Making the unexpected, expected

You need to prepare in order to succeed in life. Having said that, many people don’t prepare. Or they don’t think about preparing until it is too late, especially as it relates to financial scenario planning for life events. Sudden events such as death, divorce, economic downturns or even a pandemic can have significant consequences on your personal, professional and financial lives.

So, what actions can you take now to ensure that you protect yourself, your family and/or your business?

First and foremost, you must start by shifting your mindset to be more proactive and less reactive. Everyone needs to prepare before it is too late. Simply put, we need to expect the unexpected.

Our Baker Tilly and Baker Tilly Wealth Management professionals recently lent their insight to create the e-book, “Making the unexpected, expected.” The e-book is an easy-to-understand guide that dives into how to plan for major life events ahead of time, and the steps you can be taking today to help both you and your loved ones tomorrow and beyond.

For a sneak peek at the contents of the e-book, read a snippet from the first section below.

Section one: The importance of preparation

A death that is unexpected – and unprepared for – can have major consequences on what happens to someone’s estate. Proper planning is often the difference between someone’s assets going to the people they love or to the government.

Estate plans are important for everyone to have (regardless of age or wealth). However, they can be more complex for people with significant affluence in the form of money, investments, businesses and other assets. The addition of valuable assets simply increases the importance of creating one’s estate plan and communicating its key details.

“Oftentimes, the spouse has no idea what the finances are, or how the bills get paid,” said Jeanette Musacchio. “They have no idea how much wealth they have, or if it’s even enough.”

Estate plans are about more than just wealth, however. They are critical in naming guardians for your children, pets and in determining who will make decisions on your behalf. Disability is another unexpected life event that can have major ripple effects on someone’s assets. As such, disability needs to be planned for similarly.

From a planning perspective, how can you and your loved ones prepare for an event like long-term disability or death? Well, you can’t plan for every possible scenario, but here are some steps you can take: 1) create a comprehensive inventory of assets that are tangible and those that are intangible, 2) spend some time thinking about your end-of-life wishes.

Download the e-book to read the rest of our steps for planning ahead for disability or death.

Interested in learning more?

Download the e-book now to read the rest of our step by step guide on how to plan ahead for any major life event that gets in your way.

What else is included within the e-book?  Our professionals provide insight on the following topics:

• Preparing a “worst case scenario playbook” 
• Prenups, postnups and making protection a priority
• Unexpected occurrences in family-owned businesses  
• Where to begin the planning process 
• And more!