MICHELLE SMALENBERGER, CFP®

[Video] Estate Planning Documents

Are there some decision that you think, “I’ll do that when I’m more mature?”

While there are some things that are OK to push off to tomorrow, there is one thing you need to do today. And that is your estate planning documents. We always think we can get to this later or we think this is a subject we don’t like to think about.

I’m going to break down the necessary documents for your estate plan to make this really simple, but I’ll also discuss why these are important and also why you should do them now.

There first two classifications are for when you are alive.

POA of Healthcare

There is the POA or Power of Attorney for Healthcare. This is for when you are still alive but maybe unconscious and cannot make decisions for yourself. You would need someone to make decisions for you during these items. If you are in an emergency and traveling away from home, this is an important document to have that gives authority to the person in the POA for Healthcare.

POA of Property

So next is the POA for Property. This is just like Healthcare but for hwn you need to pay a bill or move money from one account to another. You would name someone, and it doesn’t have to be the same person as the Healthcare, to do these things for you when you are a live and you need someone to act for you.

The next classifications are for when you are deceased.

Will & Trust

The Will and Trust. After you have passed away, what happens to your money you have saved? These are documents we hear commonly.

Even though you may be younger and think you are saving these decisions or documents for when you are more “mature” or older, these are important now.  As you are paying bills, saving money, and  paying off debt, you are building up net worth. You probably care about who that money goes to, whether it is a sibling or family member.

Beneficiaries

One other thing to be thoughtful of is your beneficiaries. This isn’t one document that covers every account. This is where you need to be sure on your retirement accounts, your IRA, 401K and Life Insurance, who your beneficiaries are.

These are all really important and could be really easy to leave until we are “older” or more “mature”, but you want to deal with them today since they are important to take the time to consider.