Retirement planning? Arranging your affairs before death? Getting your estate in order? Thinking about making a will? Preparing a will? Interested in protecting principal or preserving capital? If so, you might want to know that there’s another kind of principal protection and capital preservation. And I wrote a series of articles on just that!
Cherchez-vous un avocat? Seeking an attorney? If a small business owner, I understand what it took to start an enterprise and make it successful. I also know that a generational transfer is difficult to navigate especially taking into account the tensions arising from the family dynamic. Seeking one of the family law lawyers or family lawyers Montreal, dealing with the elderly? My law firm is located in Montreal and I believe that it’s the one for you or your family. I practice in the civil law area – one of my specialties is civil-elder law. And I have represented the senior or a family member. Indeed, I wrote the book (Please visit www.practitionerspress.com) – two in fact, notably
Elder Law in Canada**ELIC**” Estate Document Professor** EDP**
Vol. 11, #16.1 – Nov. 25, 2019–ALLAN GOLD’S BLOG
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Ever thought about your money, going …going… gone, once you’ve passed?
If not, maybe you should! (Part #1)
A. OPENING.
I’m a reader of “Investment Executive,” known as “Canada’s Financial Industry Newspaper.” Along with many others, I recently received an e-mail announcement from this periodical, stating, “The next decade will see a massive intergenerational transfer of wealth.” It then asks the provocative question, “Are you ready for the largest wealth transfer ever?” It got me to thinking. Picking up this thread, I would like to address my professional community, particularly those who are older founder-owners of family businesses and retired seniors with a little money. And I would like to ask them the same question. Some might say, “Who me? Are you speaking to me?” Yes, I’m speaking to you. Here’s why.
First, it’s because you probably want to do some retirement planning. Or perhaps you’re considering an exit strategy, such in the context of an operating small business. In the alternative, you’re intent, due to health concerns, on getting your estate in order and arranging your affairs before death. Or maybe, you’re just thinking about making (or remaking) a will (i.e., your last will & testament) and you’re now in the midst of preparing a will. And last but not least, I presume that you’re interested in protecting principal and preserving capital.
Second, you respect money. Just to be clear, I mean to say:
- That you know the value of money. This is because you have achieved some success. And now, you have a boodle of money tucked away. Whether it represents equity gained from your business or investments, income from career, etc., it’s taken you a lifetime to amass it. Some people might say that your luck turned in your favor. For you, it wasn’t happenstance. Instead, you say that there was a job to do and you worked very hard. And it all paid off with good results.
- That for you, living within your means is a way of life. You’re quite happy to live modestly. You do not have a hankering for the lifestyle of the rich & famous. More precisely, you don’t ‘need’ things, the newer the better. And you know that more and more stuff just clutter up a life. Instead, life ay present is quite good just as it is thank you very much. This means that you don’t spend more than you earn and what you can afford. Simply put, your aim is to pay the bills and indulge yourself wherever you can, provided that you don’t endanger your financial well- being. Indeed, you’re in your comfort zone and you like it there.
- That you’re tight-fisted when it comes to money. Indeed, you agree whole-heartedly with Benjamin Franklin, who said, “Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.”
- That you’re a saver. You have a nest egg. Indeed, it’s been a long time coming! And going forward, you save for what you want.
- That you’ve always been careful with money. You like ‘tried and true’ as opposed to talk of unbelievable returns or ‘get rich’ schemes. Perhaps, it’s because there were times when you didn’t have it and it was tough and you promised yourself that you would never, ever be in that situation again. Or it may be due to that you’ve matured during the decades and gained much knowledge and experience.
- That you have a healthy relationship with money. For you, having a dollar in your wallet, doesn’t mean that you must spend it. Since you have some, you don’t need to talk about it. And of course, you don’t flash it, enticing strangers. You also know that spending money is not a past time and it won’t placate a wounded soul.
This said, I urge you to ask yourself a further question, “Can you say the same about your spouse, adult children and/or other possible heirs?” In other words, I want to know whether or not, you think that your prospective heirs will go through the money in short order. In many families, for the will maker (known as the Testator or Testatrix), this is the proverbial ‘elephant in the room.’
