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Good morning, and welcome to the Haven Financial Group Radio Show. I'm Larry Kulvig, founder and CEO of be Haven Financial Group.
Thanks for listening.
We have lots to talk about a state planning We have Carrie Renner Our, a state planning partner, on to discuss all these different areas of a state planning and the importance of and Kim always going to be with you once again this week.
Well, it's great to be with you, Larry, and it's great to have Carrie with us, and we appreciate her making time to come and chat a bit about a state planning. Such an important part of planning for your retirement is getting that state plan in there so that you can rest comfortably knowing that you've taken care of your legacy. And we're going to talk to Carrie and of course to Larry about all different aspects of state
planning and why it's such an important part of retirement. First, we're going to talk about the tools, you know, trusts and wills. I think it's really important that people who maybe don't have a trust or have a will understand that they are definitely different and what their purpose is, Larry, because I'm not sure everybody you know, everybody got I think just thinks if I have a will, I'm in good shape. But that's not necessarily case or a trust.
Oh, it's very true. There's tons of misconceptions out there. You know, this is only for rich people, that they're the only ones that need to do what we're going to talk about today couldn't be further from the truth. And you know, human nature is procrastination. You know, I get a kick for all these years, all I've been thinking about doing a will, all for about forty years.
You think it's maybe about time to actually get it done this time, because what we do know is you can't do it after it's too late.
Yeah, yes, that we do. This is pretty definitive. Some of the other subjects today is the complexities of naming a beneficiary, the beneficiaries issue. You and I've talked about that so many times. I think when you're in the midst of your estate planning, that's great, but that might also be something that you have to go back and
re address years later. So you know, maybe you've got your will and you've got your trust and you've got everything set up, but maybe things have changed in your life and that's something you need to go back and revisit. So we'll talk about that. Of course, taxes and how that relates to your state always an important issue. And then finally the importance of your legacy beyond finances. So let's get started today. If we could and maybe Carrie could just jump right in with us here and talk
a little bit about the purpose of first wills. Why do people need a will? And who needs a will? Carrie?
Well, hello Kim, and thank you for having me and Larry as well.
What is a will?
I think even to back up one step from that and to say, what is an estate plan? Because a will is typically going to be a piece of that estate plan, And I think that's an excellent question that we often overlook and don't take the time to address.
An a state plan is something that can mean a different, means something different to just about anybody, and I think at the very basics of estate planning, it is what are your goals, What are your goals around end of life, around incapacity if that ever becomes a part of your life, and how do we plan for that? Typically a will is going to be a piece of that, and a will plays a greater importance in some situations than others.
But I think a will is something that everybody should have as one basic element of an estate plan.
All right, So there's trusts as well, So what is the difference between a will and a trust?
And that that's a great question and that's a big question, Kim. But there are some some very distinct differences, and that I think the most distinct is the issue of probate. So probate is a court proceeding that's sometimes needed to transfer assets when a person dies. But often when somebody is putting an estate plan in place, one of their goals is to create a plan that's going to keep everything out of court and to avoid probate. A will
is most often going to go through probate. There are some exceptions to that, but as a general rule, wills go through probate, and trusts are legal entities that are created during your lifetime that will transfer assets when a triggering event occurs. Oftentimes that triggering event is death, and when there are assets in a trust, those assets can pass to a beneficiary without the need of probate. So that's one distinct difference between wills and trusts.
So Gary, let me ask you, why is it that a will would go through probate?
So a will, Kim, is something I tell people that when something is being controlled by a will, it means that the person during their lifetime really did nothing to plan for that asset. They didn't put a beneficiary on it. They didn't jointly own the asset, they didn't put it into a revocable living trust or an irrevocable trust, and the will is kind of the big catch all for all assets. That's somebody didn't put another plan on it
during their lifetime, whereas a trust acts differently. Assets are controlled by a trust because somebody took action while they were living to actually retitle an asset into the name of their trust or add the trust as a beneficiary to that asset.
There are different kinds of trusts. Can you walk through that for us?
