By Farm Bureau Financial Services on August 3, 2023
3 Steps to Building a Financial Legacy
The legacy you leave with your family members is about so much more than physical assets. It’s about the lessons taught, the laughter shared and the support and love that defines your relationships. It’s about helping future generations with the tools they need to succeed.
1. Create an Estate Plan
The first and most basic step of leaving a legacy is creating an estate plan that lays out how your property and assets will be distributed after your death. An estate plan typically involves making a will and may include other tools, such as a trust. Life insurance and other financial accounts, like retirement accounts, can also be included in the legacy you leave for your family. Failure to leave a plan can cause a burden to your family, no matter the size of your estate.
Work with a financial advisor, accountant and attorney to ensure your estate plan and the various tools within that plan are utilized correctly. Review your plan every three to five years because laws may change and life events happen.
2. Communicate With Your Heirs
Communication is key when it comes to inheritances. Talk with your family members about how much you intend to leave them, how that is structured, when they might expect it and how you envision them utilizing these resources.
When you are ready to have an inheritance discussion, consider sharing your Journal of Wishes and Records, which will ensure your children have an outline of your financial picture and serve as a roadmap for them as they carry out your wishes.
3. Teach Your Children Financial Responsibility
Research has shown that historically only 30 percent of wealth lasts through the second generation and just 10 percent remains at the end of the third. Preparing your children and grandchildren for their inheritance by teaching them how to sustain those funds is important. Conversations about money can be difficult, but it’s even more difficult to make sound financial decisions without any guidance.
A Team You Can Trust
If you’d like to talk about leaving a financial legacy or explore the tools you have available to pass along an inheritance, connect with a Farm Bureau agent or financial advisor. In addition to Farm Bureau Financial Services’ internal teams, your agent/advisor can work with other professionals, such as accountants and attorneys, to help you build your legacy.
