This is a story about a very successful and astute businessman. This man owned a number of successful businesses in a range of industries over a number of years. This man never worked for anybody else. He was a family man, a man who prided himself on being able to provide for his family. He always said to his wife “you look after the family; I’ll look after the money”.
As clever and successful as this man was, there was one thing he could not do and that was predict the future.
This man was my Grandfather. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in his early 70s.
I could write for days on the impact that this has had on my family. But I would rather stress the importance of estate planning to you all.
Whilst we had a Will and a Power of Attorney, the family had never thought about what to do with money, because he always looked after the money. How would the money continue to come in?
The implications of him not being able to control the money became very difficult for the family, things such as whose names the properties were in had an impact on a number of things which have caused a lot of headaches.
Having this happen so close to home means that I now think of things, particularly estate planning, in a different light. So, my questions to you are:
- What would happen to your family if something unforeseen happened and you were no longer here?
- How would your business fare if you were unable to continue to run its operations?
Sometimes it isn’t practical to take care of everything yourself. You need to delegate, you need to inform your loved ones of your financial affairs, as it does involve them too, especially if something were to happen to you.
Most importantly, it is imperative to seek advice from the professionals. You need to know that should anything happen to you, your loved ones will be taken care of and that your business will continue to run. We have several professionals in our office that can look at your current situation and work with you in planning for your future, your family’s future and the future of your business.