The one thing your children don’t want to inherit.
A financial mess! Also lots of ‘things’ that need sorting through and either selling, donating to charity or throwing out but that’s a topic for another day.
Too often I hear people say, I will leave that for my children to deal with when I am gone.
Do you have a valid Will and is it up to date? When did you last review it? Who are the beneficiaries of your estate? Who are you leaving your superannuation to?
Is a funeral bond a good idea? If you are eligible for Centrelink, it may be a good strategy for reducing your assessable assets as currently you can put up to $15,000 into a funeral bond and Centrelink will not assess this as an asset. What I like about a funeral bond is the funds are paid out quickly and you don’t have to wait until the estate is settled to refund the funeral costs. Someone has to pay for your funeral and they probably want to be reimbursed in a timely matter, as funerals can easily cost $20,000 these days.
You may have inherited or purchased shares over many years with varying cost bases that will be a big job to sort through. I recently spent considerable time organising some client’s shares that they had purchased over many years in slightly different names including middle names etc. They didn’t want to leave the mess for their children one day to deal with.
Should you be selling some of your assets now, it’s important to know the CGT implications as it may be better for you to sell than for your children to sell them potentially being on a higher tax bracket to you. Restructuring your assets may be a consideration. Understanding what is and isn’t an estate asset is also important.
Investment properties, are you hanging on to them and what are the CGT implications of selling them?
Another thing is to understand the taxable portion of your superannuation or pension. Your children or estate will likely have to pay tax on your superannuation, so your beneficiaries may not be receiving as much as you think.
That’s why it’s so important to speak with a financial adviser who can assist you along with your accountant to understand the CGT implications of disposing of assets and the timing of doing so. Don’t leave it until it is too late.
One of my strengths as an financial adviser is organisation and it’s something I really enjoy.
Don’t bury your head in the sand, I can help you.
Disclosure: I can refer you to a Solicitor for the preparations of Wills/POA’s and other Estate Planning matters.
General Advice Warning: The information in this post has been prepared for general information purposes only and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not intended to provide commercial, financial, investment, accounting, tax or legal advice. You should, before you make any decision regarding any information, strategies, or products mentioned on this post, consult a professional financial advisor like myself to consider whether it is suitable and appropriate for you and your personal needs and circumstances