11 Essential Steps for a Positive Legacy Transfer

Many people put little to no effort into planning for their death. Whether it’s denial, laziness, or simply not caring, this mindset can lead to chaos for loved ones left behind. If you want to be remembered as someone who took care of their family and friends with thoughtful, advanced planning, here are 11 items that can reduce or eliminate chaos upon your death.

1. Audio/Video Messages

Once you’re gone, you can’t say anything more. Take the time to record clear messages for those you love and care about. Creating these messages can be emotionally difficult, but their impact on recipients can last a lifetime.

2. Personal Instructions

Personal instructions convey your wishes and thoughts that aren’t found in legal documents like a Will or Trust. These instructions can evolve over time and provide guidance on various personal matters.

Contacts3. Contact List

Create an accessible list with phone numbers and emails of important contacts, explaining why each person is significant and how they can help. This list could include your CPA, lawyer, financial advisor, best friend, and others you’d want notified upon your death.

4. Email List

Group your contacts into an easily accessible email list to streamline communication when needed.

Scroll of Wishes5. Funeral Wishes

Be specific about your funeral wishes, from the handling of your body to the music played and how you want to be dressed. Don’t leave these details to your loved ones, who will already be dealing with many issues and questions. This can greatly lessen their burden.

6. List of Passwords

Ensure your passwords are documented securely, either on paper or in a digital format. Avoid storing them unencrypted on a device.

7. Bills to Pay

One of the greatest stressors for those left behind is managing your bills. Create a process that allows others to see which bills are important, the method of payment, and when they are due.

8. Assets and Liabilities

Make sure your finances are accessible, so nothing gets lost or misplaced. This includes detailing all assets and liabilities clearly.

9. Important Documents

Keep crucial documents such as your Will, Trust, Advanced Health Care Directive, and insurance policies easily accessible. This ensures that your wishes are followed and that legal processes run smoothly.

10. Litigation List

In our legal society, this item might not be relevant to everyone, but if you are involved in any legal matters as a plaintiff or defendant, leave detailed information. This will help those left behind manage or resolve these issues properly.

Personal Items11. Personal Items

Personal items, whether valuable or sentimental, should be clearly documented. Stories of hidden treasures found during home renovations are common, but ensuring valuable items go to those you care about is crucial. Be specific in your intentions to prevent conflicts among loved ones over personal items.

By addressing these 11 items, you can ensure a smoother and more positive legacy transfer. Thoughtful preparation today will help your loved ones navigate the difficult time following your death with less stress and confusion. Take these steps to be remembered as someone who cared deeply and planned thoughtfully.

 

Ian Goldey, the author of this article, brings over three decades of experience as a private wealth manager, assisting families with their financial planning. He has applied this extensive knowledge, along with his partners to create WhenIDie.com, a digital platform that simplifies the entire process of death planning and more. Try it free for 30- days. Apply this code 2024BLG15 for a 15% discount!

 

Legal Disclaimer

The information provided in this blog is for general informational purposes only and is not intended to be tax, legal, or financial advice. Readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel tailored to their individual circumstances. While we strive to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information presented, we make no representations or warranties regarding its completeness, accuracy, or current applicability. The use of this blog does not create an attorney-client or accountant-client relationship. For personalized advice, please consult a licensed attorney, tax advisor, or financial professional.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top

11 Essential Steps for a Positive Legacy Transfer

A spreadsheet for hardcore finance geeks that want to analyze and track past performance of various asset classes. Users of this free template can customize and update for their own personal needs.

Goals

Goals – Our company purpose includes the phrase “dream of a better tomorrow”. Our Goals App works in conjunction with Organizer Planner and Protector desktop suite so users can turns dreams into reality with realistic financial goals. Planning for a wedding, buying a first home, adding to the family with a new child, saving for private education, retiring someday at a comfortable level are all example of financial goal planning. No genie, rubbing an oil lamp or three magical wishes here. Our app is based on the financial facts so users can get a realistic projection of what is needed to achieve a goal. With our integrated software, users will be able to share their goals with loved ones, financial advisors, or other trusted people. Track progress constantly with notifications and other useful support.

