Ashlea Ebeling
A group of wealth strategists at CIBC Private Wealth Management noticed that the women in attendance at educational seminars for client couples were often mum. So, as part of the firm’s Women’s CIRCLE initiative, they started women-only seminars, including one called Finding Your Way. The idea is that if you take an inventory of your financial life, and know a little bit about how the estate administration process works, you’ll be more confident and better prepared to deal with a death in the family.
The surprise: It wasn’t just older women in their 60s and 70s who have been signing up, but Millennial women, wanting to know what they should be doing to manage their own wealth and make sure their parents (especially moms who will generally outlive dads) are in good shape in the event of a death or divorce.
“These concepts are really daunting and quite scary,” says Becky Milliman, a managing director with CIBC Private Wealth Management in Chicago, noting that it takes courage for the less financially sophisticated family member to speak up, and that tends to be the woman.
Here are some top lessons.
Keep a list of trusted advisors. Many of the adult children couldn’t name their parents’ attorney or accountant. You shouldn’t just know their names, you should meet them or at least make a quick introductory phone call. Ditto for financial advisors, bankers and/or insurance brokers. Keep an updated list with your will. More wealth management firms are rolling out “emergency contact forms” as a backstop for elder abuse. Fill them out.
Use a thumb drive. There were real concerns over digital assets, says Amanda Marsted, a managing director of CIBC Private Wealth Management in New York. Would you know the login information to access your spouse or parents’ accounts? Consider using a password manager, or store password information (and documents) on a thumb drive.
Have the conversation. What if mom or dad (or your spouse) says: “When you need to know, you’ll get the information.” Tell them: You don’t have to share balances, but at a minimum you should share advisors, bank account numbers and such. That will prevent much bigger problems down the line.
Keep important documents secure. Are your original wills and trusts at the lawyer’s office? Your real estate deeds in your bank safe deposit box? Your insurance policies in one filing cabinet and income tax returns in another? The list goes on: retirement plan statements, birth/marriage certificates, Social Security cards. Make a list of these documents, including where you keep them. “You need to be prepared,” Milliman says.
Plan ahead if you have a family business. If you have a family business, do you have a succession plan in place? In one case, a widow was left with a business her late husband founded that she had no interest in carrying on. Luckily, it turned out to be an opportunistic time to sell, and Milliman helped the widow create a family foundation to minimize taxes from the sale and help her make a difference.
This article was written by Ashlea Ebeling from Forbes and was legally licensed by AdvisorStream through the NewsCred publisher network.
