It is important to have a plan not just for how you’ll get to retirement but how you intend to use those funds after you get there. Retirement can be an excellent time to generously give your talents, assets and time. There are some primary things you should consider as you work towards moving into retirement.
First of all, plan to be generous with your talents and your time. It is extremely important to have a plan for your personal gifts and your time that will help to benefit others. Being a volunteer not only positively impacts you but it impacts your community. As you approach retirement, it is equally important to remember to have an estate plan.
By putting together the effort and time necessary to plan an estate, you’ll be able to more easily transfer your assets to beneficiaries, be able to provide for your family, select personal representatives to take on the management of your estate, reduce taxes on the estate, and plan for incapacity. An estate plan often begins with a living trust or a will, but an initial consultation with an estate planning attorney can help you figure out what strategies are right for you.
If you don’t have an estate plan in place, there’s a good chance that the courts in your state will make this decision for you and it might not be in line with what you had intended. This is why it is important to consider whether even as a single individual, a widowed individual or someone with no children, that you can still benefit from the estate planning process by maximizing what you do leave behind for others.
