From turning 40, to turning 50, to turning 75, there are a wide range of milestone birthdays. These birthdays can serve as a good opportunity for many things. For one, they can be a good time to reflect back on what one has accomplished and the good times one has had over the years. They can also serve as a natural point for thinking about and planning for the future.
Among the planning actions an individual may want to pursue as they hit milestone years age-wise is reviewing their estate plan. It is important for a person to make proper changes to their estate plan as their life changes, to ensure their estate plan and their overall goals remain in-synch. Now, in addition to reviewing one’s estate plan after a big life change, it can also be important to have periodic reviews of one’s estate plan. For not all changes in one’s life and overall goals for the future happen in single, major events. Some happen gradually over time.
Some might find milestone years (such as years with ”0” or “5” birthdays) to be a convenient time to tie regular reviews of their estate plan to, as it could make remembering to do such reviews a little easier. Whether they decide to do an estate planning review in a milestone year or at some other time, individuals can go to skilled estate planning lawyers for help with the estate plan review and update process.
Some examples of things individuals who are having milestone birthdays may want to think about in regards to their estate plan include:
- How their financial situation has changed since the last time they updated their estate plan.
- How the overall situation in their family has changed since the last time they updated their estate plan.
- What their beneficiary designations are for things like retirement accounts, life insurance and bank accounts, and whether their current beneficiary designations are still what want.
- How well-suited their will and other estate planning mechanisms are to their after-death goals regarding their estate.
- Whether they have developed any new estate planning goals that might require adding new things to their estate plan.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, “Six Items on My Financial To-Do List as I Turn 50,” George Papadopoulos, Aug. 7, 2016