VELA Blog

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Legacy Is Yours to Lead

Traditional attitudes towards estate planning often leave individuals and families grappling with secrecy and procrastination – important but not urgent items to deal with. Afterall, who wants to dwell on their own demise or ill health?

We believe leaving legacy is positive both for those giving, and those receiving, if planned for in advance, well-communicated and executed properly.

Let’s start with some facts: the leading edge of the Baby-Boomers, the wealthiest demographic in history, starts turning 75 this year.  As they are passing on and leaving their wealth to the next generation, the largest inter-generational wealth transfer of all time is taking place.  In Canada alone, $205 million dollars moves per day from one generation to the next and it is expected to stay at this rate for the next 10 – 15 years. This is a staggering statistic, yet incredibly, nearly 50% of Canadians do not have a Will.  How are those passing on their legacies preparing themselves, and those receiving these legacies, to handle them with such a low estate planning engagement rate?

Legacies are about more than money. They are about family, values, continuity, giving and community. Rooted at the foundation of these principles is communication within a family and its stakeholders. Those leaving legacies can prepare those receiving them in advance for what is coming and why. Empowerment is key and we all have so much to give. Diminishing health is also an important consideration because those granted power of attorney need to know what assets are available to look after the grantor, as well as what their care preferences are. This is crucial to maintaining loved ones’ quality of life in their final years.

Countless individuals and families find out what is, or is not, being left to them, only once a person leaving a legacy is gone. Given the traditional attitudes to estate planning, it is little wonder that there are so many estate litigation lawyers ready to launch into battle on aggrieved beneficiaries behalves. Fighting these cases is costly, time-consuming and destructive to families and their wealth. It is also entirely unnecessary when proper planning and inter-generational communication is at the forefront of a family’s values.

How prepared are you and your family? Visit our website www.velawealth.com//willingwisdom and take the Willing Wisdom Index to find out.  Embracing the Willing Wisdom Index can help achieve a well thought out Will, confidence in granting Powers of Attorney and Health Care Directives, as well as lower legal fees.

At VELA Wealth, we believe that legacies are powerful, positive and can carry momentum intergenerationally. Preparing your heirs for a world without you is one of the greatest gifts you can give.