Giving Thanks

This is the time of year when we reflect on turkey and mashed potatoes with gravy, pies and stuffing, football and basketball. It's begins a hectic march through to New Year's with everyone looking for more time and usually more money, there never seems to be enough of either. I talk to a lot of people throughout the year who say that they don't have enough time throughout the year let alone through the holiday season. There is always something left to do, place to go, meeting/game/event/dinner/practice/recital/ to attend. We don't have the time, we don't have the energy to think about estate planning.

Then we gather with family and friends at parties and events which brings us around to reflecting on family, those who are with us and those who aren't. We vow to do better next year, but we all know how that resolution goes. We go back to work, back to our lives, back to our everyday problems and, well you all know how it goes.

We partner with caring and committed families, individuals, their trusted advisors and their loved ones to discover, clarify, promote and protect their values and valuables through our unique Life Map Legacy Planning Process (TM). The Life Map Process consists of 5 components:
1. Listen to clients and their needs, goals and dreams;
2. Education of clients and their loved ones;
3. Customized counseling;
4. Work with client's other professional advisors; and,
5. Ongoing maintenance and updating system.

Working through the Life Map (TM) process ensures that an estate plan will work when needed and give peace of mind to clients and their loved ones. We are more than the dollars and cents that we collect over our lifetimes, we are also our values, our wisdom, our culture, our stories. An analogy I like to use is the family vacation. Each vacation has to be planned out in advance so that it is enjoyable and not a royal pain. Plans are made to select the destination, the transportation, things to do on the way, while there and on the way home. Countless hours are spent making sure that the vacation is planned along with contingencies for unknown problems that may crop up.

Analogize this with what most people allow to pass for estate planning. An appointment is made with an attorney, a personal information form is filled-out and a meeting is had with someone from the attorney's office. The attorney tells the client what they need and prepares a set of documents which are signed and on rare occasion the estate plan is funded (assets transferred to reflect correct title according to the estate planning documents). These documents are filed away somewhere to collect dust. How many of you would take a vacation with that kind of planning? If you wouldn't go on vacation like that, why would you plan for the rest of your lives and beyond like that.

So, once the turkey dinner has been digested, contact me to discuss an estate plan that will work for you and your family, today, tomorrow and after you are gone.