought about until our 50s and realized we had accumulated some wealth (not much compared to many, but for us a nice amount). And then who gets it if something happens to both of us. Some interesting discussions deciding on how to split between our families, who will manage estate after, etc. Didn't really cost that much. We also invested in a fire proof safe for all these documents and others (highly recommend). Then of course make sure someone knows the combo besides you and your spouse. And it really helps to keep a list of bank, credit card, investment accounts, etc. in case you both die and someone has to contact all these places. Knowing where to start is the first part. As for when you feel like you're an adult, my wife and I waited until our mid-40s before buying a real bedframe. Our mattress and box spring just sat on the floor for years and finally I thought my god, we're living like I did in college. So went and bought a ridiculously expensive bedframe and few years later had to admit we both hated it and replaced it with something that we don't stub our toes into all the time!
Interesting episode. I've gone through a similar planning process but with an added focus on asset protection and ensuring my parents are benificiaries if anything happens to me as I'm single, no kids and looking for a partner. Have you considered any life planning/asset protection in your estate planning, for example, the possibility of divorce? Any thoughts on how to approach relationships and planning as a single person close to fire?
Jason here - thanks for the comment, Mark. Nothing specific in ours re: divorce but we are well apprised on the way the laws work in our state. There are many in the FIRE community who like the idea of prenup agreements but that isn’t a path of interest for us. If it is to you, I’m certain you could get some good guidance in a fairly brief legal consult. Good luck to you.
We have a revocable trust right now, but if one of us dies our trust becomes an irrevocable trust so the assets go to our children in case the surviving spouse remarries and there are other children/family. That keeps the estate going to our children not other future family.
right about the HELOC - simple - simply confirmed that the title was in the name of the trust and cancelled the initial HELOC & set up the new one. Also the cost of even a special needs trust carves out a certain funding mechanism that then is sent to a 3rd party who works with the special needs person to support their lifestyle (but provides a certain level of ownership by the company which administers the special needs trust - ~1% / year.). Yes the lawyer we used specialized in this type of trust and cost about 2k initially but an update was less than half that 10 years after the initial trust was signed. Also, the medical power of attorney was set up with input of a trusted primary care physician who has privileges in the hospitals at which i would be carted :-) ...The end-of-life decisions are important and that was extended to evaluate the DNR type of scenarios - yes I did it by Medical scenario as well. This is very important because end-of-life sometimes breaks down between hospice vs hospital end of life decisions. Great discussion.
Thank you, guys, for sharing your own experiences so openly. It is so helpful to hear others' experiences. My husband and I are tackling this currently and we don't have many personal contacts who seem interested in sharing about their choices. Looking forward to part 2!
I thought I didn't need a revocable trust since I had beneficiaries on the majority of my accounts but I didn't take incapacitation into account. If I am incapacitated (but not dead), my bennies can't get to my assets so they will need to pay my bills but won't have access to my assets so I created a trust with an incapacity clause. I didn't want to have an open POA so I went the route of the trust.
This was very informative and helpful! I have been told that if all of my beneficiaries are named in my life insurance, mutual funds, IRA's, etc. I do not need to have a will. From what you have said in this video, it sounds like a Trust is a very important thing to have as well. I would like to be able to explain this to my loved ones that do not see the need for it. Thank you for talking about this :)
Very glad to learn you found it useful! Naming beneficiaries is indeed a great start. It’s worth investigating the other options we discussed to see what may make the best sense for your individual situation. Best wishes to you
Ah thanks for this one, guys. Things I have been thinking about but putting off. Currently single, renting on purpose, bulk of assets addressed by beneficiaries named on the accounts - so outside of probate, etc. But I should probably stop procrastinating! 😂
How have you tackled estate planning and did you learn any important lessons along the way? Let us know in the comments!
I have been keeping current a FLOP (Financial life on one page). On that page I have all accounts/passwords and places to look for what and items I wish for whom.. My will is super simple and current.
@@DK-et6lm Yes it is out, and here's a link: th-cam.com/video/-JUkMw18XjE/w-d-xo.html
Yes. I got my HCD,POA, RLT, and Will, LTC,even more as a Singleton. At early to mid 40. It's a must. Like you said, do not scrimp on this part. It's your foundation for your retirement and life. !
Well put!
You guys are awesome to share all this information, so transparently. These are such important discussions to have! Thank you.
Thanks so much!
Having been the executor of my mother's will and then having to manage my brother's estate (who passed without a will or health care directive) this is one of the most important things people can do for their love ones they leave behind. Thanks for tackling a difficult conversation. Love the show, it's been so helpful as I hopefully prepare to FIRE in 2023.
Thanks so much for your support. Best wishes to you on your journey.
I set up a trust this year and funding it was the most aggravating thing. Also they haven't let me dictate how much money could be issue out per year upon death either. I'm going back to address this issue
My lawyer said giving such strict guidelines for the successor trustees could create headaches and have no benefits
@@harrychufan so I wonder how would you do it. Say you wanted your kid to only get 3% off the portfolio every year?
Jason here - sorry to hear it! Mine situation wasn’t too bad. Just some paperwork with the brokerage. Personally, I’m with you on circling back. It’s an individual decision of course but so what makes sense for you after consulting with an attorney. Good luck
@@TwoSidesOfFI I didn't think a brokerage could handle this. I'll do some more research on this part of the trust.
