While many factors – from political to global to financial – play a part in creating our current financial circumstance, the financial markets seem to be questioning whether the Fed is the source or the solution of inflation – or both. Annex Wealth Management’s Dave Spano and Derek Felske discuss.
In our recent poll, we asked readers to get their children involved. “Money Questions To Ask Your Adult Children” featured several discussion points including:
- “Are you saving for retirement? If so, are you saving enough?”
- “Will you need financial help in the next 5 years?”
- “Do you have a will and estate plan?”
- “How often do you plan on updating your will and/or estate plan?”
Annex Wealth Management’s Financial Planning Manager, Eric Strom, CFP®, EA dives into reader responses.
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Take A Few Steps To Simplify Being An Executor Or Trustee
At Annex, we work with many individuals who find themselves in the role of an executor (aka personal representative) or trustee – the person responsible for settling a loved one’s affairs and making the distributions of an inheritance to beneficiaries. Today’s MoneyDo is to take a few steps to help simplify being an executor or trustee.
- Locate Documents – the first step is to track down and locate all the estate planning documents that were created. These documents are your instructions for who gets what! Without these documents there is no guidance for you to know how to proceed.
- Gather ALL Financial Information – you will need to know about all the financial accounts, insurance policies, assets, real estate, debts, and expenses the deceased individual had. As part of this discovery process, you also need to know how the assets were owned (individually, jointly, through a trust, etc.) because that has an impact on what happens with the account. Beneficiary designations are also important as those override any estate planning documents.
- Be Organized and Take Your Time – being a trustee can be a full-time job, so you will want to take extra care and devote time to doing this right. Document and account for your actions. Beneficiaries are entitled to information, and you will need it to prepare tax returns. In the end you will save yourself time and make things easier for everyone involved.
- Understand When to Ask for Help – complicated tax situations, unique assets, complex estate planning documents or difficult family dynamics are all reasons to seek legal representation as a trustee to make sure you are doing things correctly and you are protecting yourself from potential liability. Yes, if a trustee makes mistakes, they can be held personally, financially liable to the beneficiaries.
- Communicate with Beneficiaries – it is important to keep them informed as your go throughout the process, so they know the timing of distributions and understand the tax implications of the inheritance. Families can often break apart if there is little to no communication during the estate settlement process.
We often find that if any of these steps are skipped or rushed, mistakes are made, or things need to be corrected and revisited after the fact. Being a trustee is often a thankless job, but it is a critically important one nonetheless that can be easy when you set yourself up for success.
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UPCOMING EVENTS →
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