Sure, Kim. There are a lot of different types of trusts, and commonly they're broken down into two categories, revocable and irrevocable. So we'll just keep it at that level for today. A revocable living trust is what we're talking about most of the time. This is a trust that can benefit most people. For some of the things we've talked about,
we want to keep it out of probate. Maybe we've got some other goals around sharing expenses when we die, or maybe we want to more slowly control the distribution of assets when we die. Those could be reasons for a revocable living trust. They are not generally used for
large tax planning states that are large enough. In Minnesota, I would say if an estate is exceeding for a married couple over somewhere between four to six million dollars, we're going to be looking at tools beyond revocable living trust to minimize any sort of tax liability when they die. So in Minnesota, irrevocable trusts are largely going to be for a state tax planning.
Larry, I think people get really nervous when they hear a trust because the first thing they think is, I'm turning all of my assets over while I'm living to a trust, and then I don't have control.
Here it all the time. And that is a common misconception where revocable means changeable. It's still your asset even though it's in your trust name, whatever that is. And I'm always cautious. I want people to be cautious that you know. I'm all about saving money and doing it yourself where it makes sense, but doing legal work, I think Carrie would a test. You got to get it right because you probably only get it, get one chance to do it, and so you know if you're gonna
have surgery. You're going to try to get a coupon to find the cheapest surgeon to do the surgery. Are you going to do go to the one that is most qualified to get it done? You know, do something, but you know, don't shortcut this. Get it done right. With Carrie and our partnership there, it starts with a consultation to find out what that looks like, you know, mapping out a plan, what the goals are from there, and figuring out, well, what would the cost be with that?
You know, nothing's free. And I love the transparency. Transparency she has in her firm upfront about that so people can make educated decisions, which you and I talk about every single week, getting all the information to make an educated decision. And again, what I also want to caution people is, and maybe Carrie can comment that trusts in themselves do not avoid They avoid probate, but they do not avoid the nursing home. That is one of the biggest things that I hear kerriy do you want to
mention because we hear about it. It sounds good if everybody if that was the case, why wouldn't everybody do it? Does a trust in itself avoid the nursing home.
That's a great, great point, Larry, and I wish I did have that magic Wand because you're right, everybody would pay a few thousand dollars and protect their total nest eggs so they could leave it to their loved ones. Unfortunately, it's not that easy in Minnesota. A trust is not going to be a guaranteed or even a likely method
to protect assets from nursing home costs. If people are interested in protecting assets from nursing home expenses, long term care insurance is a good avenue to pursue, or just accepting the fact that their assets are there to be
able to take care of them later in life. Short of that, the only way to protect an ascid that in Minnesota is going to be gifting that asset, getting it out of their estate, and gifting it during their lifetime more than five years before having to apply for state aid to help pay for that care.
Of course, Carrie does this all the time for a living. She is an expert, and there are she mentioned it right off the top. There are many different kinds of trusts and there's many different issues that go into putting this together. For example, some people may be listening and thinking, well, I have minor children, so I have to have a guardianship, you know, statement where my children would go if something would happen. Of course there's tax issues, there's charitable issues,
there's special needs trusts. This brings me back to the idea of Carrie that people need to put together wills and trusts and then they have to be revisited at different stages of their life. Correct right, things change.
Obviously, family dynamics change, families themselves change, assets are going to change, and people's wishes change. So that it is it's not a one and done type of plan. I would say every three to five years that plan should be reviewed and make sure that everything is working together and is really accomplishing the goals that you're setting out to accomplish.
So when we come back next, we're going to talk about naming beneficiaries and how that might be a part of an ever changing situation for you when it comes to estate planning. Quick reminder six one two five zero four eight four zero zero. That's how you reach the folks that Haven Financial Group. They partner with Carrie and her firm, Provision Law firm, and they do estate planning and if this is something that you are lacking in your retirement plan, or maybe you're looking to start your
retirement plan and you want to include estate planning. Give the folks that Haven Financial Group a call again. It's six one two five zero four eight four zero zero. When we come back, we'll talk about beneficiaries and how you go about naming them. This is the Haven Financial Group Radio Show.
