Estate Planning
David Postic
Top 7 Reasons People Delay Making An Estate Plan

According to a survey conducted earlier in 2019, only 40% of American adults have a Will or Trust. That percentage drops dramatically for younger age groups. For example, only 19% of people ages 18-34 have a Will or Trust.

So what’s the big deal?

As Baby Boomers pass away, experts predict that over $68 trillion (with a ‘trill’) in wealth will be transferred over the next 25 years. And the estate planning of those Boomers will control where all that wealth goes.

Despite the hugeness of those numbers and the importance of estate planning, it is easy to procrastinate when it comes to actually setting your affairs in order. Here are the top 7 reasons (in no particular order) people give us to explain why they delay estate planning:

1. “I’m too young.”

First of all, you are never too young to have an estate plan. I wrote a series of articles specifically geared toward estate planning for Millennials. (Or you can substitute “Millennials” for “Gen Z” or whatever weird thing we are on now.)

Whenever young people say “I don’t have enough assets for an estate plan” or “I’m going to wait until I have a family,” what they are really saying is, “I don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon.” Because young people don’t die, they live forever.

Top 7 Reasons People Delay Making An Estate Plan
Estate Planning, Taxes
David Postic
Everything You Wanted To Know About Estate ...

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced that the estate and gift tax exemption is increasing in 2024 to $13.61 million per person, up from $12.92 million in 2023.

The IRS also confirmed that the annual gift exclusion amount is increasing from $17,000 per person in 2023 to $18,000 per person in 2024.

Read more: IRS Rev. Proc. 2023-34

Okay great, you might be saying to yourself. But what does that mean, and why does it matter?

Great questions.

There are a lot of misconceptions about estate taxes and gift taxes — often referred to as “death taxes.” What they are, who has to pay them, how to avoid them.

This article is my attempt to demystify the topic for you and to help you figure out how these tax changes could affect your estate plan.

Everything You Wanted To Know About Estate & Gift Taxes
Estate Planning
David Postic
8 Questions to Prepare Your Estate Plan for 2024

2023 is almost over.

The end of the year is a time for people to gather together with family and friends, to look back on the past 365 days, and to look forward to better, happier things.

People usually don’t want to think about things like—oh, I don’t know—their mortality. Death. Stuff like that.

However, it is crucial to regularly review and, if needed, update your estate plan. The end of the year is the perfect time to do that.

So before you completely wipe 2023 from your memory, ask yourself these 8 questions to make sure your estate plan is ready for whatever 2024 throws at you.

1. Will the right people get my “stuff”?

First, make sure your will or trust correctly states who will inherit your assets.

You should then review your pay-on-death (POD) beneficiaries on insurance policies, retirement accounts, and other assets.

Do they match the beneficiaries in your will or trust?

Related post: 7 Mistakes to Avoid When Naming Beneficiaries

Many people incorrectly believe that a legal document such as a will or a trust controls what happens to all of their assets.

However, beneficiary designations can override those documents.

For example: Your trust may say that your son John will receive your entire estate and that you are disinheriting your other son, David.

But if your insurance policy lists David as beneficiary, he will still get part of your estate.

You should therefore coordinate your beneficiary designations with your will or trust to make sure all of your assets are distributed the way you want.

8 Questions to Prepare Your Estate Plan for 2024
Estate Planning
David Postic
What's the Difference Between a Will and a ...

Lawyers love to be confusing.

We use insane-sounding words from Latin and Greek and some other languages that I’m pretty sure are completely made up.

Words such as testator, force majeure, per stirpes, and inter vivos.

Our words are so weird, we have to italicize them.

So I’m not surprised when someone asks me whether a Last Will and Testament and a Living Will are the same thing.

After all, both documents have “Will” in their names, right? It would only be reasonable to think that they are similar.

But they are not similar. They are very, very different.

So I’m going to cut through the legal jargon and explain the differences between Wills and Living Wills — and help you decide which one might be best for you.

Last Will and Testament vs. Living Will

Before diving into specifics, it’s first helpful to know how to define estate planning:

An estate plan ensures (1) that the right people are able to care for your SELF in the event you become incapacitated and (2) that the right people are able to get your STUFF in the event of your death.

Every estate planning tool fits into one of those two categories, and a good estate plan should address both areas of focus.

And as luck would have it, I will be discussing both categories in this post.

What's the Difference Between a Will and a Living Will?
Estate Planning
David Postic
3 Magic Ingredients in a Great Letter of ...

So you’ve got some nifty estate planning documents?

You are awesome.

Formal estate planning document can ensure your family is cared for after your death, avoid court, and minimize the burden your loved ones will face when you are gone.

But legal documents are only one part of the equation.

Your estate plan is not complete just because you signed some fancy papers.

Because while formal estate planning documents can avoid legal obstacles after your death, they do not eliminate the myriad other tasks necessary to settle your affairs.

Think of it this way:

If you died today, would your family know what to do?

If they couldn’t remember anything you told them about your estate, would they be able to easily find all the information they need?

Read more: Why You Need to Have an Estate Planning Fire Drill

If you answered “no” to either of those questions, then your estate plan is not complete.

To make things easier on your loved ones after your death, the best thing you can do is create an estate planning letter of instruction.

