Maintain Your Lifestyle in Retirement
How to have enough money to retire – and retire well.
Leave a lasting legacy by choosing how you want to be remembered
We will recommend solutions that help maximize your estate’s value, while helping to ensure your beneficiaries will receive everything you’ve planned for them. We can help you understand how the decisions you make today impact the value of your estate.
An estate plan needs to align with your whole financial picture so that your assets aren’t distributed in a manner you didn’t anticipate when you pass away.
Estate planning is the process by which an individual plans to pass on his or her wealth, including investments and life insurance, upon death to a chosen person(s), with the goal of:
It is usually recommended that you start the process by taking an inventory of your assets so that you have a clear picture of what may be in your estate. You should also work with a financial advisor so that they can help you project what the after-tax value of your estate may be.
If you don’t have a will when you pass away, you are considered to have died “intestate”, and your assets will end up being distributed according to the “intestacy” rules of your province, which may or may not be consistent with your wishes.
For example, in some provinces a common-law partner will inherit in the same manner as a married spouse, while in other provinces they will receive nothing upon an intestacy.
Some people might choose to protect their estate by purchasing a permanent life insurance policy to help offset the cost of income taxes on their estate after they pass away. Others might transfer their assets tax-free to their spouse/partner.
While those are just a few examples, there are strategies that can help you reduce or avoid the tax burden on your estate after you pass away, and an IG Wealth Management advisor can help you figure out which ones makes sense for your situation.
Your estate plan should always be reviewed after any major life event – such as a birth, death or divorce – to ensure it reflects your new reality, and then make adjustments to it as necessary.
If you don't have a customized estate plan that aligns with your whole financial picture, your assets may be distributed in a manner you didn't anticipate.
Your estate plan will encompass more than just your will – it could include a review of your beneficiary designations, joint ownership arrangements and powers of attorney.
You can nominate someone to act as guardian for your children by specifying your preference in your will, although your choice of guardian must be approved by a court (in the event you were to pass away).
To assist your loved ones in the event you pass away, you should include these items in your list of personal records:
You can also download a PDF copy of our Personal Records Organizer and print it off to help organize information about your personal and financial affairs. It will be extremely valuable to your family and estate administrators in the event you were to pass away.
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