Archive for ‘real life examples’

Planning Ahead

by   |  11.28.11  |  real life examples, wills

After a decade of working in the financial services arena and knowing the human propensity to “put off ’til tomorrow” when it comes to money matters, this story is extraordinary to me.

Personal Finance blog Get Rich Slowly has an excellent guest post on planning ahead for your demise.  The father in this story went above and beyond, in my view, just to make things easier for his executor (his daughter, the author of the post).  This wasn’t just ordinary estate planning.  This was a process that took YEARS and the man was very intentional about it.  I particularly appreciated the section on “Settling Affairs”, as it highlights a potential deficiency in the “all children receive equal shares” theory.

I see a couple of possible lessons in this story.

  1. Your executor has to be someone you trust implicitly.
  2. Take a significant amount of time to think through your plan, and be willing to alter the plan along the way.
  3. Realize that when an heir is also your executor, the emotions of the heir will make the job of the executor more difficult.  Plan accordingly.
  4. When possible, have a real relationship with a banker, investment professional, insurance agent, attorney, and accountant.

What are some other conclusions that could be drawn from this example?

Celebrating What’s Right with the World

by   |  10.31.11  |  real life examples

There’s a short film we’ve shown here at the Foundation many times, to many different groups of people.  It’s called Celebrate What’s Right with the World.  The whole film is this one man, a photographer for National Geographic, telling stories about people he’s met who have helped shape his vision of the world as a place full of small instances of wonder and magic that happen every day.

Through the news and the internet, in the stories from people we meet and work with and eat with, we can see that this is a tough time in which to be living.  We see hardship and tragedy and we begin to believe that’s what the world is like nowadays.  We see it, and we believe it.  Sounds like a clichéd motto, doesn’t it?

But instead of looking at this picture of the world and finding what’s wrong with it, what would happen if we tried to find what was right with it?

 

At the heart of Celebrate, the narrator, Dewitt, looks at the camera and says, “if you believe it, you’ll see it.”  If you believe there is goodness and beauty and joy in the world, then you’ll see goodness and beauty and joy everywhere.  It’s a small shift in thinking, and it makes a world of difference.  If you believe it, you’ll see it.  And if you see it, you should celebrate it.

What’s right with your world?  What can you find to celebrate today?  Look for something.  Then look for something else.  Then look for something else.  Share those things with others.

Is there someone who has made a difference in your life, shaped how you view the world today, or got you your first start in business, or gave you the best parenting advice ever?  Have you thanked that person?  Do so today.  And don’t forget to look for others who might need a similar helping hand or word of encouragement.

Do we stick our heads in the sand and pretend everything is okay and nothing’s wrong?  No.  Denying reality is childish.  But adults could probably stand to have a little more child-like optimism and faith about the world.  Choose to focus on the positives while seeking opportunities for improvement and actively work towards solutions to problems.  Don’t be afraid to celebrate what’s right with the world, especially in times of pain or hardship or tragedy.

 

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I’ll get back to financial matters next week.  If your family or a group of people you represent would be interested in seeing the film Celebrate What’s Right with the World, email me.

The “What If” Game

by   |  10.25.11  |  links of interest, real life examples

What if the worst happens?  What would we do?  What can we do now to help guard against the worst case scenario?

Instead of thinking “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it,”  it might be worth thinking about “what ifs” today, even if things are going well for you right now.

Take a look at this insightful post by frugality blog The Simple Dollar.  It’s worth five minutes of your time.

A Second Act

by   |  10.12.11  |  real life examples

Some of you may have seen the picture of Faulkner University’s 61-year old football placekicker Alan Moore on the front page of the (printed) Christian Chronicle a week or so ago.  There was also a segment on ESPN about Moore a few weeks ago.

Yahoo produces a series called “Second Act” about people who have reinvented their lives as they’ve aged.  Here is their video about Moore.

I bet you that the majority of the young men on that team will remember Alan Moore for the rest of their lives.  I hope he’s an inspiration to them to keep going, keep trying, even when everyone else says it’s crazy.

Live Before You Die

by   |  10.06.11  |  real life examples

One story about connecting the dots.

One story about love and loss.

One story about death.

Debts After Death

by   |  09.20.11  |  financial planning, real life examples

CNN/Money has an article on banks and other creditors trying to collect on outstanding loan balances from family members of the deceased.  While creditors certainly do have the right to collect on outstanding loans, how and where they try to collect and from whom they try to collect can be a point of contention between companies and grieving members of the deceased’s family.

