A recent WSJ/Market Watch online article showed the recent results of a survey conducted by Lawyers.com.
To see the article, click here or paste this URL into your browser: http://www.lawyers.com/~/link.aspx?_id=FB4FE9A5-7469-46CC-B225-44B3BCB5A294&_z=z
The unfortunate reality is that humans are not by nature very good planners for the long term. Most tend to think that such things are good in general but too daunting to take care of given the demands of our over-crowded daily lives. And besides, nothing bad will ever happen to me, right?
It’s sad to say that more people spend more time planning a vacation than worrying about something as dry and abstract as “estate plan.”
The only time such an important topic can cut through the thought clutter is to make it real and tangible. That’s why there was a spike in calls to get life insurance after the Twin Towers fell. That’s why there was an uproar during the whole Terry Schiavo case and folks started calling lawyers to draft health care proxies.
The benefits need to be broken down so that folks can relate. For example: What would you do if your house burned down? People can relate to the pain of being without a home and the devastating impact if they had to shell out cold hard cash from their own pocket to rebuild. Or you can simply show pictures of Katrina victims.
The equivalent is needed for getting people to plan. And as professional planners it’s our job to keep people focused on getting these things done.
Regardless of the amount of your wealth, if you have someone or something you care about, you need to have a plan. Otherwise, the state will gladly impose it’s own plan on you.
So how do you feel about a foster parent for your kids or leaving your hard-earned savings to Uncle Sam?
