During this holiday season, you may have some anticipated plans to spend quality time with your loved ones. The last thing that may be on your mind is discussing finances and your future care needs with your family over dinner. But the togetherness that the holidays bring could be a good opportunity to introduce them to important aspects of your financial life, as well as theirs in the future.
Having “The Talk”
Since we all will likely need assistance someday, it’s never too soon to begin talking to family members about the future. Having conversations in advance of an illness, an emergency, or a death, will help to establish the trust needed in each other to ensure that wishes are clearly communicated and respected. In the past few years, I have had such conversations with my mom and my in-laws, all of whom have since passed away. Settling their respective estates was helped immeasurably by having had those difficult conversations beforehand. As we gather for the holidays, I intend to find the “right” time to start having these conversations with my own adult children.
Some topics to share about your financial life:
- Your will and who will be the executor.
- Whether you should hold your assets in a trust.
- Who will have Power of Attorney for finances.
- Your later-in-life and end-of-life wishes (health care proxy).
- Location and account numbers of your financial assets.
- Your account beneficiaries.
- Your financial advisors.
- Where key financial and estate documents are stored.
- Safe deposit box location and access.
- Insurance policies (including life and long-term care).
- What legacy you want to leave.
- Whether you will owe federal or state estate tax at your death. (Some states, including MA impose an estate tax if a person dies with more than $1 million in assets.)
- Your desire to donate to charity.
- Your lifetime gifting strategy.
This list is not comprehensive but may give you some ideas on topics to broach with your loved ones if appropriate. The more they know about your wishes the less they will need to figure out on their own.
We know that these discussions are not easy. As an objective and well-versed third party, Modera is a good resource for hosting critical conversations about finances within families. We can sit down with you and your adult children to help facilitate your first, subsequent or any future discussions to help make sure pertinent issues are fully addressed. Give us a call. We are happy to set up an appointment with you and your family in the new year.