11 Essential Steps for a Positive Legacy Transfer

Quickly buy a new position for your account groups they do not currently own. Control cash level minimums and buy a target percent of account value. Easily export one file for Schwab Trading Allocation, a second file is exported to users’ compliance folder. Users can simply adjust within a single account or utilize a customer restricted list to prevent new buys.

11 Essential Steps for a Positive Legacy Transfer

We created this program because we needed a quick and easy tool for trimming down bonds positions which is very easy to say but hard to find a simple program. Cross reference existing positions so you don’t oversell. Easily export one file for Schwab Trading Allocation, a second file is exported to users’ compliance folder.

11 Essential Steps for a Positive Legacy Transfer

We created this program because we needed a quick and easy tool for trading bonds which is very easy to say but hard to find a simple program. Cross reference existing positions so you don’t overbuy or oversell. Easily export one file for Schwab Trading Allocation, a second file is exported to users’ compliance folder.

11 Essential Steps for a Positive Legacy Transfer

New cash, new client or whatever the reason, advisors often need a quick method to rebalance a single account and this program will get the job done. Easily export one file for Schwab Trading Allocation, a second file is exported to users’ compliance folder. Sometimes a trader wants to adjust based on current market conditions and not rebalance to a model.

11 Essential Steps for a Positive Legacy Transfer

Quickly trim down existing position. Establish percentage target and current price and the program will do the rest. Easily export one file for Schwab Trading Allocation, a second file is exported to users’ compliance folder. Users can simply adjust within a single account or utilize a customer restricted list to prevent new sells.

11 Essential Steps for a Positive Legacy Transfer

Quickly Buy Equities for clients with existing positions. Control cash level minimums and buy target percent of account value. Easily export one file for Schwab Trading Allocation, a second file is exported to users’ compliance folder. Users can simply adjust within a single account or utilize a customer restricted list to prevent new buys or sells.

11 Essential Steps for a Positive Legacy Transfer

A quick tool to ascertain cash levels as a percentage – sorted from high to low or reverse. A better tool than Schwab for those that want percentage of account value, not just percentage of equity as found on Schwab position page.

11 Essential Steps for a Positive Legacy Transfer

A quick and easy trading tool for swapping from one position to another. The perfect tool for harvesting losses while being strategic in allocation. Easily export one file for Schwab Trading Allocation, a second file is exported to users’ compliance folder.

Rebalance to Model

One of the most popular programs for those traders who like to build models with ETF’s, Stocks, Closed-end funds or a combination. Up to 3 different models can be created with this elegantly complicated but simple trading tool. Easily export one file for Schwab Trading Allocation, a second file is exported to users’ compliance folder. Cross reference against a customer restriction list to reduce potential for trading in select accounts.

Rental Property Investment Calculator

A very powerful tool for investors in the real estate industry trying to calculate profitability on potential property. Many investors don’t truly calculate the costs for their investment and this program attempts to close the gap of financial guessing from reality.

Home Tab – Category headers include Investment, mortgage, Expenses, Income and Profitability at 10 years.

Chart Equity Tab – Illustrated visually the crossover point into breakeven based on data input from Home tab for income and expenses.

Chart When Profitable Tab – – Illustrated visually the crossover point into profitability based on appreciation, net return of profits. Bottom chart shows how many months until profitability.

Amortization Tab – view the math behind the formula results to see how each month tracks.

Depreciation Calculator

Modified Account Cost Recovery System MACRS is the method used for this handy calculator for all those needing to estimate how an asset depreciates over time.

Basis – is the dollar starting point

Depreciating Method – DB-SL is for Declining Balance Single Line

Convention – Time period

Self-Explanatory single page workbook.

Summary Returns Multi-Index

A spreadsheet for hardcore finance geeks that want to analyze and track past performance of various asset classes. Users of this free template can customize and update for their own personal needs.

Credit and Loan Payoff Calculator

Input Tab – Debt can be good or bad but high interest debt is almost always bad. Use the free Asset Planet calculator to itemize all your debt and help identify those that should be paid off first.

