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Why Make Your Heirs Wait?

The Menashe Morley Group
Published

Why Make Your Heirs Wait?

By Michael Liersch, Director of Behavioral Finance at Merrill Lynch

As people live longer a new trend in inheritance is evolving: fast-tracking inheritances. In fact, 60 percent of people age 50 and older in a recent Merrill Lynch study said they would prefer to give sooner rather than later – so that they can help and see their children pursue their dreams.

Before joining the trendsetters and speeding up your legacy, take into account the following considerations:

Not one size fits all

Some of your children may prefer to wait for their inheritance, while others could benefit greatly from having the money now. For example, if your grandson’s startup requires seed money to be able to beat the competition to market giving him his entire inheritance now might make a lot of sense. You’ll get the satisfaction of seeing him invest in his future. And he won’t have to defer his dream. But consider, too, how other family members may feel about the gift, and what their immediate needs are. Talk with everyone, and make it clear that gifting now could affect how much they will receive later on, in your will.

Gift vs. burden

Larger gifts, in particular, sometimes bring unwanted responsibilities. If, for example, you give one child control of a trust—and discretion over distributions to other family members—could you be thrusting that child into an unwelcome position? Before gifting take an honest moment to consider if your heirs are prepared to take on the inheritance.

Avoid over-giving

Before you give, determine what you need for the rest of your life—and make sure you’ve set those resources aside. Otherwise, you may shortchange not only yourself but the very family members you’re trying to help. You don’t want to put them in a position of having to support you later on.

Communication is the first step in planning for your inheritance. Having an open and honest dialogue with the whole family can help set everyone up for success. Consider looping in a financial professional from the beginning to mediate the process and develop an inheritance plan that meets all parties’ financial goals.

The Menashe Morley Group
The Menashe Morley Group

The Menashe Morley Group, serving the community for over 30 years: David Menashe is a Senior Vice President and Wealth Management Advisor, and Bruce Morley is a First Vice President and Wealth Management Advisor and John Naviaux is a Financial Advisor for Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, a registered broker-dealer, Member SIPC, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation. Investment products are not FDIC insured, are not bank guaranteed, may lose value. The Menashe Morley Group can be reached at 858-381-8113.


© 2014 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved.

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