Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 8

w w w.BERKSBAR.org

Estate Planning
for Retirement

By William R. Blumer, Esquire

I

f you are the executive director of a bar association and you
are approaching retirement, it is natural to think about your
estate planning. If you can influence the articles that appear
in the association's quarterly magazine, you might conclude
someone should write an article about estate planning for
retirement. What an excellent way to get some free advice. And
so with a tip of the hat to our departing executive director and his
apparent unwillingness to pay me for an office consultation, I offer
the following thoughts.
Retirement is the anteroom of death. As we all know, estate
planning is about planning for the orderly transfer of assets at
death. For many, estate planning is synonymous with signing
documents like wills, trusts and powers of attorney. For them it is
a one-step drafting exercise. In fact, however, it is quite different
and retirement simply marks another step in what should be a
lifelong process of reflection and implementation.
To be sure, those entering retirement should examine their
wills, powers of attorney and other documents. These documents
should reflect one's current wishes and should name people as
agents and executors who are able to discharge their fiduciary
duties responsibly. In some cases, dispositive provisions for
spouses and children should be revised. Powers of attorney likely
need to be updated to include broad gifting and estate planning
powers that allow agents to continue the planning process when
the principal loses capacity.
8 | Berks Barrister

Retirees also need to make sure beneficiary designations on
retirement accounts like IRAs, profit sharing plans, 401(k)s and
the generous 403(b) plans of bar associations are up to date. Too
often people fail to designate successor beneficiaries. Sometimes
they direct retirement accounts to their estates or trusts not
drafted to accept retirement benefits in a tax efficient manner.
Retirement savings comes with complex income tax rules. Your
planning must consider those rules.
But surely these observations are obvious to the learned
audience of this publication. Where I find some practitioners
lacking is in their appreciation for the single biggest threat
to anyone's estate plan - the need for long-term care. The
astronomically high cost of this care, coupled with an almost
universal desire to put off thinking about long-term care, creates
a perfect opportunity for most people to squander much of their
savings and die in a manner they find distasteful.
Consequently, one question in retirement should be, "Have
I saved so much money that I can afford to transfer some of my
savings before it's consumed paying for long-term care?" Perhaps
so. However, we live in a country where those
with money have more and better
choices than those without.
So be careful about
limiting your buying
power in an effort


http://www.berksbar.org

Berks Barrister Fall 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Berks Barrister Fall 2018

Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 1
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 2
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 3
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 4
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 5
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 6
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 7
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 8
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 9
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 10
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 11
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 12
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 13
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 14
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 15
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 16
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 17
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 18
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 19
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 20
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 21
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 22
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 23
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 24
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 25
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 26
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 27
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 28
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 29
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 30
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 31
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 32
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 33
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 34
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 35
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 36
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 37
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 38
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 39
Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 40
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksCountyBar/BerksBarrister_Fall2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksCountyBar/BerksBarrister_Summer2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksCountyBar/BerksBarrister_Spring2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksCountyBar/BerksBarrister_Winter2020-21
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksCountyBar/BerksBarrister_Fall2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksCountyBar/BerksBarrister_Summerr2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksCountyBar/BerksBarrister_Fall2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksCountyBar/Berksbarrister_Spring2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksCountyBar/Berksbarrister_Winter2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksCountyBar/BerksBarristerFall2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksCountyBar/BerksBarrister-Summer2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksCountyBar/BerksBarristerSpring2017
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com