Tips on Retirement and Estate Planning

Accumulating assets is often the main focus of retirement planning, but there’s another subject you’ll want to address: estate planning, which is essentially a plan for what will happen to your assets once you die.

You’d be surprised how many people pass away without leaving a will. Confronting death is not easy, but the advantages of doing so far outweigh the discomforts the process entails. Here are some of the bases you’ll want to cover in an estate plan:

• Legal documents. A will, durable power of attorney and health care proxy are all an essential part of your estate planning.

• The tax consequences of your estate plan for your estate, your spouse, your children, and other beneficiaries. Tax consequences should be taken into consideration when making personal and charitable gifts; designating beneficiaries of insurance policies and retirement accounts; and determining whose names should appear on property titles.

• An inventory of assets. An up-to-date listing of all of your bank and investment accounts -- including account numbers, latest balances, and passwords -- will be a great help to those left the task of sorting out your estate. This list will also include property, jewelry, and so on.

• Communication. Talk over your plans with those who may survive you. These conversations may be about sharing details of your will, but they should also be about sharing where your legal and financial documents are kept, how you have organized them and relevant business and personal contact information.

If you’re still not feeling the necessity of estate planning, this WalletPop post on the common mistakes we make in estate planning is sure to jar you. http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2007/12/13/estate-planning-wills-and-trusts-its-never-too-early