Don't go too far. We're gathering more important insights and retirement boys, Devin, the Haven Financial Group Radio Show. We'll be right back. Stick around. You've got questions, We've got answers. Your tune to the Haven Financial Group Radio Show with your host Larry Kulvig and Kim Karagan. Now back to the show.
Good morning, and welcome back to the Haven Financial Group Radio Show. I'm Larry Kolvig, founder and CEO of the Haven Financial Group, on with Kerrie Redder with Provision Law Firm, our partner in all these estate planning topics that we're talking about. Kim today, You know, listeners, if this is ringing a bell or hitting a nerve and you're thinking, man, we really need to do this, or why haven't we done, or maybe.
Our stuff is outdated.
What a better time to call six one two five zero four eight four zero zero or visit us at Havenfinancialgroup dot com. We have great, great classes. Carrie and I just put on a wills, trust, trust and legacy planning workshop here a couple of weeks ago at the AIM Center.
Here in Burnsville. Extremely well attended.
You can go to our site and see maybe upcoming classes and other classes that we're going to have.
So no better time than now.
Absolutely, Well, let's talk a little bit more here about what we were chatting about just before we went to the break, and that being beneficiaries and why it's so important to name those individuals, but how this could be something that changes as life ebbs and flows. So Carrie, the first thing I think that it's imperative to talk about is, you know, if you would pass away and there are no beneficiaries, what happens to your state sure there.
If you die without any beneficiary, then that asset is going to be subject to your will, or if you have no will, then you are known to have died in te state, meaning I didn't have a will, I didn't have a plan, and so then the state and testacy laws will kick in, and those will determine who determine or who inherits that asset when they get it how they get it, So you lose a lot.
Of control that way, sure, and ultimately maybe people benefit from your your legacy that you weren't intending to have.
Involved absolutely in the case of a beneficiary that hasn't been updated after a divorce, that's a common example of the wrong person potentially receiving that asset.
When you die.
Another good example is a people who are life partners but not legally married to each other and never name each other as beneficiaries on their plans. If they don't have a will that leaves things to each other. The intestacy laws that those default rules are never going to recognize the relationship that they had with each other. So it's really important to make sure your plan is coordinated.
And Carrie, you know, I think Lara and I talk about this when we're talking about other aspects of retirement. But you know, the idea of just relying on the fact that, oh, my kids will get along and they'll all split it and there won't be any issues is a big mistake, isn't it.
It's a big mistake. We should learn from all the others who have gone before us. Money, grief, family dynamics. There's so many factors that can play into that. And you may have all very reasonable family members or children
with all great ideas. But if those ideas differ from each other, and there isn't a set of rules in a will or a trust or another document to dictate how that estate's going to be administered when you die, they're most likely going to run into disagreement at some point, which can really lead to a lot of conflict in a family.
I think about in laws that come into these situations that sometimes can be an issue.
Right, And I think that we're fooling ourselves if we think that we name our kids as beneficiaries and their spouses aren't whispering into their ears. They all have little birdies on their shoulder that are guiding what that dynamic is going to be. And so having a very clear cut plan that's going to eliminate all that extra chatter is a good thing.
Yeah, So a couple comes in and they sit down with you and they say, we just don't know what to do, and we're trying to figure out how to split this up. How do you walk people through this?
Yeah, that's another great question. We don't know what to do. That's okay. They don't need to know what to do to come and have that consultation with us or with any other attorney who does this for a living. Our job is to listen. They are the experts. We know
some things. They know a lot of things. They know the family dynamics, they know what their assets are, they know what their goals are, and so really it starts with listening and not starting with a tool not starting with okay, we're here to draft a will or we're here to draft a trust, but really just listening to what their goals are first and then looking at the tools in our tool belt to help them accomplish what they want to accomplish.
You know, Carrie, there's no doubt that we have people who are listening right now who maybe have adult children who have special needs that are going to need special care in their lifetime. Can these kinds of things be designated?
