When a child, you could not wait to be older.
In those introspective moments which will come more frequently as you age, the unrelenting, impersonal, and accelerating passage of time might make you wonder, “How will I be remembered?”
Many years later when you are older, you want the clock to slooowww down for there is an inevitable event in your future.
At that future moment, certain decisions you have made and actions you have taken will affect your family’s quality of life and cement your legacy.
Right now, today, are you good with those decisions and the actions you have taken?
How you will be remembered is your legacy.
Before the inevitable occurs, you still control your legacy.
You are to be commended if your financial success results in making life-changing, monetary gifts to family and/or charity. But to leave such an
enduring legacy does not require you to make financial gifts. And your legacy need not be a statue in the public square, a building eponymously named, or a national holiday. No documentary on your life need be produced nor a biography written.
Your legacy can be as simple and grand as the positive impact you had on one person or organization.
You may have defined—or augmented—a legacy with the values you instilled in your children. Or the important work you undertook during your career. Integrity you displayed. The kindness you showed people. Membership in groups. Volunteer work for organizations. Have you instilled in others
your love of cooking, gardening, hiking, fishing, cycling, theater, music, or art—any number of pursuits that give joy to people and enhance
their and your appreciation of the great journey that is life?
The possibilities for engaging in an enjoyable and meaningful life are many!
Do not compromise your standard of living in order to make financial gifts, either during your lifetime or after your death. There could be situations when family might find themselves in desperate circumstances and your financial support is necessary. Barring these instances, it is OK if you do not leave anything to your family or charity if you do not have the net worth to make such bequests. Do not artificially create that capacity by putting your financial future at risk.
The activities that contribute to your legacy can involve mental stimulation, interpersonal relationships, and community engagement, which
when combined with physical activity and good nutrition, will help you to age well, avoid chronic illnesses, maintain healthy cognition, and extend your life.
Life is a great adventure, yet one of uncertain duration.
Your estate plan should not be just about what happens when the adventure ends. Your planning should facilitate your journey and establish a legacy that celebrates a road well-traveled.
Because life is fragile and uncertain, prudence dictates you plan for the inevitable occurring sooner than you anticipate. This possibility forces you to decide, of the estate you have accumulated, who gets what, how much, and when.
One way to best answer these questions is to first decide what you want your money to accomplish when you are gone:
ensure the financial stability of your survivors? Fund educations? Support charitable organizations, be they church, secular or community-based? You need not pick just one objective.
There are no rules that dictate you must give money to a specific person or organization. The decision is yours alone.
Ideas you have about the dollar amount of your gifts and the timing of those gifts, before and/or after your death, might change upon consultation with your estate attorney. The prudence of recommended tax-advantaged estate planning strategies is best evaluated with a Cash Flow Study.
Your generous spirit also might suggest you make gifts while alive.
Why not see the benefit of your largesse? Can you afford such generosity, achieve your personal dreams for retirement, and not risk depleting your savings and thus have inadequate resources in your later years?
An essential part of prudent retirement income and estate planning is to undertake a Cash Flow Study (Topic 14 in
A Guide to Navigating Retirement). Using conservative assumptions about such variables as market returns, inflation, tax laws, future expenses, medical needs, and life expectancy, various scenarios are analyzed to assess your capacity to spend money, minimize taxes, achieve your hopes and dreams, and make lifetime and testamentary gifts.
You have spent decades accumulating the money you saved for retirement. Spending money during retirement involves a mindset different from your savings discipline all those years. When making plans, prioritize your physical and mental health. Do the things you always dreamed. Make your housing comfortable and safe. Drive a well-maintained car, ideally one with technology that can keep you in the lanes and alert you to hazards. And treat yourself when traveling, particularly long distances. If you do not fly First Class on your travels, your children’s inheritance might allow them to sit in the front of the plane!
