An Estate Plan is Just One Part of a Financial Plan

At Dependent Financial Planning, we primarily work with families of dependent adult children. These families know they need to set up an estate plan where their child’s future government benefits will be protected. They know to establish guardianship for their minor children and special needs trust language for their child with a disability. Where applicable, a guardianship or conservatorship can be recommended for their adult children, or power of attorney documents may be established. They are advised to title beneficiaries of their investment accounts into correct titling after their lifetimes, including to individual children, family trusts, and/or special needs trusts.

A good specialized estate attorney will go further through educating their clients on local benefits, how to apply for support and services waivers, and how to ensure their child has connections for education and transition advocates. A good attorney will also clarify the differences between a family trustee and a corporate trustee and will discuss the role of a trust protector, regardless of whether a family asks for a trust protector or not.

Once the estate plan is done, some folks sit comfortable thinking their work is done. However, attorneys often don’t touch a family’s financial plan. Many estate attorneys don’t trust themselves with making investment recommendations or tax strategies. They don’t run projections to determine appropriate portfolio allocations in an investment portfolio for long-term retirement and trust funding goals. They understand how assets are protected but don’t typically advise families how to make shifts in their plan outside of titling, role assignments, and beneficiary designations.

The role of a financial planner is to coordinate a client’s full financial life. We address current and future income from employment, pensions, investments including retirement accounts, and Social Security benefits. We support tax aware savings. For younger clients, we set up savings in the right tax protected sleeve for their own personal retirement plan, as well as for each of their beneficiaries within their estate plan. For older clients, retirement cash flows are recommended from a tax aware perspective, addressing their tax goals to spend the least amount on taxes during their lifetime while also being aware of their future beneficiary’s taxation environment.

At Dependent Financial Planning, we help clients understand funding the different tools outlined in the estate plan. We help establish cash flow planning into and out of ABLE accounts and Special Needs Trusts. We help clients understand what is needed for their ideal retirement and detail what to expect with their child’s current and future lifestyle needs. We estimate what will be left to a special needs trust after the family’s end-of-life healthcare needs. We help clients determine life insurance structures that make the most sense to potentially fund the Special Needs Trust within the estate plan.

When life changes, financial planners help families understand how to adapt. This often does not include the need to visit your attorney and often does not require a change to your estate plan. It does however require a renewed look at the financial plan.

When a child can work more than a family expected, we look at savings strategies and income planning. We look to see if the benefits plan still makes sense and if the state allows benefits to continue with more significant income through a Medicaid Buy-in program.

When work for the parents changes or retirement goals shift, an estate attorney cannot give you a gut check on how long your lifestyle can continue or give an understanding of the trade-offs you are deciding between. A financial planner has the privilege to give you permission to change your plans.

A long-term relationship with an attorney is still essential during other life changes. When a new potential trustee comes of age, we want multiple voices present to help determine whether they’d be the right fit for managing future assets and distribution strategies for their family member. When a family moves, we want all estate documents updated to reflect the new state of residence. When a named individual in the plan dies, we want to make sure everything is still working as it needs to within the plan. Finally, when Medicaid laws change, we want to make sure that the plan is still working according to the current law.  

At Dependent Financial Planning, our financial advisors give advice and manage investments when desired. We partner with estate attorneys, insurance providers, other investment professionals, care managers, trustees, tax professionals, other interested parties, including other family members. We help reduce the back and forth between clients and attorneys, reducing overall costs of the estate plan, but also make sure the estate plan is implemented according to the full financial plan of the clients’ personal lifestyle and goals.

The most impactful part of working with a financial planner is not talking about cash flow and investments. Yes, our job is to help with the incremental annual financial decisions that can be made to increase the ability for you to meet your goals. The most beneficial part of working with an advisor is having a partner in thinking through those big life shifts that happen in larger increments. We serve as a partner in supporting your goals and imagining a perspective that you may not have seen for yourself or your family. We look at the realities of today and the goals you have for your life. We figure out who, what and why first. Then we talk about all the tools to get there, including estate plans, tax plans, investment and insurance plans, and cash flow plans.

With an estate plan, you have one tool. Work with a specialized advisor and get a fuller picture of how you can meet your goals and support the goals of your loved one against all the nuances of your life.

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