That's a I would say that's a red flag or a great opportunity, a really a key opportunity to be able to do some planning for that loved one. If you leave assets to a person who is receiving some sort of public benefit. There's a high likelihood that they're going to lose that public benefit when they receive that inheritance. And it doesn't have to be that way. There is a way to leave these special needs individual and inheritance and allow them to keep their public benefits. But that
won't happen by accident. That has to happen through planning.
Larry, you love to talk about taxes. I think it's one of your favorite subjects. Talk to me a little bit about where a designated beneficiary and taxes, Well, how do they run into each other.
Well, we are coming into tax season. Even though we're not talking taxes today. Although taxes is relating to related to estate planning, it really really is.
It is taxes.
A though Lances are in house CPA, he's gearing up, he's excited to do lots of tax returns. Making IRS is not going to be the beneficiary of a lot of your hard earned money that you worked all these years for. So making sure you have the things set up the right way for the estate tax purposes, you know,
setting up the right documents. Just the past week, I had somebody in that just lost a loved one and things were not set up properly, and this is going to be a long drawn out process that I'm sure that was not the intention by her late husband in this case, because she had no idea that they had that much over the estate tax biggest estate tax bills that are going to come her way, and in this case not getting the response from the attorney friend of
her late husband. So I cautioned people on getting two just not paying attention to these details. And especially if you're married, this includes both of you. It should include both of you, and oftentimes one doesn't want to talk about it because it's uncomfortable. You know a lot of times this is talking about your demise and you know
after what about after we're gone? So all these things are important, I want to point out, and Carrie said, it's so very very well, if you haven't noticed, she is very She's not a stuffy attorney, no offense attorneys. She's relatable and why her firm is such a good partner as she truly believes in the educational process as well. And you notice she said the word listening, listening to that initial meeting, listening to what's important, what their goals
are for their family, their aspirations. That's why it's such a good partnership because we talk every week. That is the way we work at the Haven Financial Group. So I encourage if you're listening, whether you're you're middle age, over the age of eighteen, because it applies to a lot of legal adults and who's.
Thinking about these things at eighteen.
And Carrie has a great offer for those that graduate from college, which you maybe I'll mention, no matter what your situation is, you should have some even if you're married. There's no automatics for spouses. I love to see when people finally get this stuff done. There's a breath of fresh air, there's a smile. We call it their signing ceremony. We finally got this done. And there's something to say about that for because a lot of these people, it's taken a lot of you.
To do it.
So why not put that smile on your face and get this important stuff done.
Carrie, do you.
Want to talk a little bit about what you do for college kids?
Yes? Yes, so actually so I tell people, if you did a state planning perfectly during your lifetime, you would do it three times when you turn eighteen, you would put some basic documents in place that are going to allow your parents to still have access to any sort of medical information if need be, and maybe financial information. Then if you start a family, they're probably going to
be looking at that again. And when you hit retirement age, it's a good time to talk about all kinds of these financial puzzle pieces, of state planning being one of them. I don't want to say that's a set it and forget it over a lifetime. You really should revisit it every few years, but those are big common milestones to look out of state planning. Eighteen is a big one. That's graduating from high school for most people heading off into the next chapter, whether that's college or on their own,
even if they're living at home. Once they turn eighteen, everything changes, even if they're still in high school. That day of their eighteenth birthday is the day they become a legal adult. It's the day mom and dad no longer can make their medical decisions for them access their medical records. And the worst nightmare for any parent is to get a phone call from there the hospital in the college town where their child is in school and say we've got Johnny here and there was a bad
car accident, but we can't tell you anything more. And there they are four hours away, and you're a panicked parent. So there's no reason that we can't set things up for these eighteen year olds heading out into the world. And we do that as a graduation gift for a lot of young people, high school graduation gift to say, here's some basic information that you need to carry you into this next chapter of your life.
