Retirement planning is designed to support the life you want to live, but the plan doesn’t necessarily end there. A thoughtful legacy strategy can help provide direction for the wealth that remains, including how it is transferred and the people or causes it is intended to support.
The first priority of retirement planning is making sure the resources you’ve built can support the years ahead. But when assets remain, another question becomes important: what should happen to that wealth next?
Legacy planning provides direction for the wealth you’ve accumulated, helping define who or what you want to benefit and how those assets should ultimately be transferred. It’s an important final piece of a retirement strategy, connecting the wealth built over a lifetime with the wishes you have for its future.
A legacy plan can involve several pieces working together to help carry out financial and personal wishes. The right combination will look different for every family, but may include:
WILLS – Provide instrustions for how certain property and assets should be handled
BENEFICIARY DESIGNATIONS – Identify who should receive assets from retirement accounts, life insurance policies and other accounts with named beneficiaries
POWERS OF ATTORNEY & MEDICAL DIRECTIVES – Establish who can make certain financial or health care decisions if those decisions can no longer be made independently
TRUSTS – May provide additional privacy, control, and direction over how and when certain assets are distributed, depending on the situation.
DID YOU KNOW? Only 24% of U.S adults have a will in place…
Having a will is an important starting point, but a legacy strategy goes further by considering how each of these pieces works together.
Naming beneficiaries isn’t necessarily a one-time decision. As families and circumstances change, the people listed on retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and other financial accounts may need to change too.
Marriage, divorce, new children or grandchildren, the loss of a loved one, and other life changes can all be reasons to review existing designations. Keeping them current helps make sure assets are directed to the people intended.
A trust can be a valuable estate planning tool, but it isn’t automatically necessary for every situation.
The purpose, assets involved, family circumstances, and level of control desired can all help determine whether a trust may be appropriate.
The question isn’t “Do I need a trust?” … It’s “What does my legacy plan need to accomplish?”
Estate planning decisions can overlap with investments, retirement accounts, taxes, insurance, and other parts of a financial plan. A change in one area can affect how another piece works.
That’s why coordination matters. Financial professionals, tax professionals, and estate attorneys can each play a different role in helping make sure the overall strategy reflects the same goals. Richon Planning can help bring those conversations together and work alongside the appropriate legal and tax professionals as part of the broader retirement planning process.
