Vertex Capital Insights July 12, 2022

Welcome back to Vertex Insights. Today is July 12, 2022.

Did you know that a huge percentage of Americans have no estate plan?

Even though many Americans are aware that they need to have a will or a living trust, a huge percentage of Americans have nothing in place. The bad news is, even if you do not create your own estate plan, the state will create an estate plan for you.

You heard that right. The government actually has a plan for you if you don't create one for yourself. So, this is one thing that we want to encourage everyone to do as a priority in planning your financial life.

We encourage you to make sure that you get those estate planning documents in place. A few things that you should note--wills are a great starting point. But, they are not the only thing that is involved in estate planning. One thing you want to be keenly aware of is how you title accounts and how you name beneficiaries.

When you have accounts titled in a certain way, or if you have beneficiaries named on accounts, such as a 401 K or an IRA, those accounts may likely be directed by the beneficiary forms or by the titling of the account. So, just having a will is not enough. You want to have a comprehensive estate plan done. You want estate planning documents-- a will, powers of attorney, and an advanced directive. You also want to make sure your accounts are titled appropriately and your beneficiary forms or beneficiary designations are all correct.

So if you haven't done this, make this a priority for 2022. And check this off of your financial list.

Michael Baker and Ross Marynell are investment advisor representatives of Advisory Alpha LLC, an SEC registered investment advisor. All opinions expressed by Michael and Ross or their guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Advisory Alpha. This recording is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon for investment decisions. All third party ratings are date stamped at the time the rating was given ratings that are dated prior to January 1 2022 may not reflect the current offerings or services of the financial advisor and should be disregarded if found inaccurate. Amazon dot com allows the issuance of ratings in the ordinary course of business through the use of this site. No compensation was provided directly or indirectly by the advisor in connection with obtaining or using the third party rating.