Money Matters
Money Matters
From Wills To Wishes: A Practical Guide To Estate Planning
We strip estate planning down to what matters: simple documents that protect your wishes and spare your family from conflict. Jason Knapps joins us to bust myths, map decisions by life stage, and lay out a clear starting checklist and next steps.
• what estate planning covers beyond assets
• essential documents: will, financial and medical powers, directives
• keeping beneficiaries aligned with current wishes
• review cadence and triggers after life events
• common myths: not rich, too young, the state will handle it
• planning without children and charitable giving
• life stage priorities from 20s to 50s and beyond
• how to start: inventory, trusted people, advisor, attorney
• online forms versus professional customization
• real outcomes: family conflict versus smooth transitions
• contact details for expert guidance
Subscribe to the Money Matters Podcast, and visit neighborsfcu.org slash financial wellness for more tools to help you build a strong financial future
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Welcome to Money Matters, the podcast that focuses on how to use the money you have, make the money you need and save the money you want – brought to you by Neighbors Federal Credit Union.
The information, opinions, and recommendations presented in this Podcast are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this Podcast is done at your own risk. This Podcast should not be considered professional advice.
Welcome to Money Matters, the podcast that focuses on how to use the money you have, make the money you need, and save the money you want. Now, here is your host, Ms.
SPEAKER_01:Kim Chapman. Welcome to another edition of Money Matters. Today we're going to talk about a subject that is often forgotten and overlooked: estate planning. And usually the problem is that people make the mistake of thinking it's only for the wealthy, or that, hey, I can do it tomorrow because I'm young and I have plenty of time. But those are two myths. So if you were about to change the station, turn us off, listen, because no matter what your age, no matter what your income, no matter what assets you may have or not have, there's going to be some information you're going to learn today. And I have an expert here to guide us along the way. So returning back to the studio with neighbor's wealth management is our very own Jason Apps. Hello, how are you? I am doing well, Jason. How about you? Doing good, doing good. So, Jason, this is his first time back in the studio since we've been on YouTube. So I've I've been fussing at him telling him it's been far too long since he's been in here. So I'm going to keep him in here for a while. So let's sit back, relax, and see what he has to say. All right. So let's get started. What is estate planning in a nutshell?
SPEAKER_02:Well, estate planning, very simple, is what do you want to do with your stuff? Okay. A lot of people accumulate things over life, um, and they want to leave that to someone that they love. Okay. Uh, but not just that, also estate planning is what do you want to do with your affairs if you're not able to take care of yourself because of maybe a car accident or dementia or so forth. So um it's not just for the wealthy, it's not just for someone that accumulates a lot of stuff. When we think about uh estate planning, you you know, I you think of the movies where they bring someone in an office with a lawyer and so forth, and they're divvying out the assets. That's not necessarily what estate planning is. Estate planning is basically we have some assets or we have uh property, we have cars, we have things that we have accumulated over time, and we want to make sure that that goes to the proper people.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. And and really in a nutshell, it really makes the process when somebody, when your loved one has to deal with the loss, it can make the after process so much more easier because you're really just declaring what your wishes are. Whether it's a brand new Mercedes or whether it's a beat up piece of anything in the backyard, it's so much easier if you've declared what you want to happen to that property, right?
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. Um, and and and it can be small things. You know, I've seen families argue over the smallest things that you would never think to just let someone know this is this is who I want to have this. And and and usually you need to write it down so that so that we have it documented and so forth.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. And and if you're even thinking right now that you don't have anything, I guarantee you, if you do like I do when my husband said, Hey, we need to make a will, I was like, we don't have anything, we have a house. You know, simple as that. And then when I really started looking at, oh, we have titles to cars and things, the list was longer than I actually imagined. So again, don't fool yourself into thinking because you're not wealthy, because you don't have millions of dollars in the bank, that you don't need it. So let's talk about what are some of the key documents everyone should have in place, regardless of their age, regardless of their income.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I think the most popular document everyone hears about is the will. Okay. Everyone, you want to go to a lawyer, you want to see, you want to write up a will. I mean, that's pretty, pretty common. Um, but other documents that you want to make sure that you have that people don't think about are power of attorneys, okay? Um, durable power of attorney. So um, who do you want to appoint to handle your financial affairs if something happens to you and you're not able to cognitively uh make that decision, you know, um, because of maybe a wreck of injury or dementia or so forth? Um, who's gonna make those decisions for you? Who are you gonna appoint for that? Um also health, you know, health um um situations where what if I got into an accident, what would my wishes be? You know, we don't want to think about those things, but we don't. But what would your wishes be if someone had to make a very, very important decision? Okay. And as well as um beneficiary destinations, you know, uh we all have when we start a job, we have IRA accounts, we have maybe a pension account, we have life insurance accounts. So who do you have listed as those beneficiaries? That's all part of uh the documents that you're gonna be needing.
SPEAKER_01:And for individuals that may already have those documents in place, how often should that be reviewed?
