From Here to Financial Happiness

Day Seventy Two Moving On

Estate planning sounds complicated – and it can be if you're super‐wealthy, you own homes in more than one state, you have a family member with special needs, or you have been married more than once and you have both a current spouse and children from earlier marriages whom you're looking to provide for.

But for most of us, estate planning is straightforward. The goal is to make sure our assets end up with the right people. To that end, we use four strategies:

1. We own property jointly with right of survivorship. When we die, these assets – typically homes and cars – pass automatically to the other owners.
2. We name beneficiaries on our retirement accounts. These accounts should pass directly to the folks we listed.
3. We name beneficiaries on our life insurance. Again, the money involved should pass directly to the folks we named.
4. We draw up a will. This usually governs everything else – the property that's not jointly owned and doesn't have beneficiaries named.

To be sure, there are steps we can take for extra credit, such as establishing powers of attorney, which allow somebody to make health or financial decisions on our behalf, should we become incapacitated. But for most folks still in the workforce, the four strategies above should suffice.

Want to make sure you're in good shape? Go through this checklist:

• Yes, I'm happy with the joint ownership arrangements I've established.
• Yes, I have the right beneficiaries named on my retirement accounts. ...