The Best Age To Start Planning Your Estate
Posted on: 24 February 2020
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Most people are not thinking about planning their estates when they are in their 20s, but did you know that this is the best time to start? When you start this early, you can begin learning about estate-planning tools, and while you might not have a lot to do at this point with your estate, you may have a couple of things to consider. Here are some details about estate planning in your 20s.
Understand Your Risks
People in their 20s do not typically have a lot of assets to protect, but they might have some. What is your situation? Are you married? Do you have a home, a spouse, and kids? If you have any of these things, you have risks, and understanding your risks is the best place to start with planning your estate.
For example, if you died, you would want protection for your family. If you ended up in a major car accident and could not make medical decisions, you would want a trusted person to have the right to do this. These are the types of risks to consider at this age.
Tools You Can Use
In your 20s, there are a few tools you might want to use as you plan your estate. The first is power of attorney, which is a legal term that gives someone else the right to make decisions for you. You should consider having a medical power of attorney and a financial one. They can be the same person if you wish, or you could choose different people for each job.
Secondly, you should consider buying life insurance. People do not always view life insurance as an estate-planning tool, but it is. Buying life insurance now is a great way to provide financial security to your spouse and children. If you suddenly died, your policy would offer cash to your loved ones to use for survival. You might not need a huge policy, but you should know that buying a policy now is a lot more affordable than buying one later in life.
This Is Just the Start
The last thing to know is that planning your estate in your 20s is just the start. Every decade will bring about changes in your life and new risks. You should aim to visit an estate planning lawyer, like Abom & Kutulakis LLP, at least once a decade to modify your plans and to learn how to cover new risks you have in life.