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Shakespeare’s words speak a profound truth when it comes to Estate Planning and ultimately, Estate Settlements. Accordingly, preventing problems (‘an ounce of prevention’) is worth much more than trying to solve them (‘is worth a pound of cure’). When I tell people the name of my book, THE SETTLEMENT GAME: How to Settle an Estate Peacefully and Fairly, the immediate response I often receive is an expressive ‘roll of the eyes’ and then a comment like “Already been through it – too late for me – wish we’d had that a couple of years ago. I have two sisters who still aren’t speaking to each other.”

Nobody likes to think about their death or what will happen with their property or the taxes that will be owed. However, any responsible individual will take the following tax tips into consideration when it comes to estate planning. One of the most important things to consider is a living trust so that upon your death estate taxes will be minimized.

Imagine what it would be like if each one of your grandchildren earned a scholarship to pay their college costs. Wouldn’t that be great? In a sense they can. Not only that, they could receive grants to help them purchase their first home, start a business and even provide additional retirement funds! Read on to find out how.

You don’t have to rely on a government program or the generosity of a school to provide a college ‘scholarship’ for your children, great-grandchildren and even your great-great-grandchildren. You don’t have to rely on special grants to help them buy a home or start a business. And their potential retirement doesn’t have to depend on the largesse of increasingly stingy employers.

Are you a gambler? Do you like to play the odds? Here are some real-life odds for you to consider: 90% of people become incompetent before they die! Of course, your spouse might not think you’re of sound mind right now, but that’s beside the point! If you don’t take action, you could needlessly cost your spouse thousands of dollars and countless headaches in order for them to make decisions on your behalf.

Competence refers to the ability to make rational decisions about your affairs. For instance, if you develop Alzheimer’s or dementia as you age, you’ll become incompetent. Two critical areas are affected by incompetence—your ability to make your own financial decisions and your ability to make your own medical decisions.

Recently I shared the heart-wrenching story of a young soldier who had to deal with the unexpected death of his mother. She didn’t have her affairs in order and now her son has the extremely difficult task of recreating her financial details from scratch. Here are some simple steps you can take to ensure that your loved ones aren’t left in a lurch.

First thing you need to do is create a ‘survivor file’ which will contain all of your important financial and personal information. Secondly, you need to tell someone you trust where to find it should the need arise. Maybe you’ve put your will or living trust in a safety deposit box. Perhaps you have a filing cabinet containing your pertinent financial information. Your computer might hold the bulk of your money details.

As seniors think about setting up their Estate Plan, one of their concerns is the
Fear of Losing Capital in the markets. Senior investors worry that their investment value could be washed away, if the markets fall, and as a result many Canadian Seniors invest in GICs or Guaranteed Investment Certificates.

The fear is accentuated if they are giving a bequest. They naturally wish that their hard work in saving and growing the money, will last a long time into the future, providing beneficiaries with a measure of financial security and freedom. The worst possibility is that the capital given to beneficiaries could disappear or be diminished due to bear market.