3 Magic Ingredients in a Great Letter of Instruction

How You Can Talk About Estate Planning Over Thanksgiving

How You Can Talk About Estate Planning Over Thanksgiving

There’s nothing quite like family gatherings to remind us that life is very, very, VERY short.

Sometimes, these gatherings can help you remember how much you love your family or convince you to leave them a little something in your estate plan.

Other times, they remind you that there are some family members that annoy you to your core, like, for instance, little Kevin who made a huge mess at the dinner table last Christmas and had to sleep on the hide-a-bed in the attic. You decide to write Kevin out of your will ASAP.

Like I said, there’s nothing quite like family gatherings…

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, holidays might be the only time each year that you and your family all come together. And I suggest you use that time to talk about what happens when you die. Talk about your estate plan.

But how does that talk come up organically? How can you casually segue from Uncle Bob’s bad joke to the contents of your living trust or your advance directive? It’s not an easy task.

Here are a few simple ways you can work estate planning into your Thanksgiving festivities.

What is a Last Will and Testament?

What is a Last Will and Testament?

Remember that scene in The Matrix where Morpheus offers Neo a red pill or a blue pill?

Morpheus (a Yoda-like figure) tells Neo (the Luke Skywalker of the movie, as it were) that the reality he had been living in was a lie. (I like Star Wars a lot.)

He then offers Neo two pills — one red, one blue — and tells him that if he takes the blue pill, he will wake up tomorrow and go on with life as usual. But if he takes the red pill, he will “wake up” (both literally and figuratively) and learn just how deep the rabbit hole goes.

The catch? If Neo takes the red pill, he can never go back to the way things were. You can’t close Pandora’s Box once it has been opened.

Needless to say, Neo takes the red pill and proceeds to become the Chosen One and kill robots for three movies. It’s great.

I often think of that scene when someone asks me a question about estate planning. Because that rabbit hole is pretty deep, folks. And I’m an attorney, so there’s always a chance you won’t be able to shut that Pandora’s Box.

But for you, I’ll do my best to keep things short and sweet.

In my last blog post, I talked about trusts: what they are, what they do, why you should have one. I also spent some time discussing how trusts are different than wills. So now, given that comparison, it only seems fair that I talk about wills.

15 Best Personal Finance Blogs

15 Best Personal Finance Blogs

I once had a client who asked me to create a comprehensive estate plan, the whole package: trust, will, power of attorney, etc. It was exactly what she needed.

So I drafted the documents, she signed them. She died about a year later.

At this point, you may be thinking, “But good thing she had estate planning documents, though, right?” There was just one problem:

There was no money left in the estate for the heirs.

My client spent all this time and thought and money for a great estate plan that was ultimately (essentially) useless because she spent all her money.

Most people want an estate plan primarily to make it easier for their loved ones to get the property you leave them. But if you don’t have any property to leave, then the plan doesn’t do much.

The point is this: Estate planning is much broader than simply creating legal documents that pass on your “stuff.” It also involves creating a financial plan to make sure you have “stuff” to pass on.

What is a Trust?

What is a Trust?

Life is super confusing.

We literally get dumped into this big world full of complicated things like taxes and etiquette and lawn care, and we’re just supposed to know exactly what to do?

My adulthood has been a constant stream of realizing that I misunderstood basic concepts about life that everyone else apparently already knew. Actually that was my childhood, too. So it’s been my whole life. For example:

When I was younger, there was a good stretch of time when I thought “Watergate” was just another word for a dam. Like, a literal gate for water. A water gate.

But whenever I heard people use “Watergate” in conversation, I got this impression that it was not a good thing. As a result, for a few while I assumed that dams were somehow really bad things but had no idea why.

I eventually figured out what Watergate really was; however, that was by no means the last time I misunderstood something. Learning is great and also sometimes embarrassing.

Many people have similar misunderstandings about estate planning. For instance, clients often think their modest assets do not warrant a living trust. After all, aren’t “trust fund babies” supposed to be wealthy? Isn’t a will good enough for me?

Approximately 1 of every 2 clients I talk to doesn’t know exactly what a trust does or how it is different than a will. That is a mostly made up statistic based on the last few client meetings I could remember off the top of my head. I’m not saying it’s not true. I just don’t have the hard data…

But here is a very real statistic: only 42% of U.S. adults currently have a will or a trust. That’s crazy! Part of that is due to the fact that wills and trusts are complex, hard-to-understand documents. And attorneys usually don’t make it much easier.

That’s why I thought I would take the time to explain just what the heck a trust really is.

What is "Funding" My Trust and How Do I Do It?

What is "Funding" My Trust and How Do I Do It?

So you’ve created a living trust. Awesome. You are super responsible. Spectacular. Your estate is so planned. Excellent.

Reveling in your excellence, you may be thinking to yourself, “You did a great job, Self. You are so responsible, and your estate plan (which is very much planned) is good to go!”

But guess what? Yourself would be wrong.

Is my trust useless?

When you sign a trust document, you just have some sheets of paper. It may be fancy paper — and it’s definitely expensive paper — but it’s still just paper. And paper alone (usually) does not avoid probate. In other words: By itself, a signed trust can be pretty useless.

Think of a trust like a box. When you sign the trust, you have an empty box. To avoid probate, you want to fill that box with all your “stuff,” your assets. Anything that’s in the box at your death doesn’t have to go through probate. Anything that’s not in the box at your death does.

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