Skipping this Week

Good morning. Unfortunately we had a death in the family in recent days and that’s set me back a bit with work. I’m going to skip this weekly post but will be back at it next week.

Until then, consider taking ten minutes to review the ownership and beneficiary designations on your different financial accounts. These are easily changed during your lifetime but are pretty much etched in stone after death.

Here are a few basic questions to answer:

Are you married and own any accounts in your own name? Is this on purpose?

There are various reasons to keep money separate from a spouse, but accounts owned in your own name and that lack a beneficiary designation will likely go through probate. Sometimes this is a good thing, but probate is usually something to be avoided if possible. Ideally any accounts owned just by you would have beneficiaries, even bank accounts.

Are your life insurance, IRA and 401(k) beneficiary designations set up the way you want?

This is easily changed but often overlooked. Is your ex-spouse still listed on your account? Or maybe you listed “estate” as your beneficiary, ensuring your account will go through probate. Is that what you want?

Does your spouse feel comfortable (or at least moderately comfortable) with how you have the household’s finances setup?

In other words, how steep will the learning curve be after you’re gone? Is information easily accessible and understandable by your spouse (or others) if you’re not there to explain it? Have you simplified as much as possible or does your financial picture resemble a Jackson Pollock painting?

There are more questions, of course, but that’s a start. Think seriously about this because errors and other miscalculations can result in major headaches or worse for your loved ones after you’re gone. I’ve talked before about taking ten minutes each workday to focus on your finances. This simple exercise is a great way to spend that time periodically, say at least once per year.

Have questions? Ask me. I can help.