Thriving not just Surviving

One of my great joys is the opportunity to educate people on estate planning. I have had the privilege of presenting around the country. In my experience approximately 30% of those asked had an estate plan. The demographics are typically people who have achieved the age of at least 50 years old. As I endeavor to gain an understanding of why about 70% of my community does not have an estate plan I ask the question why not. 

       I have had the responses that often include cost, fear and procrastination. I usually ask what the prohibitive cost was and learn that it was the anticipation of a prohibitive cost. I share that there are typically free and low-cost resources to those people who are in need. But the truth is that most people don’t know the cost. I do not have an answer for those people who believe that if they create a plan something will happen. I do, however, share that without a plan something will still happen. I also cannot make someone move forward when procrastination is the characteristic that is embraced. 

        However, most recently, I was told that the focus was on survival. I was taken aback by this reality. While I hadn’t heard it phrased this way, I have heard this sentiment in several ways. I have heard people say they don’t have an estate to preserve or that the amount of their estate is so minimal it doesn’t matter.

            As the Bible says, “As a person thinks in his heart so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). We have a great capacity to be transformative with our estate planning.  With strategic planning a little can become a lot. Without planning much can be greatly reduced. As we look at Aretha Franklin, because she chose not to plan her much of her estate will be subjected to the estate tax which at the top rate is 40%. There could be as much as $28,000,000 for taxes.

               Most of us discount the Aretha experience because we don’t have as much as she had. I like to share the story of Osceola McCarty. She was a woman who lived in Mississippi. She was a woman who did laundry for others.   She was a woman who believed that each penny had capacity.  Her planning allowed her to give $150,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi.

               We can survive by simply looking at getting through today, but we can thrive by planning for our tomorrow’s tomorrow.  Creating, protecting and transferring our assets can provide for our lives and our children’s lives while catapulting our grandchildren’s lives. 

               So often we talk with people about how to protect their assets from being lost through a Medicaid lien if there was a need for skilled nursing care that was not planned for. We have capacity to look at ways to protect generational assets from being impacted by divorce or spend thrift children or grandchildren.

              I know how my life would have been significantly different if I never had to worry about student loans for me or my children. I know that my life would have been significantly different if I had been able to inherit a home as a financial foundation. I know that my life would have been significantly different if I could take a loan from my family to start my business.

             It is my heart’s desire that we create a standard of living that is Thriving not simply surviving. We must build our families and our communities with intentionality.