😊 RetireHub Daily: Estate Planning Essentials | 06/03/2024

It is Monday, June 3rd, 2024

Dear RetireHub Daily Readers, we hope you had a wonderful weekend. Now, let’s get back to business this Money Monday with the usual deals, tips, and trivia!

On this day in 2016, the world said goodbye to “The Greatest”, as Muhammad Ali died aged 74. Ali was named the “Sportsman of the Century” by Sports Illustrated.

Do you know who played Ali in the 2001 film about his life? Test your knowledge in our trivia at the end of this newsletter.

Deal of the Day

Gap Factory Women’s Clearance Sale: 75% Off + Extra 15% Off!

There are serious savings to be had across the women’s clothing range here. You can register as a rewards member for free to unlock free shipping.

• Shop the sale!

RETIREHUB POLL

Estate Planning Essentials

Death isn’t something we want to think about, but the truth is it never arrives at a convenient time. Planning what happens to your estate, all the things you own and owe, should be done while you’re in good health so your loved ones aren’t left to figure it out.

Here’s a quick look at the basics to get you started:

• Set up a Power of Attorney and Executor—these are the folks who will make decisions on your behalf if you can no longer make them yourself. You can assign power of attorney over your healthcare and financial decisions. This is important as deteriorating health makes it harder, or even impossible to make decisions. Decide while you’re in good health. The Executor oversees your Will and Trust. You can use the same person for all of these things, but that’s a lot of work!

• Know your assets and debts—there’s nothing else for it, you’ll have to make a list of all the good (property and items you own) and the bad (mortgages and other debts).

• Speak to your beneficiaries ahead of time—don’t make it as dramatic as the movies. Let people know what you plan to leave them so there are fewer shocks and squabbles after you’re gone.

• Hire a professional if you can—gathering all your assets and navigating debt and taxes can be complicated. An Accredited Estate Planner can take care of it all for you (though you will still have to decide who gets what and assign Power of Attorney). Use this database to search for an Accredited Estate Planner.

• Will vs Trust—the Will is what happens to your assets upon your death. A Trust on the other hand is when a person or organization is given instructions on how to manage your assets, so they can make sure specific actions happen at specific times (e.g., you want a grandchild to receive an inheritance on their 18th birthday).

Remember, this is just a brief guide, not financial advice. Speak to a financial advisor before making any decisions about estate planning.

Yesterday’s Poll Results - Do you volunteer?

 🤝 A combined 79% of RetireHub Daily readers are either currently volunteering or have in the past. 21% haven’t volunteered. We hope our volunteer ideas yesterday sparked some ideas for everyone!

Thanks to everyone who voted and commented!

Our Favorite Comments:

We love hearing and sharing comments from our polls! While we can’t publish them all, we do read and appreciate every comment.

• “I volunteer for an animal rescue. Working on fundraisers, cleaning litter boxes and cages.”

• “I volunteer twice monthly with the homeless community known as The HUB.”

• “Who knows what the future holds… We only retired 3 days ago...” Congratulations! RH.

• “[Volunteering] gives you a sense of purpose & it has its rewards, that helping others is fulfilling without expecting anything in return. Just the satisfaction that you made someone feel that there are people who are good deed-doers. The world is full of animosity if we could learn to live in unison with each other, we'd all have better lives.”

WHAT WE’RE READING

SENIOR LIVING NEWS

How to Stop Your Guest Room Becoming a Source of Clutter Creep

It’s lovely to have a guest room in your home, but it can easily turn into yet another place to store things you rarely or never use.

The problem is that most items dumped in guest bedrooms tend to take up permanent residence there, so the room is never actually available for guests.

• Read the Article

Everything You Need To Know About Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)

When you reach your 72nd birthday, you need to take money from your IRA or 401(k) accounts, known as Required Minimum Distributions.

Key Takeaways

•After retirement, you’ll eventually need to start taking money out of your traditional IRA, 401(k), and 403(b) accounts, known as Required Minimum Distributions.

•As of 2020, the age for mandatory RMDs has been increased from 70½ to the April 1st following turning 72.

•The IRS has a worksheet that will help you calculate your RMD, but it’s a simple formula.

Read the Guide

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Budgeting Tip of the Day

Create specific savings accounts for goals—you know that feeling when you’re deciding whether or not to make that impulse purchase? If you’re struggling to save for a specific goal such as a holiday, create a savings account called e.g., “Trip to Greece, 2025”. Now, every time you want to indulge, take the money you would have spent and put it in this savings account instead! The name reminds you of what you really want, helping you overcome what you want right now (this is a lot easier if you use online or mobile banking).

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY

Groom Surprises His Bride With a Penguin Ring Bearer on Their Wedding Day (WATCH)

Kerri Parry has always been penguin-obsessed, so she was over-the-moon when she first spotted the feathered bird walking in beside the best man, Daniel.

He and the groomsman had pretended the rings had been lost and ran out of the ceremony.

They returned carrying a bucket of fish with the penguin in tow, carrying the rings on a pink ribbon tied around its neck.

…Read More

Entire School Surprised with 500 Tickets to a Red Sox Game–Thanks to Food Pantry’s Continuing Generosity

Over the last five years, the Stop & Shop Food Pantry has provided $100,000 in healthy food donations to make sure students don’t come to school hungry.

They’ve hit a home run against hunger—and the Boston Red Sox have stepped up to the plate to celebrate the victory.

• …Read More

RETIREHUB TRIVIA

Apologies for the confusion over yesterday’s question about “The Great Smoky Mountains”. This range is indeed spread evenly across both Tennessee and North Carolina. Thanks to those who wrote in to let us know our mistake!

Our goal is to grow RetireHub to over 1 million members — with this, we’ll have the leverage to get even better discounts from the likes of Netflix, Amazon, and others.

To help incentivize referrals, we’re giving away 12 months of your favorite streaming service for free! Simply forward this email to a friend (and cc [email protected]) and you’ll be entered into the drawing on June 12th! (Maximum $20/month streaming service).

Each additional friend you send the email to will count as an additional entry (25 person max).