I love that. That's so great, and boy is that important that it's for sure? All right. We're talking about estate planning, folks, and how it relates to your retirement planning and how important it is in your life. We're looking at all different aspects of this same thing. Coming up next, we are going to talk about tax efficiency, and you know, some of the issues related to taxes
and state planning really important. The last thing you want to do is leave your loved ones with a great, big, huge bill, So let's talk about that on the other side. Six one two five zero four eight four zero zero. That's the number. That's how you reach Haven Financial Group. They can put you in touch with Carrie Renner. She is a partner of the Haven Financial Group and a member of Provision Law Firm six one two five zero
four eight four zero zero. You're listening to the Haven Financial Group Radio Show.
Ready to find your financial safe Haven. Your dream retirement is in reach. Don't go away, The Haven Financial Group Radio Show will be right back. Are you worried that your financial strategy might be missing something, Well, you're in the right place. Larry Klvig is back and ready to help you find your financial safe Tavin.
Larry, let's talk a little bit about the tax efficient estate plan and with us today is Carrie Renner and she's an estate planning attorney. Carry. I'm going to pose this first question to you. Is there a way to avoid paying taxes on an estate?
Yes, absolutely, Kim. When we look at taxes when somebody dies, a state tax is what comes to mind. And there's we commonly get questions, do we have an inheritance taxes somebody the beneficiary receiving money have to pay a tax on that. In Minnesota, No, we don't have an inheritance a tax, but we do have another type of a death tax, which is a state tax. And the difference is who pays that tax. With an arriitance tax. It's the beneficiary who pays. With an estate tax, it's the
estate of the deceased person who pays. And through various estate planning strategies, we can minimize that tax or even eliminate it altogether.
Okay, so give us a sense of how you go about doing that.
Sure, So, a state tax happens at both the state level in Minnesota as well as at the federal level. The federal level, well, their tax is a hefty one. They make that planning relatively easy, but it does take action on the part of somebody who has recently lost a loved one. These tax planning opportunities are generally available to married couples, not parents and children or unmarried partners. But at the federal level, we have something called portability.
Everybody gets an exemption. It's the amount you get to die with and not have to pay a tax on. In Minnesota, that's I'm sorry. At the federal level, the IRS has a pretty large number right now. It's over
thirteen million per person. And with the portability rules that the IRS has, when one spouse dies, the other can simply file a tax form that says I want to elect portability I want to elect to use my deceased spouse's share so that when I die, I effectively have two shares or twenty six to twenty seven million dollars that can be passed. That's relatively easy, but it's not automatic, so it's really important to get professional advice when you've
lost a spouse and do that soon. At the state level, we need to generally look at trusts to help mitigate that or eliminate that a state tax, and that's usually done through a combination of strategies, one of them being a trust that allows to effectively double the three million dollar exemption that each person gets in Minnesota. But unfortunately Minnesota doesn't make it quite as easy as the irs
with portability we use. We have to get a little bit creative with trust planning in order to double that exemption.
So Carrie, let me ask you about the idea of people who maybe want to give some of their legacy away while they're living. Does that help with taxes?
Absolutely, that can generate a lot of benefits tax planning one of them also just the joy of giving, the joy of watching your beneficiaries benefit from these and not waiting until you're gone from a tax planning standpoint, getting things out of your estate is always beneficial. Nobody wants to die too rich. We all want in Minnesota, we all hope that our state is three million dollars or less.
Now that doesn't mean we don't want to necessarily make more than that during our lifetimes, but we have to be strategic with how we mitigate that tax when we die, and giving things away while we're still living, can be one of the ways to do that.
Okay, And that's something that you guys can help people sort of set up a plan and you know, work through that.
Sure, definitely. So giving things away can look differently to different people. Sometimes people say, I just want to make a large Christmas gift every year, annual gift every year, and my kids are old enough to receive it, or the beneficiaries I've chosen are old enough. Other times they want to use a trust to make that gift. Now we're talking about irrevocable trusts, and this could be an example of perhaps a beneficiary not quite being old enough to receive that gift.
