Retirement and Beyond: Protecting Your Loved Ones
How can you stay relevant and protect the ones you love during retirement and beyond?
Some people are always able to have financial success in their lives; they can build wealth that will last in their lifetime and for generations to come. Individuals who can accomplish this all have something in common: they understand the rules of building wealth and know how to win in the game of money. There’s a game called Monopoly that most people, depending on their age, have played. Monopoly was a game that I really liked to play when I was younger. It was one of those resources that I used at an early age to help me understand the importance of wealth-building strategies. In real life, some people embrace the principles of Monopoly; they know how to position themselves to win financially for many generations.
Individuals who win as it relates to their money tend to have an unfair advantage: they understand how to create a head-start. Let’s say two individuals are racing against each other, but one individual starts the race 30 yards in front of the other person. Who is going to win that race? The individual who has the unfair advantage with a head-start.
“When we talk about remaining relevant and supporting our loved ones during retirement and after, we must speak of two things: having an unfair advantage and understanding how to win the game of money.”
We all start school at the same age, so when it comes to education, everyone tends to be on an even playing field with each other. Unfortunately, we don’t all start at the same place regarding wealth or our knowledge of wealth building. How can you create an unfair advantage for yourself, your loved ones, and future generations? Many of you currently own what is called an IRA or individual retirement account. An IRA is designed for retirement, allows you to invest and save in a tax advantage way to use for your retirement. The most common forms of IRA are Traditional or Roth accounts. These accounts provide tax advantages for retirement savings; however, most people won’t use the total value of investments incurred for their retirement. Assets that are remaining can be passed on to our loved ones in what’s called a beneficiary. Beneficiaries gain access to your assets after that you have passed away.
In addition to the Traditional and Roth IRA, another type that isn’t talked about often is an IRA Trust. The sole purpose of an IRA Trust is to act as a reciprocal for your IRA. As the owner, you remain in control of your assets throughout your life and after you have passed away. An IRA Trust will put you in control of how those assets move through generations. As we continue to talk about winning the game of money and how this trust will help build your unfair advantage.
Not enough attention is given to one of the most important parts of our planning process: how to allow our wealth to pass to the next generation in the most efficient way that won’t hinder the recipients but allow them to have a head start and get that unfair advantage that we talked about. Which ultimately leads them to win in the game of money.
We all have our deficiencies in life, personal challenges we face that can affect how we live. Financial deficiencies will not only affect our lives but that of our loved ones and future generations. If you leave money to your beneficiary, the last thing you want is for that money to be taken or blown up due to a personal struggle, whether that be addiction, bankruptcy, divorce, poor financial decisions, etc. You want to leave it to your heirs in a way that you can ensure they will use the money for their benefit. If you leave your money to someone and they need to file bankruptcy, the money you leave them will be protected.
How to win financially: design a plan for your wealth that will extend for future generations. Building generational wealth is not just about leaving wealth behind but should also focus on having a financial plan for those who will inherit your investments.
