Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Plans for Life

I thought Garrett’s blawg was a perfect lead in as I wanted to focus on BridgeBuilder’s Plans for Life Program.  The NY Times article focused on the tax aspect of Family Wealth & Legacy Planning, but that is only one area in your life that may change.

I ran into a client of mine and reminded them that their annual review was right around the corner.  She was shocked that it had already been a year; so much had changed for her family in a year.  They moved and had a baby. 

I met with a new client last week who had an estate plan in place, but had not looked at in almost eight years.  In that time period, their kids were no longer in high school, one of their children is getting ready to get married, and they sold their business.

My wife and I are getting ready for the birth of our second daughter next month and her nesting mode has kicked in.  The to-do list is slowly, but surely getting marked off.  The room has been painted, the garage cleaned out, diapers ordered, and the house sanitized.  One of things on my to-do list is to review and update our Plan as soon as the baby is born.

I point out these stories to stress the importance of reviewing and keeping your plan up-to-date.   Your Family Wealth & Legacy Plan must not only keep up with the changing tax laws, but with your changing lives.  To help our clients, BridgeBuilder offers the Plans for Life Program.  The Plans for Life Program is our annual maintenance plan in which we meet with our clients on an annual basis to review, and if necessary, update their Plan; all aspects of their Plan- powers of attorney, health care documents, ensuring their Plan is properly funded, and adding to their legacy library.     

Jason Salinardi

BridgeBuilder

Thought for the Week

“You’ve got to get up every morning with determination
if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.”

~ George Horace Lorimer