@@Cenlalowell To be sure I'm clear: The only part they helped with was moving things from individual (i.e. mine or my wife's) into trust-titled accounts at the brokerage, which represented the bulk of the funding of the trust. It was also easy for me to get our bank to retitle the accounts we had in the name of the trust. At the time we set up the trust, we were renting so there was no real estate to move into the trust. So it was rather simple.
States can have an estate tax in addition to the federal one. Maine's appears to kick in at a little over $8 million. Still, probably not something you need to worry about, but they vary from state to state.
Great point, Jeff. Thanks!
Like a lot of people and you noted it, it takes a while to get to a point in life to think about estate planning. My wife and I have no kids so a will was not something we thought about until our 50s and realized we had accumulated some wealth (not much compared to many, but for us a nice amount). And then who gets it if something happens to both of us. Some interesting discussions deciding on how to split between our families, who will manage estate after, etc. Didn't really cost that much. We also invested in a fire proof safe for all these documents and others (highly recommend). Then of course make sure someone knows the combo besides you and your spouse. And it really helps to keep a list of bank, credit card, investment accounts, etc. in case you both die and someone has to contact all these places. Knowing where to start is the first part.
As for when you feel like you're an adult, my wife and I waited until our mid-40s before buying a real bedframe. Our mattress and box spring just sat on the floor for years and finally I thought my god, we're living like I did in college. So went and bought a ridiculously expensive bedframe and few years later had to admit we both hated it and replaced it with something that we don't stub our toes into all the time!
Jason here - Thanks for sharing, Scott! Lots of great guidance in there for sure.
Interesting episode. I've gone through a similar planning process but with an added focus on asset protection and ensuring my parents are benificiaries if anything happens to me as I'm single, no kids and looking for a partner. Have you considered any life planning/asset protection in your estate planning, for example, the possibility of divorce? Any thoughts on how to approach relationships and planning as a single person close to fire?
Jason here - thanks for the comment, Mark. Nothing specific in ours re: divorce but we are well apprised on the way the laws work in our state. There are many in the FIRE community who like the idea of prenup agreements but that isn’t a path of interest for us. If it is to you, I’m certain you could get some good guidance in a fairly brief legal consult. Good luck to you.
Hi 👋!
We have wills now but plan to do a trust when our assets get a little bigger and we are a little closer to retirement :)
Best wishes to you in achieving all your goals, Carey
One thing to note is that the $12M is the Federal Estate Tax limit - some states have much lower limits.
That's true, thanks!
We have a revocable trust right now, but if one of us dies our trust becomes an irrevocable trust so the assets go to our children in case the surviving spouse remarries and there are other children/family. That keeps the estate going to our children not other future family.
Thanks for sharing. Do you mean 100% of the assets go to the children and the surviving spouse gets none of it?
right about the HELOC - simple - simply confirmed that the title was in the name of the trust and cancelled the initial HELOC & set up the new one.
Also the cost of even a special needs trust carves out a certain funding mechanism that then is sent to a 3rd party who works with the special needs person to support their lifestyle (but provides a certain level of ownership by the company which administers the special needs trust - ~1% / year.).
Yes the lawyer we used specialized in this type of trust and cost about 2k initially but an update was less than half that 10 years after the initial trust was signed.
Also, the medical power of attorney was set up with input of a trusted primary care physician who has privileges in the hospitals at which i would be carted :-) ...The end-of-life decisions are important and that was extended to evaluate the DNR type of scenarios - yes I did it by Medical scenario as well. This is very important because end-of-life sometimes breaks down between hospice vs hospital end of life decisions.
Great discussion.
Thanks for sharing, Kevin - and for your support!
Thank you, guys, for sharing your own experiences so openly. It is so helpful to hear others' experiences. My husband and I are tackling this currently and we don't have many personal contacts who seem interested in sharing about their choices. Looking forward to part 2!
Thanks for your support!
I thought I didn't need a revocable trust since I had beneficiaries on the majority of my accounts but I didn't take incapacitation into account. If I am incapacitated (but not dead), my bennies can't get to my assets so they will need to pay my bills but won't have access to my assets so I created a trust with an incapacity clause. I didn't want to have an open POA so I went the route of the trust.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Kim. Best wishes to you
This was very informative and helpful!
I have been told that if all of my beneficiaries are named in my life insurance, mutual funds, IRA's, etc. I do not need to have a will. From what you have said in this video, it sounds like a Trust is a very important thing to have as well. I would like to be able to explain this to my loved ones that do not see the need for it.
Thank you for talking about this :)
Very glad to learn you found it useful! Naming beneficiaries is indeed a great start. It’s worth investigating the other options we discussed to see what may make the best sense for your individual situation. Best wishes to you
Ah thanks for this one, guys. Things I have been thinking about but putting off. Currently single, renting on purpose, bulk of assets addressed by beneficiaries named on the accounts - so outside of probate, etc. But I should probably stop procrastinating! 😂
You’re welcome, Shea! The first step is the hardest but it sounds like you know what you need to do. Good luck
Go Bills!! 👍🤘
@@rodmead4324 Go Bills!! 😤