Yeah, Kim, if I may add to that too, If the kids or kids are listing, it's called a gift. So Just because you heard about a gift doesn't mean mom and dad have to gift. It's called a gift. They can give a gift. I just had this last week an email from one of my clients saying and as an email, so you know, there's no real personality in an email or a text, even though I think my kids think there is, or the younger generation does.
And I could tell she goes out.
My kids could use the money now and is it possible or do I have it available? All those questions that people ask, and it was strategic.
They could use it now.
They have plenty of money, they're not running out of money, and it factored into their long term plan. Now with that said, you can give up to eighteen thousand. There's different rules. I want to know too. There's different rules on taxes in different states. Minnesota is a highly tax state, and that's why a lot of listeners may be considering moving to one of those other states, which I won't mention, and I understand, but hopefully we're moving in the right direction.
If this tax this is state tax discussion from a federal or state level is also ringing in your ears. There might be strategies which we do work with a lot it's called charitable remainder trusts or qualify charitable distributions with those IRA's with R and D s.
So there's certain things you can do.
And then I even add to that, irrevocable life insurance trusts or islets can be highly effective if that's part of your long term legacy plan as well. If you're a state is taxable at the federal or state level. So like always, I encourage people to look at all the options, not just some of the options, but all
of them. That's where it can be so important, especially if you're looking at you know, passing it on and giving it all to the kids or the charities rather than the federal government or the state government.
I think most people would agree on that, Larry.
You can also set up like educational trusts for your for your grandkids.
Correct, there's all kinds of different tools out there. There really really is.
So you know, let me ask you if you're listening, are you confident your estate plan is going to you know, is it going to reach your goals for legacy planning minimize those unnecessary taxes. Do you have a strategy do you not have a strategy? By the way, just hoping or wishing you had a strategy is not truly a strateg It takes in many cases. People would say a written plan, well thought out, well monitored, And that's part of our process here at Haven.
It's not set it and leave it. It's life happens.
Life's calendar doesn't always cooperate with our calendar, and things change, so goes your estate plan.
So in other words, don't write it on the back of a napkin and just stick it in an envelope and says open when I die, well.
Save the ink, to just save the ink. You know, we laugh about that.
But you know, in the good old days, if you're listening in the good old days, if you whispered something, that's probably going to be good enough. You know, a handshake actually meant something. I would like to think it still means something. But let's actually get it done in writing. Let's get a competent estate plan, a competent one. And a lot of Americans have not a competent one. A lot of them have no plan whatsoever. And that's not
going to bear well. And if you're listening, and I get this quite often, I'm just going to let the kids fight. Is that really the legacy you're looking to leave?
And do you really want an attorney to take most of that when it's all said and done right, when they're fighting and they have to get attorneys and so on and so forth. Nothing against attorneys, Carrie, By the way, I'm married to one, so I have a great appreciation for you.
You're absolutely right, somebody's going to win, and it's not going to.
Be the family. Six one two five zero four eight four zero zero is the number for Haven Financial Group. If any of this is ringing a bell to you, do you need a retirement plan? Is it time to start thinking about those golden years? And while you're doing it, how about an estate plan too, so that you don't
have to worry about that. Six one two five zero four eight four zero zero is the number you can make a call, set up a free consultation, go in and see the folks at Haven Financial Group, telling you have a lot of interest in putting together in a state plan and they'll take the steps that need to be taken to make sure that you can chat with
Carrie and her team as well. The importance of your legacy beyond finances that's what we're going to talk about when we come back right here on the Haven Financial Group Radio Show.
Don't go too far. We're gathering more important insights and retirement ways, Devin. The Haven Financial Group Radio Show will be right back. Stick around. You've got questions, We've got answers. Your tune to the Haven Financial Group Radio Show with your host Larry Kulvig and Kim Karragan. Now back to the show.
Good morning once again, and thanks for listening to the Haven Financial Group Radio Show. I'm Larry Kolvig, founder and CEO of the Haven Financial Group, and feel free to give us a call six one two five zero four eight four zero zero or Havenfinancialgroup dot com. Check out the site all kinds of tools.
