Category >> Planning for your Will

Invest backwards – planning for Childfree Couples

Many Millennials and members of the GenZ generation often feel as though they don’t have enough assets to bother getting a Last Will. This is a large reason as to why many remain childless: the cost of everything is rising, and so married couples choose not to have children (this is part of the reason as to why they’re not having children). This is an article that mostly pertains to U.S. citizens but also applies to Canadian couples who are childfree. We’ve previously posted about childfree couples and estate-planning, which you can read here. We’ve come across come more helpful tips when it comes to estate-planning for childfree couples. Did you know that “investing backward” is a thing? Here are three helpful tips that may help you if you’re stuck in this situation and are looking to invest and acquire more income:

Prioritize flexibility when it comes to your lifestyle: do you need a house in the suburbs if it’s just you and your spouse, or would a small apartment work for the two of you? Or, can you work remotely anywhere? This could impact your housing costs and if you work remotely, you may want to take advantage of the different housing costs that vary from state-to-state (or province-to-province).
Invest backwards: this tip is definitely for couples in the U.S. who are childfree and looking to create retirement accounts, focusing on a taxable brokerage might work best for you.
“Who will take care of us when we get older?” That’s something that you may want to think about as you and your spouse get older. How will you plan for long-term care if you don’t have children to help look after you? Have you ever heard of long-term care insurance? Only 2.5% of childfree couples in the States have received money from friends or family, so there needs to be a long-term plan for retirement and investment.

You may want to read more about how childfree couples can invest in both their financial and retirement planning, here.

Managing your emotions while planning your Will

Anger. Guilt. Sadness. Are these emotions that come to mind when it comes to Will planning? It’s not uncommon for people to feel emotional when planning for their will. This can be a difficult and emotional process, as it involves thinking about one’s own mortality and making decisions about how your assets will be distributed after you’re gone.

Some common emotions that people may experience when planning for their will include:

Sadness: Thinking about your own death can be a difficult and emotional experience, and it’s not uncommon for people to feel sadness when planning for their will.
Anxiety: Making decisions about how your assets will be distributed after you’re gone can be stressful and may cause anxiety.
Guilt: Some people may feel guilty about certain decisions they make in their will, such as disinheriting a loved one or leaving more to one person than another.
Relief: For some people, the process of planning for their will can be a relief because it allows them to take control of their affairs and ensure that their wishes are carried out after they’re gone.

If you’re feeling emotional while planning for your will, it’s important to take care of yourself and seek support if needed.

Now that that’s out of the way, here are some things to consider when it comes to managing the emotions of others, when planning for your estate:

Talking to a loved one or a family member about being an Executor.
Once you have named who gets what in your Last Will, you should outline who gets whatever remaining items are leftover
Do you have backup beneficiaries for the items you want to list in your Last Will? You may want to think about that

Find out more about what you may need to know about Wills by clicking on the link below and checking out the interesting video on Wills and Estate Planning that you might want to watch. It’s a video that is mostly geared towards citizens in the U.S., but the advice is always helpful for everyone.

What would you like to know about what goes into a Will?

Family mystery over late mother’s Last Will and Testament

A pair of siblings were shocked to learn that they had been disinherited from their mother’s Last Will and Testament. Their mother, who passed away in July of 2022 did have a Last Will and Testament, but one that left the brother and sister reeling from shock and surprise: not only had they been disinherited, but the executor of their mother’s estate was someone whom neither of them had even met. The family was left in disarray.

How did the role of the Executor of their mother’s estate land in the hands of Australian Redlands Mayor, KAREN Williams? That question has left the children, Freya and Nils, scratching their heads and trying to figure out what’s going on, and how this happened.

Being disinherited from a will means that the pair have been excluded from receiving any of the assets or property specified in the will. This can be a difficult and emotional experience. Not only were the pair disinherited, and someone they don’t know has taken up the role of Executor, but the late 85-year-old’s estate, worth $500,000, has all been left to an organization called called the Redlands Foundation. The Foundation is allegedly involved in philanthropic causes, and has a 12 member board, including, of course, Karen Williams. The siblings may have legal options available to them; they could argue in court that their mother’s will was not validly executed or that it was the result of fraud, duress, or undue influence. Angela, the woman who passed away was suffering from dementia. If you were a dependent of the person who made the will, they may also be able to make a claim against their estate for support.

It’s a truly bizarre case: was Angela manipulated by someone, influenced by something she saw on television? How close was she to her children to have never mentioned something AT ALL to her son and daughter? You can read more about the case, here.

Donald Trump thinks his Last Will and Testament was stolen

Donald Trump was elected as president of the United States in 2016. He caused a lot of controversy while in office and used Twitter as his primary means of communicating with the public. In 2018, he caused a partial shutdown of the government, due to controversy over funding a wall bordering Mexico. In 2019, Trump was impeached due to allegations of abuse of power. He was acquitted of this in 2020, but he did not win the reelection to the current President, Joe Biden, in January 2020.

Former President Donald Trump blasted the FBI for raiding his resort Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago on August 8th, 2022. The Mar-a-Lago resort is located in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump often refers to it as his “winter house” in the winter and his “Southern White House.”

More than 110,000 thousand documents were seized, with 18 of these marked as “top secret.” A document that directs how property shall be distributed upon a deceased person’s death. Was Trump’s Will a secret? Many people are no doubt curious as to what the wealthy billionaire has left behind in his Will. Apparently, Trump’s Last Will and Testament may have been lost in the shuffle of documents. According to Trump, “I think they took my will. I found out yesterday—I said, where is it? I think they took my will.”

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