Death and money

Personal Finance: "You can't take it with you," but you can give it away responsibly | David Bahnsen

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Comprehensive financial planning has three steps: accumulation, preservation, and transfer of financial assets. People naturally want to make money and protect what they've accumulated. The third step makes us think about what's unpleasant to consider: death, and other people acquiring our hard-earned savings. But for a believer, estate planning is among the most significant tasks God gives us.

A transfer of what you own is successful when the people you want to receive certain assets do so in line with the conditions and stipulations you have created. So here are five sets of questions you should answer so that your wishes will be executed as smoothly as possible:

(1) Who should receive what you own? Your surviving spouse is usually a natural selection, but how do you and your spouse want to transfer funds when the second spouse passes? If you are single, or are married without children, do you want the money to go to charity? Do you want to include nieces and nephews?