Top section of the worksheet establishes the math behind paying off a debt based on time, loan amount and rate. You can choose to payoff the highest rate card first or lowest rate in the drop choice for Payoff strategy.

The bottom section of the worksheet is for listing all your debt and terms.

Schedule Tab – For those who like to see the data results this page will show the schedule payoffs for each debt based on Input choices made on the first tab.

College Planning

College Planning – This app from Asset Planet is a stand-alone breakout from our Goals and Planning module because college planning can be highly complex with many choices. Our software has many advanced nuances and niche features derived from the financial knowledge of our founders. We included this knowledge into specific fields and custom dropdowns to ease the process for each user, so they can get the results they want as fast as possible. One example would be the ability to draft a financial plan where some of the costs are divided in a way that leaves the student with little to no debt, or a targeted manageable number. With our integrated software users will be share their goals with loved ones, financial advisors, or other trusted people. Track progress constantly, with notifications and other useful support.

Social Security

Social Security – A financial calculator that helps estimate the results of various choices facing each social security participant. Updated for current estimates by the US Government our calculator will show various results of different scenarios. For example, choice one might be to take Social Security distributions at the earliest moment while choice two might illustrate the long-term extra income from delaying distribution until later years. A great tool for those planning their retirement and want to have more knowledge to help them decide what choice works best for them. A married couple might have different choices, someone that is sick or injured might have different choices. This app is integrated into our Organizer Planner and Protector desktop suite for powerful integration for users and other people they trust to collaborate.

Income

Loan Payoff Calculator

Loan Payoff Calculator – There is good debt and bad debt, and this is something many financial advisors discuss with client. With Asset Planet, users can help determine what is best for them. Our AI within the Loan Payoff Calculator will first compare your rates and terms with comparable loans and the current savings rates on 10-year US Treasury bonds. If our software AI detects a disconnect between what a user has vs other facts, the user will receive a notification to evaluate better opportunities. For example, a good use of debt might be a home loan, but if the terms of the original loan are high for today’s market, the user will receive a notification with possible opportunities to contact third party financial partners to address their needs. High interest rate credit cards and other short-term, high-rate, non-deductible debt are possible examples of bad debt. Users that want a mathematical method to determine how to pay the debt can utilize the functionality of the Asset Planet Loan Payoff Calculator. This app is integrated into our Organizer Planner and Protector desktop suite for powerful integration for users and other people they trust to collaborate.

Net Worth

Budget

Dine In / Dine Out

Dine In / Dine Out (2 in 1) – Humans need to eat so we are developing an incredible app to help organize and track each person’s favorite ways of eating in or outside their home. Dine In is a super-efficient grocery list that can be shared by family members. Dine Out suggest new places or organizes your favorite foods and places to eat.

Inventory and Collectibles

Inventory & Collectibles (2 in 1) – Embrace OCD and the love of being organized with these two apps. Inventory organizes items in your home, office, storage and other locations in an easy-to-use, detailed process. The Collectibles App covers many types of collections with enough detail to satisfy the pickiest of collectors.

Key Features
  • Organized layout for intuitive data entry
  • Categories and drop downs simplify adding items
  • Specific choices for each item so users get detailed results
  • Search, sort and filter quickly
  • Update inventory and collection value with appreciation or depreciation
  • Share your inventory with friends, family or your professionals
  • Details for value, warranty and other fields are great for insurance purposes
  • Export to CSV file if needed
  • Graphical interface, pleasing to the eye
  • Pictures, videos, and scanned receipts can all be included
  • Auto backup with roll back features to “un-do” a change
  • UPC scanning engine for quick data entry
  • Loan/Borrow module keeps track of item possession
  • Your data is private! Name, location and details are encoded to become a generic number to our staff and others. Your Privacy read more.
  • Why pay for one app that is limited when you can join the Asset Planet platform and get multiple apps for one low price?
  • Earn credits by engaging for feedback and maybe you will qualify for a free subscription and other perks.

Try and buy, safe and secure with no selling of client privacy. Cancel at any time…but you won’t want to because we are going to do everything possible to make you happy with support, new features, fast updates, and listening to users for how to improve! Android or iOS