People often make the mistake of assuming that only the elderly need to do their estate planning. Perhaps they look at life expectancy, see that it’s hovering right around 78 years old, and assume that they can wait to do their estate planning until they retire. If they stop working at 65, after all, they still have a minimum of 13 years before they need the plan, right?
Estate planning for the young
Unfortunately, nothing in life is a guarantee, and that includes life expectancy. Rather than thinking about when you should do your estate planning, think about why you should do it.
For instance, maybe you’re a new parent. You just had a child, and you want to make sure someone can take care of the child if you cannot do so. You want to set up their financial future, perhaps by funding their college tuition or by setting aside assets to help them make ends meet. You want to give them the best possible life that you can.
By looking at all of your goals like this, you can see that the “when” doesn’t really matter. You may only be in your 20s or 30s, not even to when you assume you’re halfway through your life. But having that new child means you do want to address these issues in case the unexpected happens, and you can do that regardless of your age.
How to get started
If you have been thinking about estate planning and you’re just not sure how to get started, it can help to work with an experienced legal team.
