What Legacy are you Leaving?

As another year and now another decade draws to a close we thought it might be a good time to take a moment and reflect. To take stock of what has happened over the past 10 years and to think forward - to what we are creating and why.

We don’t like to think of dying but it is going to happen to all of us one day. So, when our time does come what is the legacy we are going to leave?

We can look at a legacy in terms of ‘something that is part of you, the history that will remain once you have left this earth’ and also in a material sense as ‘the money or property that you leave behind when you die’.

There are a number of factors that will impact the legacy you are creating including how you spend your retirement and things such as how you made a contribution during your career, with family and friends and just in how you lived your life in general.

Yes, this is a long topic for contemplation and maybe too in depth to cover off here. However, what we can look at – which is a touch easier – is the financial part of the legacy equation and the assets that you leave behind.

After you have spent a lifetime of work accruing your assets, you owe it to yourself to make sure that when they pass to the next generation you are doing it in a way that won’t deplete all that hard work you have done and also to make sure that your assets go to the people that you want them to go to.

Estate planning is an area that we feel is as important as any other aspect of our role here at Schuh Group.

We encourage all of our clients no matter what age to have current wills and enduring powers of attorney in place and we work with them to ensure that the contents of their will reflect what they wish to occur in the event of something happening.

You will remember we sent a piece discussing Wills earlier in the year and you can read it here

Outside of establishing your Will, the other area that we work with our clients on is how their Estate passes to the next generation. Depending on how your assets are structured there can be tax implications that can greatly reduce the overall value of the legacy that you leave behind. It is important to start looking at this pre-retirement so that you can put the best strategies in place to reduce any tax liability that may occur when your estate is distributed.

If you would like to discuss your current Will, Estate or any Retirement planning we are only an email or phone call away.