All week the topics have dealt with the elements of estate planning. It's a topic that most people don't usually think about too much. On the one hand, do you really care about what happens after you die? For those who tend to feel like that I would ask, what meaning did your life have or what would you like it to mean to others? Whether you think about it or not, your life will affect others both now and in the future. Do you want your life to be a positive impact on others, or a negative one?
That is what estate planning is all about - making sure your wishes are written down and understood as to what happens both to you in your last days and the impact that your legacy can have on others. You can leave future generations with your parting wisdom, resources for your heirs, and resources for the organizations and charities that made a difference for you. What do you want to be remembered for?
As discussed all week, wills, trusts, and foundations all allow you a means to leave more of your accumulations to the people and organizations that you care about rather than a significant portion being taken by inheritance or probate tax. After all, who know how the government might waste your hard earned money? Also, since we do not know when our time is up, putting off making these plans is not recommended. These legal entities can be changed at any time, so there is flexibility for nearly any circumstance that may come up later. However, if the original documents are not completed, figure that 50% or so will go to the government when you die. Plus, if there are a lot of medical expenses prior to death, that leaves a lot less to the people you care about whether that is family or others.
The other side of this is certainly the financial volatility in the markets these days. Every week I give a score card on how some key economic figures have changed including the price of gold, silver, oil, the value of the US dollar, and others. Everything over the last several months have been going up except the value of the dollar. That means inflation and your buying power being eroded. If you don't take steps to grow or at least preserve what you have now, with double digit real inflation happening, your resources won't last if you are not protecting them in some way. This last Friday, gold closed higher again at $975.10 per ounce. Silver, also up, closed at $19.86 per ounce. Oil rose again and closed at $101.79 per barrel. The US dollar index closed at an all time low of 73.77 against the other major world currencies. If you've made no changes in the last year, and with inflation being over 10%; your net worth has eroded by at least 10%. The immediate future does not see any major signs of improvement either.
So the time is now to put those plans in place. If you need any assistance, please contact me at the address below and I can get you some professional help in the areas you need. Don't wait until it is too late!
Carefully follow the terms of this covenant, so that you may prosper in everything you do.
Your children who follow you in later generations and foreigners who come from distant lands will see the calamities that have fallen on the land and the diseases with which the LORD has afflicted it.
The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. Deuteronomy 29:9,22,29 (NIV)
If you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@panama-vo.com
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