Heading Extra

For Even More Information About Estate Planning, Download Our Free E-Book HERE

As you prepare for your future you want to make sure that you are protected, and that your family is protected as well.  This includes retirement planning for yourself and any spouse, to ensure that you will have the income you need to live the life that you want.  But it also should include estate planning so that you and your assets are cared for if something happens to you. 

First, what is estate planning?  Estate planning is far more than a will.  Most importantly, it includes financial and medical powers of attorney to care for you if something happens.  Estate Planning is where an attorney helps you prepare all the documents that you may need if you become incapacitated or pass away.   A good estate plan will include powers of attorney, medical directives, dementia directives, and even lists of your bills, accounts, etc.  You can find out more about what is in an estate plan HERE.  Our goal is that you leave with a binder of helpful information in addition to your documents.  Your powers of attorney should be able to pick up your binder and have everything they need to make sure that you’re taken care of.

 

Retirement planning is where you work with a financial planner to ensure that you have enough saved to provide for the lifestyle that you want.  Often plans include retirement calculators, income and debt projections, and our best guesses on what may happen with the market during your retirement.  It also includes understanding and optimizing your accounts, including qualified retirement accounts, mutual funds, stocks, CDs, and other investment strategies.  

 

It is important that you evaluate your retirement and estate plan at the same time.  The beneficiaries on your investments and accounts are considered “non-probate beneficiaries”.  That means that they will inherit outside of the will from you.  As attorneys, we want to ensure that your wishes for who receives what from your estate are honored.  The best way to do that is to have a combined analysis and planning of your estate as well as your non-probate assets.

 

We would be happy to meet with you to discuss your estate and retirement planning.  Contact us at 303-431-0415, or send a message through our website at Contact Us, for more information.