And Kim, it's.
Great to have Carrie with us again because this is all the segments of our show are about a state planning the importance of and her practice and her firm do a great job. And I encourage people to come in for a consultation and just call an umb again six one two five four eight four zero zero and say I heard the show and I just want to book some time to talk these things through, you know, and it goes beyond just the legal documents, and we're
going to talk about it this segment. I love the way that Carrie and her firm put together not just the documents, but you know, I'll let Kerrie talk about you know what, what now?
What happens after it all happens? What do the kids do? You know?
What does that look like? And I'll tell you it haven here. Just this year we started giving out when that happens, what next? Kind of a what next book, and it's it's really a condensed version of what people can put all their phone numbers and account numbers and policy numbers and all their information. Because the more well documented is the easier it is for loved ones. The more prepared that you're you're going to be, the more prepared they're going to be for one.
D day comes.
And again I like what she put together because it goes what's your life story?
And I'll let her talk about that.
Sure, Kerrie tell us a little bit about how you work with clients and put together essentially their life story.
Yeah, that's an important piece. State planning should never just be about taxes and money. It should always have that personal component. I mean, this is a person. This is a life that was lived and a life that was lost, and people are mourning this person, and there's really a way that we can continue that legacy through state planning. A couple of things that I recommend people do is write a family letter that can go by different names.
Sometimes it's called an ethical will. It really doesn't have any legal standing at all, but it's your chance to share your life experiences and make sure that they remember the person that you were, not just the money that you had. What Larry mentioned is a crucial part. It's
the practical side of estate planning. We can put the legal documents in place, but if people don't know where the money is, what those account numbers are, if they don't have a phone number to call to say my mom passed away, what do I do next, they're really at a disadvantage. Incapacity planning should be a big component of any estate plan. As we live longer, there's an even higher likelihood that we're going to have some kind of cognitive impairment during our lifetimes, and we need the
legal documentation. Of course, we need powers of attorney and healthcare directives and trusts play a big role in incapacity planning, but who knows what bills to pay, who knows how to take care of the pet, and that to bring the dog to if he gets sick. Those are big parts of all of our lives that people want to be able to help us with. But they can't help us if we don't give them some instructions.
So Carrie, talk about how people go about doing that. I mean, do you set up those papers? How do we do that?
We do? I think when you're selecting an estate planning attorney, make sure that you talk about that. How is the practical side going to be addressed? How are you going to be given a chance to make this more than just about money and taxes? So we do do that for people. We help them lay out the details, locations of birth certificates and death certificates, who are their key contacts, what are the user names and passwords? So we help
them lay out all of that. We guide them through funeral planning, even if they're not pre paying for a burial or cremation, there's a lot they can do to turn a two hour meeting with a funeral director into a thirty minute meeting. Lay out your mother's maid name, and her grandmother's made name. Your kids don't know that stuff, and you know that without doing any research at all. So there's a lot we can do while we're healthy, and I dare say that that can be fun to go through some of that.
Larry, you've talked about it before here on the show, but you mentioned that it's next you guys put together. Is that part of this kind of planning.
Yeah, it's what we offer a haven for those that lose loved ones or maybe they have their financial plan or their investments or any of that stuff with us. It's just an added touch, you know, in this you know, in this segment, in this conversation, you know, I think, you know it's kind of doom and gloom, and I hope it's not supposed to be.
But what if I get hurt? What if I get an accident, what if I die?
You know, the mortality rate in the state of Minnesota, in every state, is one hundred percent.
I hate to remind people of it.
We're not getting none of us are getting out of here, but I guess it is Sunday. There is a couple exceptions, which we won't talk about on the show, but.
We're all you know, we're all going to go someday.