C. CLOSING.
Now that I’ve opened the topic and with the overhang of the spectre of someone losing everything, I think it appropriate to here and now, reproduce an excerpt about “nothing,” this from a piece that I penned last year, which was published on May 22, 2018. It goes like this.
“And now here’s the scoop about “nothing.”
We don’t value nothing. You see, it’s not very much. A sack of nothing is nothing. And nothing beats nothing. More, two times nothing is still nothing. We feel bad if someone feels like nothing. But we don’t like a “good for nothing.” This is because we know that nothing works like effort; and without it, you’ll amount to nothing. That`s why we don’t understand someone who thinks nothing is good. Of course, having everything must be better. But here’s the oddity. It does happen that, when trying very hard, and on giving everything you got and then some, you might then feel like you have nothing left.
It’s also strange that while we may turn up our noses to someone with next to nothing; the fact remains that such is a bit more than absolutely nothing. Such a person might think that there’s nothing to lose, but he/she is wrong as there’s always room to go in order to arrive at worse off. However, some may just give up and you guessed it, do nothing, thusly becoming a “do nothing”. But on the other hand, everything could all be for naught and “Much ado about nothing” – you be the judge!”*
The foregoing is the introductory blog post for those who are retirement planning. For Part #2 of this blog series, I invite you to please check us out next week at https://allanjgold.com/blog/
P.S. If an adult child, this article is also for you. I assure you that I’m not against you in any way, shape or form! You see, I think that you’re probably going to inherit funds in the near future and receive a bequest from a parent on his or her demise. And then, you’ll be the front line player, at the controls. And I assume that you’ll then want to be a successful heir and hold onto what you get. I also presume that you’re desirous of providing for your loved ones. As a result, you’re looking to get your estate in order, making a will and arranging your affairs before death.
P.P.S. If an investment executive, financial planner or other professional, you know that your clients generally want to save for retirement, and further, build wealth, which in part, will contribute to a better life for them and their descendants. Of course, everyone wants to protect accumulated wealth and property. But typically, older clients want to preserve their capital because their time horizon is relatively short or they’re uncomfortable with risk. Such investors tend to invest in Canada savings bonds, GICs, CDs, U.S. Treasury issues and savings accounts. For you, whether or not, future heirs can hold onto their new found money, is not a central question. However, you want to do right for your clients. But even if you wanted to raise the issue, you might find it difficult to broach the subject. I hope that after reading this series of articles, you may have a few ideas on how to get your ideas across, this without ruffling anyone’s feathers.
D. PREVIEW OF NEXT IN THE ELDER LAW BLOG SERIES. I believe that with this blog series, I may have started you along the way to being more aware of elder law. I will continue on with the subject of retirement planning and more particularly, principal protection and/or capital preservation after you’ve passed on. In the second installment, I shall set out my thesis and start proving it with real life examples. Interested? Want to get more information about the current topic, retirement planning, or other areas of elder law written by an “avocat,” one of the family law lawyers, family lawyers Montreal, practicing in the elder law field? See you next time. It won’t take too much time. Remember my byline – it’s “Gold’s Legal Minute*GLM*!” And don’t forget to join my professional community by entering your e-mail at the prompt. *
E. NOTICE – CAUTION –DISCLAIMER. The material provided herein is of a general nature, strictly for informational purposes. The interpretation and analysis is not to be misapplied to a personal situation with a particular set of facts. Under no circumstances, are the herein suggestions and tips, intended to bring a reader to the point of acting or not acting, but instead, the hope is that they are to be a cause for pause and reflection. It is specifically declared that this content is not to be a replacement of, or a substitution for, legal or any other appropriate advice. To the contrary, for more information on these presents, related subjects or any other questions, it is the express recommendation of the author that everyone seek out and consult a qualified professional or competent adviser.
* ©/TM 2019, 2015-2018, Allan Gold, Practitioners’ Press Inc. – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
** ©/TM 2006, 2008, 2018 Allan Gold, Practitioners’ Press Inc. – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED