There are only 2 things we will ultimately ever do with money – do you know what they are?

It is spend and give it away.

If we haven’t spent all of it on the day we drop dead, we will be in a position where that money is given away.

A client of mine stated that his plan is that on the day he dies he will have exactly 1¢ in his pocket.

What a goal!

Most, if not all of us, will not achieve such a target.

We must then plan for how to ‘speak from the grave’ in how we give that money away.

How? Via prudent estate planning.

There are 4 basic elements of a good estate plan (with variations). They are:

Will

Trust

Power of Attorney (POA)

Medical directive

Basic does not mean required. Thus not every estate plan will have all 4 items.

Basic means that these are the minimal considerations when beginning to craft an estate plan.

You and your legal advisor will then determine what’s necessary.

As such, there are a host of other things that one may include to ensure that your estate is properly disposed of with minimal disruption that taxes, fees, court proceedings, infighting among heirs, greedy creditors, and predators may cause.

What other elements of estate planning can you add to this list?