New Year’s brings momentum, but that momentum is easy to lose if tasks take too long, are too complicated to do all at once or are too expensive. This is something that commonly happens with estate planning, a critical element of a sound financial plan.
“When you arbitrarily set a date, and then miss that date, that can sometimes be a reason just to give up on your goals,” Renee Fry, CEO of Gentreo, www.gentreo.com, says. “Too many people today know they need to create the documents like a Trust, Will, financial Power of Attorney and Health Care Proxy to protect their family and their choices. But once they find out how much time it can take to create the documents, or learn how much it costs to work with a lawyer costs to create an estate plan they decide it takes too long and is too expensive,” she adds.
How to Include Estate Planning in Your Planning for the New Year
Estate planning no longer has to be one and done (it’s not effective when you don’t review and update your documents regularly), nor does it have to be expensive thanks to online tools like Gentreo. Gentreo is the online estate planning tool that helps you create, save and store the documents you need so everything is just a few clicks away.
“We all have busy lives and schedules, so finding a tool that lets you work on your time makes a world of difference,” says Fry. “Plus, our lives change, which means decisions change, so choosing tools that let you be flexible in your decisions helps you save time and lots of money in the long run.”
To make sure you get all of your plans in place at your pace and to improve your chance of hitting your goals, Fry suggests the following:
- Tackle a little bit at a time; take the time to be thoughtful. For instance, creating a Will might take half an hour, but make sure to take time to think about the decisions you are making as these decisions impact all those you love for the rest of their lives.
- Use a checklist to track your progress. Find out not only what documents you might want to create, but other information you might want to save and store. Checking off a box, while knowing you protected your loved ones can be a great feeling.
- Invite your friends and family to help and to plan too. Estate plans are only good if they are used. Create your documents and share access to them. Get your family to create theirs too and provide you with access. Not only can you feel better knowing that your wishes are protected, you now know that the ones you love are protected too.