SPEAKER_02:Uh it's it's probably a good rule of thumb every three to five years. You want to review those documents. But in addition, when you have life-changing events, you definitely want to review those documents. Things like divorce, um, things like the loss of a child or a loved one. Um, those are those are those important life-changing events that, hey, it's time to make this review, or maybe changing jobs, things like that happens all the time. You'll someone will get a divorce, change jobs, forget about an old retirement plan that they had before, and never make those changes on their beneficiary designations. So, you know, every every so often you do need to review that.
SPEAKER_01:So, aside from people assuming that you need to be wealthy to do estate planning, what are some other myths that are out there about estate planning?
SPEAKER_02:Well, I think we discussed the first one that you have to be super rich. I mean, that's that's the biggest myth out there, of course. Um, but also um a lot of younger people think, oh, well, I'm too young to worry about that. And of course, you know, uh uh when you're younger, you feel like you're indestructible. That's right. That's right.
SPEAKER_01:I will get to retirement in about 50 years, and you go to sleep and wake up, and it's like time for retirement.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think even someone that um is very, very young, they need to be thinking about it. Okay. Um, also, um, other things is oh well, the state's gonna provide that for me. I I I don't really need to worry about that. Well, you want to think about that before you just go through without having a will, because there are certain situations where it may not end up the way that you like for it to end up. So I personally wouldn't want the state providing my will for me.
unknown:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:All right. So definitely when you have a large family or even a small family, but what about people without kids? Do they still need to make these same preparations?
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. I mean, probably more so because it gets a little more complicated as who's gonna receive that those funds um if you don't have a will in place, you know. Um, so if there's certain charities that you want to give to, or are you, you know, there's a certain individual that you want to leave some of those assets to, that's not gonna happen if the state does it. You're gonna get some long-lost cousin that maybe you really don't keep in touch with, and they're gonna receive those funds. So it's very important, um, no matter who you are, to really have that plan set and forth.
SPEAKER_01:Are there situations where maybe estate planning is not necessary?
SPEAKER_02:I I can't really think of any. No. Um, not not not not off the top of my head. I mean, I guess if it was someone that says, you know what, I don't have anything that I want to leave to anybody and I don't really care one way or the other, then I guess that would be the situation where it'd be okay.
SPEAKER_01:And I always like to use the quote, it's better to have something and not need it than to need it and not have it, you know, because of course we can't dig you up and say, hey, can you sign this for me, right? Right, right. So we we talked a little bit about life stages, you know, getting married, getting divorced. But let's talk about maybe somebody's life stage at age 20 versus age 50.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. So when you're in your 20s and 30s, of course, that's that's when you first want to start on those beneficiary designations and things like that. Um, and then when you get to the 30s and 40s, you know, you start having children and and and and a house and mortgages. And then you kind of start thinking about, okay, maybe I need to, who's gonna take care of my kids in the event that something happens to me? So those are when you need to start thinking about um, do I need a power of attorney and so forth? And and um really start digging a little uh deeper into it. And of course, when you get closer to retirement age and you're in your 50s and so forth, people start thinking a little bit different. You know, they start thinking more along the lines of, man, I really want to leave this to my kids. What's the most efficient way I can give this to my kids and not have all these tax implications and things like that? So things change as you get older, of course, and your priorities kind of change a little bit as far as what you want your assets to do.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. So, Jason, how do we get started? I mean, if somebody's listening and they're thinking, okay, yeah, I need to get this off of my to-duce list, where do they start?
SPEAKER_02:I think the first thing is you need to start by writing down all your assets. What are the things that are most important to you that you want to leave? What are some of my liabilities? How do I want that cleaned up in the event that something happens to me? Start listing out the people that you really want to share these assets with and as well as start thinking about the people that you want to handle your affairs in the event that you can't handle your affairs. Write it all down on paper. Talk to a financial advisor. I can't tell you how many people come into my office and we have these conversations. You know, we talk it through. And once we talk it through, you have a better idea of what it is. You don't want to just walk into a lawyer's office and say, I need some financial, I need to uh write up a uh will. You know, you want to have that plan before you go in so that when you walk in, you kind of have a good idea of what you're looking for.
SPEAKER_01:So, and that kind of leads me to my next question because I'm sure, you know, somebody might be Googling online, um, you know, wills.com, you know. So what's the difference between me going and doing it online versus actually setting up a meeting with a financial advisor?
SPEAKER_02:Well, I think it's it's like anything in life, you know, you can always do it cheaper. You can always go online and pull the documents and do it yourself, but you're not gonna get that custom customization that you're gonna get if you walk into a lawyer's office. They're gonna cover those little little nuances that you might not have thought about, you know, just that little extra step that can go a long way sometimes, you know. So as always, you're gonna get what you pay for, you know. So, you know, that's that's the way it is, you know.
