Your portfolio can be thought of a machine. It has many moving parts humming, turning and working away to produce a return on investment. On the other hand, for those of you who manage and direct your own investments, your portfolio is more likely to resemble a well-tended garden that responds to the care and direction of you, the caretaker.
But what happens to your portfolio when you pass away? This question is particularly important when you are both the caretaker and the family financial mind. As a result, how you want your finances to be tended is important information you ought to share with who you want to receive those assets after you’re gone.
While you can meticulously plan future asset management and hold family meetings on the subject, there remains the very real (perhaps likely) possibility that your advice won’t be heeded. Spouses can forget or be persuaded otherwise, and adult children may think they know best and make the same mistakes as a novice. To make matters worse, an expensive and mediocre advisor might get called in instead.
This is the message of a recent Forbes article on the topic. If this matter is a concern for you, then there are ways to plan around it.
For some, proper planning will entail establishing relations with an advisor and handing over some of the reins early. In terms of your portfolio and its role in your estate plans as a whole, you might consider a trust and a faithful trustee to do the work you know needs to be done.
Clearly, your investments are important to you and your family. Be sure to make their management a priority when crafting your estate planning strategy.
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