Tag Archives: Estate Planning

Turning Positive Thoughts into Sticky Sound Bites

sticky sound bites

One of the most fascinating analogies I read in the past few years that truly helped me to understand the importance of something is that sleep is like a dishwasher cycle in our brain. The Dishwasher Cycle If we interrupt it or cut it short or stop and start it, we can end up with…

The Terror of Inheriting a Mess Part 3: Your Scary Stories Continued

Mature woman frustrated

After sharing Part 1 and Part 2 of the Inheriting a Mess and scary stories series, and since I keep receiving comments, emails, and shared stories from readers and other women I have talked with recently, I thought it only fitting to finish with one more blog on the scariest day of the year (Happy Halloween!). I hope that…

The Terror of Inheriting a Mess: Part 1

Mature woman reading paper

What do you do when you inherit a mess? Where do you start? How do you move forward? Part of one woman’s solution, Heather Parker, was to become an estate planning attorney to help others avoid the same mess she experienced in her family. Most of us can’t choose that response but let’s take a…

Avoid These 3 Common Estate Planning Mistakes

estate planning

We humans have an understandable tendency to take action on things that are important to us in the moment. And until we have something happen in our lives that remind us that our risk of mortality is 100%, we often leave the “when I’m gone” wishes on the back burner. This is why 60% of…

10 Things to Consider if You Need a Revocable Trust

Revocable Trust

In October, National Estate Planning Awareness Month, I spoke with an estate planning attorney, Amanda Pyper Ruiz at Same Day Wills, who shared some great tips and things to think about when considering the will vs trust question or updating a trust. With her permission, I am including her helpful information below.  You may find…

Is Your “Who Get’s What” In Writing?

Who gets what

Have you ever had a goal you couldn’t seem to get accomplished but then when there was a special event added to the calendar, it somehow got done? Losing weight before a wedding, completing a home project before company comes to stay, or finishing a gift before the birthday/holiday, for example? There is something about…

The Month to Focus on Your Estate Planning

Estate planning awareness month

Common Beliefs Have you ever found yourself or heard someone else saying: “I’m too young to do estate planning.” “All my property is titled in joint tenancy with my spouse so I don’t need any estate planning documents.” “Estate planning is only for the super-rich.” “Estate planning is too complicated and expensive.” “We did our…

Can You Relate to These Common Estate Planning Mistakes?

estate planning mistakes

When you stop and think about it, choosing to do nothing in advance about something negative that is guaranteed to happen seems illogical, doesn’t it? And yet, human nature is that we avoid thinking about negative things, which is why the majority of Americans still die without having estate planning documents in place, for example….

Have You Told Your Assets Where to Go?

begin with the end in mind

Best Seller Advice Begin with the end in mind. “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey was written over 15 years ago but is still a best seller for good reason. His timeless advice is applicable across many aspects of our lives, business or personal. One of his recommended seven habits is…

It Happens to All of Us, But Most of Us Don’t Plan For It

couple at laptop

What are the odds of getting hit by a bus? 1 in 495,000. Not happening to me, right? But what are the odds that you’re going to die someday? Exactly. Yet only 40% of us put any documents in place about what we want to happen when we die. I always say this topic is…