SPEAKER_01:And maybe just to kind of bring it home, can you share maybe some nameless stories of instances where you've run into individuals that did not do this step, did not have that will, did not have any type of estate planning and what that nightmare could potentially look like.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, yeah. Um the bad, the bad stories. The bad stories are are usually when we have uh divorced families and we have multiple kids involved. Um, and it it it becomes a mess if it's not spelled out because you'll have, you know, one child, uh, that was dad's stuff, one child, no, that was mom's stuff, that was not mom's wishes, and it just gets dragged on and nobody wins. Nobody wins, you know.
SPEAKER_01:Any good success stories you can share with us.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. I mean, the biggest success story is, and we have them all the time, you know, is when is when a client comes in and they, you know, they just lost one of their mother or their father, and it's it's a bad time for them. And when everything is in order and is in place and it's easy, and we get the paperwork done and it's very, very simple, and they have those assets, and that's the last thing they want to think about. They're grieving at the same time, they have to handle these financial affairs. And when it runs smooth, that's that's a success story. You know, when everything runs smooth and they they can move on with their life, and that part is just, you know, a little bit extra that's out the way.
SPEAKER_01:You know, sounds, sounds, sounds like a really, really good thing to have. Is it time consuming? I know that it's going to be a case by case, but I'm just thinking in terms of myths, people are thinking, oh, I don't need it, but also it just sounds like it can be intimidating.
SPEAKER_02:I think so. I think I think the biggest part is nobody wants to think about what happens to me if this happens and and so forth. So it's emotionally draining, I think, more than anything. As far as time consuming, no, it doesn't take a lot of time. We can we can we can handle uh um a a will within an hour, you know, if we really have our ducks in a row. But as far as I think the emotional part is the hardest part to get over, you know, how do I thinking it through and you know, going through that whole process of who wants to get what and so forth.
SPEAKER_01:So you mentioned before, you know, the first thing to do is to sit down and look at a list of your assets. Anything else that you recommend consumers look at before they would even schedule an appointment with a financial advisor to maybe minimize being overwhelmed, or is it something that you just really break down and make really simple when they come into the office?
SPEAKER_02:I think it's a combination. Uh, I think, you know, over time it evolves, you know, especially in my relationship with clients. On our first meeting, when we start to meet, you know, we start talking about getting to know each other. We don't get into you know the whole dynamics of their family and so forth. That that kind of comes over time. And as a as time comes on, I start to realize who their loved ones are, who's most important. And then that's when we had those conversations and and it gets personal, you know, and um and it evolves, it changes over time. So, you know, um, but I would say what to get together. I think the biggest thing if is is you know, those assets, those liabilities, those wishes, those people that are that that are really close to you that you care about.
SPEAKER_01:And for those meetings, who should be involved?
SPEAKER_02:Well, I always recommend, and it doesn't usually happen initially, but I always recommend that and most of my clients to bring their kids in with them, bring in some of the heirs that are gonna be their beneficiaries so that we can have that conversation. These are some of the things and we don't have to disclose disclose all the accounts that they have, but it is a good idea for them to meet me so that they know who they're gonna deal with in the event something happens to their parents. Okay. And it just makes makes things easier to know that we've already met if something does happen, so that they know exactly who they're seeing, what to expect, and there's no intimidation or anything like that.
SPEAKER_01:So really just that simple. Make that call, make that appointment, get started, because you know, time is gonna go by faster than you imagine, right?
SPEAKER_02:That's right.
SPEAKER_01:So, how can they contact you if they want to learn more, if they're ready to go ahead and get that estate planning started?
SPEAKER_02:They can contact us uh at our at neighbors website uh through neighborswealthmanagement.com. Also, you can email me, Jason at neighborswm.com, and our direct line is area code 225-819-5790.
SPEAKER_01:All right. Wasn't as painful as you thought, right?
SPEAKER_02:And they can text me as well. You can text, you can just simply send the text and say, hey, I'd like to set up an appointment with you. And you can text that number and and we'll get back with you.
SPEAKER_01:All right, give it to them one more time.
SPEAKER_02:225-819-5790.
SPEAKER_01:All right, Jason, thank you so much for sharing this good information. Hopefully, it will help some people get that motivation they need to go ahead and get that estate planning started.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you.
SPEAKER_00:It's time for blueprint building blocks. Small changes that lead to big financial wins. Let's stack up for success.
SPEAKER_01:Start with the basics. Make sure you have a will, a power of attorney, and health care directives in place. Review your beneficiaries. You want to check your accounts, insurance policies to ensure they reflect what your current wishes are. Remember, you want to review those things periodically. Update after life events, marriage, divorce, children, retirement are all times to revisit your plan. And of course, don't wait until it's too late. Estate planning isn't about age or wealth. It's important to just be prepared.
SPEAKER_00:That's a wrap on today's Blueprint Building Blocks. Stay on track with your financial journey. Subscribe to the Money Matters Podcast, and visit neighborsfcu.org slash financial wellness for more tools to help you build a strong financial future.
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