This article got me to thinking: are there situations in which a spouse or surviving family member might be liable for the debts incurred by the deceased?

Actually, yes, but only a few. More »

The Story She’s Part Of

by   |  09.13.11  |  legacy planning, real life examples

“I don’t feel like I’m dying,” she tells me.  “I’m at peace with this.”

June is 81, and the doctors tell her she has pancreatic cancer.  She was diagnosed something over a year ago and the cancer cells have moved from her pancreas to her arteries to her lungs.  She has a pretty aggressive chemo treatment – 6 hours in the hospital, every other week for six months.  This new regimen is the fifth such treatment in her battle.

And it is a battle.  Her feet hurt, her arms tire, her back aches.  Fatigue is a constant problem for her, the hardest symptom for a woman used to keeping up with women half her age or younger.  But June hasn’t given in yet, or given up.

She’s sitting at her kitchen table with her husband of 61 years, Al.  It’s a good Saturday morning.  No pain, no fatigue yet.   The remains of breakfast (blueberry and banana nut muffins) sit in pans on the table.  A half-full blue ceramic coffee mug sits next to her Bible.

“‘Do not worry about your life’,” she quotes to me.  “‘Or about what you will eat or drink, or about your body’.  That’s my favorite verse now.  I’m still worry-free and depression-free.”

More »

Lessons from America’s Wealthiest Family

by   |  08.18.11  |  financial planning, real life examples

If you’re invested in the stock market, the month of August may have left you feeling a little woozy.  Since August 1, the US stock market has had daily losses in excess of 4% three times (and is working on a fourth as I write this).  It’s also had two days in excess of 4% gains.  The second week of August particularly was a roller coaster (down 6.5%, up 4.5%, down 4%, and up 4.5% on consecutive days).  If you regularly pay attention to your stock market investments, it’s enough to drive you crazy.  If you are no longer working and are living off your retirement assets, it can be downright frightening.

The Wall Street Journal had a short article in its Aug. 16 edition on investing lessons drawn from Sam Walton (founder of Wal-Mart) and his family, the wealthiest family in America.  It  essentially boils down to two very important principles: 1) plan (and act) for the long run and 2) maintain as much financial flexibility as possible for the short run.

Good principles to invest by, and ones that can help make the short term volatility a little less stomach-churning.

The New Rules of Estate Planning

by   |  08.10.11  |  real life examples, wills

At least, that’s what SmartMoney (part of the Wall Street Journal network) calls them, though that may be overselling the point a bit.

Now that we are eight months removed from the Tax Relief Act of 2010, tax and estate planning professionals have had a good chance to digest some of the implications of the Act.  Among the things SmartMoney notes are potential changes to asset protection strategies, certain types of trusts, and the hazards posed by individual states that have their own estate tax regime (16 of them, plus the District of Colombia).  The most salient point for me is the one on “formula clauses” in wills.  Excerpt:

Let’s say you and your spouse have $4 million, divided equally. Your will, prepared in 2001, might very well call for “an amount up to the federal estate-tax exemption” to be transferred to a trust for the benefit of your children, with the balance passing to your spouse. The exemption in 2001 was $675,000, so if you died that year with a $2 million estate, the former amount went to the trust, and $1.3 million went to your spouse.

It’s a different story now that the estate-tax exemption has risen to $5 million. If you die tomorrow with a $2 million estate, the same wording would deliver all that money to the trust. Your spouse gets nothing.

Changes in estate law should always be an opportunity for you to re-look at your will and the rest of your intentional estate plan, just to ensure that what you want to happen when you pass away is actually what will happen.

Family Feud: Signed Baseball Edition

by   |  08.03.11  |  real life examples, wills

In another real life example of how it pays to be completely clear on who gets what when it comes to passing assets, we have this story from Illinois.  This might have been prevented if the father had been more explicit in his wishes, or at least recognized the potential for conflict ahead of time.  As it is, it’s another sad example of how (any amount of) money can potentially strain family relations upon the death of the parents.

As an aside, for many years The ACU Foundation used to give away a book called Who Gets Grandma’s Yellow Pie Plate?, which focuses on how to go about distributing unique, priceless family heirlooms when there is more than one heir.  We have a handful left in our office (I just checked – about 15 copies as of this writing); if you’d like one at no charge, just contact our office.  You can also find them through Amazon for about $7 at the link above.