A lot of people ask me what the difference is between using us or an internet company to do their estate planning. My answer is that I make a lot of money fixing the mistakes made on those sites, as you really won't know the plan isn't quite right until it's too late. You can do quite a bit of research on the internet, but that research can't match the knowledge that an experienced attorney has.
My award for the "close, but not close enough" research this week goes to NBC News anchor Ann Curry, who gave the commencement address to this year's graduating class at Wheaton College in Massachusetts. She began the address by congratulating them on some of their famous alumni, including evangelist Billy Graham, horror movie king Wes Craven and 9/11 hero Todd Beamer. The problem is that they're distinguished alumni of the other Wheaton College, in Illinois. D'oh! That might explain the quizzical looks she got. She did at least get 60 Minutes host Lesley Stahl right. If Curry didn't do the research herself, I hope she fired the person who did. Apparently the Massachusetts Wheaton has some other notable alumni too, like Oscar nominee Catherine Keener and former New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman.
As a graduate of the Illinois Wheaton College, and as one who followed in Wes Craven's footsteps as the editor of the college's newspaper, I think our alumni beat their alumni. In fact, I support fellow alum Dave Vanderveen (of XS energy drink fame) in his efforts to promote a Wheaton vs. Wheaton Alumni Battle.
To bring it back to estate planning, though, Ann Curry thought she was prepared for the speech, and she did indeed have some background facts on famous Wheaton alumni, but she was still wrong and didn't discover it until it was too late, and the "mortified" Curry had to issue an apology. Having a good team behind you, whether in research or estate planning ensures no "oops" moments.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Why is a trust worth $5,000?
Our estate planning at Jan Copley and Russakow Ryan Johnson tends to cost a bit more than other firms in the area, so we're sometimes asked why it costs what it does. An illustration may help.
Think of your valuables, scattered around your house. Your jewelry is in your jewelry box, your watch on the dresser, your cash in the nightstand drawer, your stock certificates in a file somewhere in your desk, and the deeds to those rental properties you have are in that pile in the closet, you think....
Now imagine there was a document that represented your hopes and dreams for your children, your grandchildren, your favorite causes. That's lying around somewhere too.
How can you protect all of that? What do you need?
You need a safe.
And what strategy will you use in buying that safe? "I want the simplest safe I can find. I think I'll go to the toy store and buy one of those child's safes?" No, even though they may be labeled "Fort Knox."
How about, "I think I'll buy the cheapest, flimsiest safe I can find--something someone can break into easily, something that will burn nicely in a fire; something that anyone could carry out the front door!"
To protect everything you have accumulated over a lifetime of hard work? You want something strong, secure.
That's why a well-made trust is a bargain at $5,000. It protects everything you have--now and into the next generation.
One more comparison--the average price of a new car in the United States is $24,764. A very conservative estimate of the cost to insure that car would be $85 a month, or slightly over a thousand dollars a year. That's four percent of the value of the car, but you pay it every year!
Let's say you have a net worth of $1,000,000--not very large if you own a home in California. A $5,000 trust represents one-half of one percent! And that's paid once, not every year like the four percent you're paying for your car insurance. So why would you pay that kind of money to insure your car, but not to protect everything you own and value?
Probably because you have to have that car insurance, but you don't have to have a trust, right?
And that's true, you don't have to. But being a grown-up means you don't do things just because you have to. You do them because they are prudent, wise and smart.
That's what makes a trust worth $5,000.
Note: the author, Chris Johnson, also keeps a large and difficult-to-move safe for his items, in addition to his trust.
Think of your valuables, scattered around your house. Your jewelry is in your jewelry box, your watch on the dresser, your cash in the nightstand drawer, your stock certificates in a file somewhere in your desk, and the deeds to those rental properties you have are in that pile in the closet, you think....
Now imagine there was a document that represented your hopes and dreams for your children, your grandchildren, your favorite causes. That's lying around somewhere too.
How can you protect all of that? What do you need?
You need a safe.
And what strategy will you use in buying that safe? "I want the simplest safe I can find. I think I'll go to the toy store and buy one of those child's safes?" No, even though they may be labeled "Fort Knox."
How about, "I think I'll buy the cheapest, flimsiest safe I can find--something someone can break into easily, something that will burn nicely in a fire; something that anyone could carry out the front door!"
To protect everything you have accumulated over a lifetime of hard work? You want something strong, secure.
That's why a well-made trust is a bargain at $5,000. It protects everything you have--now and into the next generation.
One more comparison--the average price of a new car in the United States is $24,764. A very conservative estimate of the cost to insure that car would be $85 a month, or slightly over a thousand dollars a year. That's four percent of the value of the car, but you pay it every year!
Let's say you have a net worth of $1,000,000--not very large if you own a home in California. A $5,000 trust represents one-half of one percent! And that's paid once, not every year like the four percent you're paying for your car insurance. So why would you pay that kind of money to insure your car, but not to protect everything you own and value?
Probably because you have to have that car insurance, but you don't have to have a trust, right?
And that's true, you don't have to. But being a grown-up means you don't do things just because you have to. You do them because they are prudent, wise and smart.
That's what makes a trust worth $5,000.
Note: the author, Chris Johnson, also keeps a large and difficult-to-move safe for his items, in addition to his trust.
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