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- Hopeful Ever After #005
Hopeful Ever After #005
January 2025
Carolyn Howard, CFP®
January 28, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
Happy New Year, all my hopeful people!
As a widow, New Year’s resolutions can be difficult, particularly because we’ve experienced the painful uncertainty of death. It’s all to easy to stop planning, stop growing, and stop pushing for improvements.
But that’s not the healthy approach. We have to continue to take steps - no matter how small - to improve our lives physically, emotionally, and financially. It’s what our loved ones would have wanted for us, and we should want it for ourselves.
Try this: sit down and write out one thing you want to accomplish that will dramatically improve your life in 2025, then create a plan to achieve it with small, actionable steps.
Remember, it’s all about progress, not perfection. You’re not competing with anyone. You’re working towards inviting more peace and stability into your life.
You’re worth it.
Ever hopeful,
Carolyn
❝
May the tears we shed in 2024 water the seeds we plant in 2025.
Anonymous
Financial Jargon Made Easy
Probate
Probate is the legal process of administering a deceased person’s estate.
This involves ensuring their assets are distributed according to their will or, if there is no will, in accordance with state laws.
The process usually involves validating the will, settling debts and taxes, and distributing the remaining assets to heirs and other beneficiaries.
IMPORTANT: Many states charge a percentage of the assets as a fee if an estate goes through probate court. Without a will, some states will only give a limited portion of the assets to the surviving spouse.
This Month’s Financial Tip
Know How Your Assets are Owned
Ownership isn’t as simple as most people think, particularly when it comes to your estate. Getting this right is extremely important so your heirs don’t end up with a mountain of complications.
Bank accounts: adding a Payable on Death (POD) designation to your bank accounts lets you select beneficiaries who automatically inherits your accounts when you pass (thus avoiding probate).
Investment accounts: adding a Transfer on Death (TOD) designation allows you to accomplish the same inheritance process as the POD for bank accounts.
Real estate & other assets: there are several options to allow other assets to avoid probate, the most beneficial of which is a Revocable Living Trust. Check out my December newsletter for more details on how this amazing tool works.
A Lesson from Archie - Part 2
Remember Archie from December’s newsletter?
He passed his entire estate on to one of our clients, but because he only had a will and not a Revocable Living Trust (RLT), almost all of the assets are still tied up in probate. Not a fun situation.
Luckily, Archie did have our client named as the beneficiary of his life insurance, so our client was able to access the proceeds from the policy quickly and efficiently.
His bank account with $200K, however, did not have a Payable on Death (POD) designation, it remains in probate despite the fact that he explicitly named our client as the beneficiary of the account in his will.
Takeaway
Please, PLEASE make sure you set up POD and TOD designations on your bank and investment accounts to avoid the above situation for your loved ones.
Gif by fleischerstudios on Giphy
If you want someone to look over your estate plan and make sure your assets are owned/titled correctly, feel free to set up a call and we’ll go over it together.
You can also call me at 941-841-6564 or email me at [email protected] if you prefer.
