As ever, everything starts with planning, and for now, this means a fairly high-level overview of what you want to happen with your legacy. So set some time aside, because when you have some time to use, make the most of it. Take the time to think through your legacy plans in the following high-level categories:
People – who do you want to leave money and assets to and why? It’s crucial to have a why, I think, even if that why is a fairly simple ‘because they’re my kids and I love them’. But maybe you want to leave something specific to somebody; there may be a reason for that. Write it down if there is.
Causes – are there any charities or other worthy causes you want to remember after you’ve gone? Maybe your church, or synagogue or whatever. Your local sports club; it could be anything. Is there anything you want to give to after you’ve gone or even while you’re alive? Causes is an important thing to think about.
Assets – will you lump everything together, or will you consider gifting certain items to certain people. I have a client who has Disney shares he wants to gift to his granddaughter, for example, and many people have heirlooms that they want to pass down to specific individuals.
Think about assets, both financial, of course, but physical assets too. Things in your house, heirlooms, cars even. Think about the stuff you have and what you might want to do with it.
Timing – do you want certain things to happen before or after you’ve gone? How about major events that might precipitate a gift, say, like a wedding or the birth of a grandchild?
As you think about these things, make some notes and start to build a picture. Don’t go small, either – let any possibilities be weighed. For instance, I had a client who left his considerable wealth, after looking after his family, into a trust fund which was designed to provide bursaries for students studying in his field of expertise. He used the money he had made while rising to the top of his field, to develop future leaders in that same sphere – very cool…
You might not feel that you have the resources to do something like that, but maybe you could sponsor an award at your local college or university or sports club. Think outside the box, that’s all I’m saying.
This thinking process and the notes that it produces will form the basis for your planning. You want to get as close as possible to a checklist of things that you want to happen, because then you can build the mechanism to make sure that all those things get ticked off.
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