This note is intended for the older set here, that includes Saul, I’m not sure who else, but anyone who is already retired and investing not only for themselves but for the family who will likely out live them.
I recently attended a presentation held by an attorney from the office where I have my will, trust and other estate planning documents drawn. I assume that most of you also have an estate plan (if not, let me recommend you sit down with an attorney immediately).
I have some unique situations: the majority of my liquid assets are held in a Roth IRA. My house and virtually everything else of value is held in a revocable trust. My wife is not a US citizen. My daughter (my only other beneficiary) has recently married. I met her husband briefly and he seems like a good, responsible guy, but honestly, I don’t know a lot about him.
I expect my wife (nine years younger than I) to outlive me and obviously, my daughter as well. At the highest level, I wish to make sure that should I die suddenly, my wife will not have difficulties. This is not as simple as it sounds. Chinese is her native tongue. She is not able to guide the investments she will depend on for living expenses. As a recent resident, she does not have much of a community in the US.
My daughter has substantial student debt (MFA at Columbia Univ). I co-signed her loans and assured she had nothing to worry about when it came to paying them off. I have a portfolio set-up specifically for this purpose. At present there is a substantial excess above her debt level in this account. My daughter has repeatedly shown that she is incapable of managing large amounts of money or attend to investments.
So, here’s the rub: how to establish management of the investments after I’m gone? I cringe at the notion of some trust management officer, in full compliance with his fiduciary responsibility liquidating all my investments in order to redeploy the assets in some very conservative mutual funds. But then I try to guess at the alternatives and none of them look very good. My estate planning attorney said I should provide an instruction letter for the trustee. OK, great. What’s that going to say? Invest in aggressive growth stocks? You can see why that’s not good advice, even though that’s mostly what I do. It’s just not any old aggressive growth company, it’s certain ones.
Without belaboring this further, I assume you understand the general situation despite my special wrinkles. How have you dealt with these issues? If not, when are you going to consider your own mortality and what are you going to do about it for your surviving loved ones?