While the management of your finances is a personal and highly individualized area, it is equally important to recognize the benefits of recruiting a balanced team of individuals, including both financial professionals and loved ones, to support you in the ongoing and ever-changing dynamics of your finances. This is even more crucial as your wealth increases and your financial position potentially becomes more complex.
Assembling your Circle
Let’s start with the key relationships in your personal life. You should aim to choose a small group of primary confidantes – essentially, those friends or family members whom you trust to share your most personal details, including details of your assets, and wishes regarding your childrens’ and dependents’ future. Remember that it is crucial to continuously update this circle to reflect your changing circumstances so that they can follow your wishes precisely and act accordingly. You may also choose to appoint a secondary group who are privy to some, but not all, of your information.
Choosing the Professionals
Naturally, you will also benefit greatly from the expertise of certain professionals to manage your finances in the most efficient way. Your financial advisor should act as the manager or co-ordinator of this group and should also support you in choosing which of the roles below may or may not benefit you, depending on your circumstances.
Tax professional: These experts will support you to realize your financial and investment goals in the most tax-efficient manner possible, as well as advising and supporting you on legal compliance from a tax perspective.
Trustee: You can choose either a family member, a close friend, or a corporate trustee for this purpose, though many prefer the latter as they are generally more well-versed in the complexities of managing a trust.
Estate Attorney: The expertise of an estate attorney can be very useful for those with more complicated family situations and can also support with the drafting of a will.
Appointed or Legal Guardian(s) of Children: If you have minor children, you will want to carefully consider who is best placed to care for them in the event that you are unable to and a robust will is also crucial to protect their interests. Decisions regarding guardianship should be made clear to ensure that your wishes are carried out to the letter.
Spouse: In most cases, your spouse will be closely involved in and knowledgeable about your financial plan in conjunction with your financial advisor, though your own family situation may mean that this is not the case.
Parents: You parents can be involved in your team to a greater or lesser extent, depending upon your circumstances. One of the more usual aspects of their involvement is as potential guardians to minor children or as a source of inheritance. You may also need to consider financial support for their long-term future care.
Siblings: In a similar way to parents, siblings could be potential guardians for your children or provide joint financial responsibility for aging parents and / or situations regarding inheritance.
Additional Beneficiaries: There may be other parties that need to be involved in your financial planning depending upon your circumstances, including children or grandchildren. They may either be named in documents that involve them such as trusts or wills, or otherwise will have met the criteria to make them eligible.
Please contact us to help put together your financial team.