When you look into estate planning, one thing that you’ll find is that most people haven’t done it. The majority of Americans don’t have an estate plan, and many people will pass away without ever writing one.
There are a variety of reasons why this happens. However, in one study, 40% of people said they “hadn’t gotten around to it” yet. In other words, they knew that they needed a plan, but they were just procrastinating it or putting it off until they were older. Maybe they felt like it would make more sense when they were closer to the end of their life or after they had acquired more financial assets. Is this a good idea?
You can update your estate plan
With excuses like these, it’s important to note that an estate plan can be updated. Someone could write a plan today and then make significant changes over the years if they acquire more assets or if life changes – they get married or divorced, they have children or grandchildren, they get diagnosed with a serious disease, etc.
As such, there’s no reason to risk it by putting off estate planning. When people pass away without an estate plan, it can cause significant problems for their family members. Many people procrastinate because they believe they know roughly how long they have left. Life expectancy in the United States is in the mid-70s, for example, so they may think that they have 10 or 20 more years. But people pass away unexpectedly every day, so it’s often better to create a plan early and then just update it as necessary.
Getting started
If you haven’t started with your estate planning yet and you’re interested in doing so, take the time to carefully look into all of your legal options.
