Whisper About Wealth

This holiday season, many of you will gather with loved ones across generations.

We’re in the midst of the greatest generational wealth transfer in history. It’s a theme that’s coming up over and over again with clients.

The younger ones are wondering how their parents’ wealth (or lack thereof) should impact their own long-term planning. Parents want to help their grown kids and grandkids, but face uncertainty about their own needs and longevity. ?

How much should they give, for what, when, and how? These are tricky conversations, but this might be the perfect time to have them.

Estate planning

We dubbed the “Three Levels of Estate Planning” along a spectrum of goals:

1)????? I want my intentions carried out: Get a will.

2)????? I want to avoid probate: Designate beneficiaries and/or set up revocable trusts

3)????? I want to minimize estate taxes: Identify excess wealth and set up irrevocable trusts

You probably won’t want to dive too deep into these topics over holiday dinner, but perhaps some whispers are in order.

You might casually ask your sister “Hey, we’re working on our will and would like to designate you as the guardian of our kids if something were to happen to us”.

Parents of grown children might mention that the new grandchild will have some help with college tuition. Or, they’ll encourage their son to take the more purposeful but lower paying job offer, because they’ll have some money coming down the pike soon. ?

You’ll probably want to save the meat of these topics for conversations with your wealth advisor and estate planning attorney. But we encourage you to work through the discomfort inherent in these topics of wealth and mortality.

Sharing values and resources

One way to approach conversations about wealth with family is by identifying shared values. What do we all care about?

It may be that parents can age in place somewhere close to their grandchildren. Or that young kids will have a chance to graduate from college with no debt. Or that everyone will have a home to gather in for the holidays for decades to come. Or that the family business should stay in the family. Or that we should do more to support charities.

Whatever it is, the holidays are a wonderful time to count our blessings.? We recognize that if there is wealth to pass on to the next generation, we are in a fortunate family and should treat the transfer of that wealth with the reverence and intentionality that it deserves.

This was prepared by Target Rock Wealth Management, LLC (Target Rock). a federally registered investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training.

All opinions and estimates constitute the firm’s judgment as of the date of this report and are subject to change without notice. This is provided to investment advisory services clients of Target Rock. It is not intended as an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any security. Investing may involve risk including loss of principal. Investment returns, particularly over shorter time periods are highly dependent on trends in the various investment markets. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

The information herein was obtained from various sources. Target Rock does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information provided by third parties. The information given is as of the date indicated and believed to be reliable. Target Rock assumes no obligation to update this information, or to advise on further developments relating to it.

The views expressed within are for commentary purposes only and do not take into account any individual personal, financial, legal, or tax considerations. As such, the information contained herein is not intended to be personal legal, investment, or tax advice. We recommend you speak with your CPA or tax professional.