And I think in my late Grandma Ruth, she actually she was hilarious. She left tape cassettes, many tape cassettes, just kind of chronologically over her life from getting married to having kids, their first house. And you know, we can pull those tapes out still, even tape cassettes if we can find something to play it with and listen to Grandma still talk and her voice. And you know those added touches, you know, those are those leave a legacy,
those leave the memories. And if you know, for many of our clients and other listeners, if family is important, you know, we do this as much for ourself and maybe for our spouses if we're married, but also for our kids and great grand grandkids and grant all the great grand kids, et cetera. So if all this stuff is important, yeah, nothing's free, but what you get really really matters. And if the legacy, it goes a long way. So I can't encourage it enough.
Right, So, Carrie, as we get ready to wrap the show up here today, I want to talk to you about something that we didn't talk about right off the top. Really, but this is the tough part. This is the reality. If people are listening right now, and maybe it's that person that Larry mentioned earlier, Yep, I'm going to get to that. Yep. I'm going to get that taken care of, and then some unforeseen thing happens. What happens to families when there is no will, no trust, there's no planning.
What's you know, what is really the scenario that happens?
Everybody wants to know how does this play out? When I actually die? How is this going to play out? And when there's a will or a trust I can tell them almost play by play, how it's going to play out. When there isn't, there's a lot of unknowns. There's unknowns as to potentially who's going to get what. Is there a blended family scenario where we've got a split interest now between biological children and spouses. Is there somebody who's not going to be recognized by state law?
So we don't even know necessarily who's going to get what until we do some investigation. We can pretty much count on opening a probate. So we're looking at nine to twelve months in court at best. The expenses now are going to be higher than they ever would have been had somebody planned, and people will be stressed. This
isn't something that they expected. Most often they don't they're not always used to working with attorneys and certainly not having a matter before the court or having to testify, and so these are all things that add stress to a person's life that could have been avoided through planning. And if somebody does hesitate, because oftentimes people do get paralyzed over issues like I don't know who would be in charge, I don't know who would be the guardian
of my children, so they do nothing. And I tell those people that progress is always better than perfection. You don't need to have every answer to move forward. Let's start with what you know for sure, and let's get that down and we'll work through the rest gradually.
Larry, do you guys have any I know you guys have educational seminars. We talk about those each and every week, any of them.
On a state planning, we do wills, trusts and legacy planning, just like the classes we just did.
Check out our website.
Will be putting some on the calendar, probably one a quarter or something like that to be determined. But that also with maximized social security and taxes, Medicare made simple classes all these retirement puzzle pieces of state planning being part of it. I mentioned earlier that it is tax time. You know, Lance is our CPA. If you're not getting the attention, set it time to come in, if you're charged, getting charged too much, if you're not getting tax planning.
We're very big into the planning process, especially as we prepare for retirement. If you're going to retire this year, or maybe lost a job, what are you going to do for healthcare? If you need to look at Medicare, you should look at that at least maybe this is the year, at least three months prior. Glennon Isabella do a great job, and we have access to all the companies.
If you haven't looked at long term care and nursing home, if you hadn't had a life insurance review, or maybe life insurance is a way to offset US state taxes. As we talked about today, we try to make all these hirement puzzle pieces as simple as possible, not that they're simple by nature, but through education we can simplify it, make it easy and at HAY and that's where we're very proud to help lots of people out on an ongoing basis throughout the year.
Havenfinancialgroup dot com. That is the website that's where you go. And these educational classes that Larry is talking about, they're free, they're open to anyone who would like to attend. They just need to have a sense of how many people will be there and they do fill up very quickly. So it's Hanfinancialgroup dot com. If you'd like to attend one of these educational classes to learn more about not just the state planning, but more about retirement planning as
a whole, be sure you check it out. And if you've heard something today that rings true with you and you have more questions and you'd like to meet the folks at Haven Financial Group, that number is six one two five zero four eight four zero zero. Carrie, it's been great to have you. Thank you so much for being a part of the show information.
Thank you, Kim. It's a pleasure to be here. And I just like to reiterate that Haven always does these consultations for free and there's never an obligation or an expectation to do anything. So anybody who has additional questions, I'd be happy to meet with, or we've got a whole team of attorneys who can do the same.
Kim, great to be with you as always, look forward to next week, have a blessed week.
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