Sharing Your Legacy in Real Time

October 23rd, 2019 post featured image

The older we get the more planning for retirement takes centre stage, closely followed by thoughts of what our legacy will look like.

Legacy means different things to each of us. For some it’s about family traditions, or the shared love of a season or place. For others it is about monetary things like contributing to the betterment of society or family members.

For many of us, thoughts of legacies and plans for life-after-work can bring up a lot of emotions and uncertainty.

A comprehensive retirement plan lays out how our expected needs and anticipated resources will work together in our post-work life. A good plan will consider contingencies for potential scenarios that may require funds during your retirement and build in solutions. Having a detailed, flexible plan often brings comfort knowing you have thought of all aspects and have a clear picture of your financial future.

One of the great and reassuring things a financial plan allows for is ongoing review, monitoring and updating. As retirement progresses and estate planning becomes increasingly important, you have a clear picture of how the retirement savings you built up are being implemented and how they are enduring.

As many people live their retirement years, it becomes clear that the resources they saved during their working years has grown to be a large sum; perhaps one large enough that the funds will likely not be used during their lifetime.

Sometimes this realization is one you come to on your own, but more often this comes from retirement and income planning introduced by your financial advisor.

Regular reviews of your plan allow you to track and predict future spending. Once you understand how your spending impacts your retirement savings and if in fact there will be a surplus, you may be able to share some of your financial legacy during your lifetime.

Giving a financial gift during your lifetime allows you to witness the impact it has on those you choose to share with. What might sharing your resources and legacy during your lifetime look like?

For some people this may be transitioning the family cabin to the next generation so capital gains are dealt with and new traditions are able to take hold and grow with you. By transitioning ownership during retirement you are able to witness the memories from a new perspective and start to transition the maintenance and care of the cabin.

For others, it may mean sharing cash gifts, large or small, with younger generations so they are able to put it to use in their lives whether it be help towards tuition for university, a down payment on a car or home or enjoying a small luxury,  you are able to watch and enjoy the positive impact it has. Some people choose to invest in a multi-generation family vacation to build memories and share time together.

In other instances, people may choose to increase their charitable contributions to organizations they feel a connection to. This can also have a positive tax impact with added benefits.

No matter the size of your resource surplus, monitoring it and making informed choices about how to use it will bring you comfort and perhaps enable you to personally witness the impact your legacy will have on the next generation.

Connect with us to review your retirement and estate plan with one of our professional financial advisors to see how your resources and legacy can work together.