How to Get Your Estate Plan Ready Before You Retire
After decades of building your career, retirement offers an opportunity to focus on what matters most. Whether your plans include spending more time with family, traveling, or just enjoying a slower pace, having an up-to-date estate plan can help protect the future you’ve worked hard to build.
As you prepare for retirement, it’s easy to focus on financial planning and savings goals, but it’s just as important to make sure your estate plan reflects your values and circumstances. A solid estate plan can help protect your interests, provide clear guidance for your loved ones, and give you confidence that your affairs will be handled according to your intentions.
As you prepare to leave the workforce, consider these essential estate planning steps:
Create or Update Your Living Will
A living will outlines your preferences for medical treatment if you’re unable to communicate your wishes. It allows you to document decisions regarding life-sustaining treatment, resuscitation, artificial nutrition and hydration, and other end-of-life care.
Having these instructions in place can provide clarity for your loved ones and healthcare providers during difficult situations and also help ensure your medical care aligns with your wishes.
If you already have a living will, retirement is an excellent time to review it and confirm it still reflects your wishes.
Choose the Right People to Carry Out Your Wishes
An effective estate plan relies on trusted individuals who can act on your behalf when needed.
Typically, you’ll want to designate:
- A financial power of attorney: someone that will manage your financial and legal affairs if you become incapacitated.
- A healthcare power of attorney: someone that will make medical decisions if you’re unable to do so yourself.
- An executor (or personal representative): someone that will administer your estate after your death, pay outstanding debts, handle required filings, and distribute assets according to your will.
These roles carry significant weight, so it’s important to choose people who are trustworthy, organized, and willing to fill the role.
Make Sure Your Trust Is Properly Funded
Creating a trust is only the first step. To receive its intended benefits, assets must be properly transferred into the trust’s name. This process is also known as funding the trust.
Depending on your circumstances, this may include:
- Real estate
- Bank accounts
- Investment accounts
- Business investments
- Certain personal property
A properly funded revocable living trust can help your estate avoid probate for assets owned by the trust, simplify administration for your loved ones, provide continuity if you become incapacitated, and help keep your affairs private. Whether a trust offers tax advantages depends on the specific type of trust and your individual circumstances.
Review Your Advance Healthcare Documents
A healthcare power of attorney works alongside your living will. While your living will addresses your treatment preferences, your healthcare power of attorney can make decisions in situations that your written instructions may not specifically address.
Because medical technology and personal circumstances can change over time, it’s important to review these documents periodically to ensure they reflect your wishes.
Review Beneficiary Designations
Many valuable assets pass directly to named beneficiaries rather than through your will or trust. Keeping these designations current helps to make sure your assets pass down to the people you intend. Retirement is a good time to review beneficiary designations on:
- Retirement accounts
- Life insurance policies
- Payable-on-death (POD) and transfer-on-death (TOD) accounts
Don’t Forget Your Digital Assets
Today’s estate plans should also address digital property, including online financial accounts, email accounts, cloud storage, social media profiles, and digital files.
Maintain a secure record of important accounts and discuss with your estate planning attorney how these assets should be managed if you become incapacitated or pass away.
Retirement Is the Right Time to Review Your Estate Plan
Even if you already have an estate plan, retirement is a major life event that merits a comprehensive review. Changes in your assets, family relationships, health, or financial goals may require updates to your documents.
An experienced estate planning attorney can help ensure your will, trust, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, beneficiary designations, and other planning documents work together to protect you and your loved ones.
At Anselmo & Wojcicki LLP, we help individuals and families create thoughtful, comprehensive estate plans tailored to their goals. Whether you’re preparing for retirement or updating an existing plan, we’re here to help you move into your next chapter with confidence.
