The majority of clients we see at our firm are not young people. Most clients are nearing retirement age and starting to seriously think about their future care and the money involved after retirement. However, to wait until this stage of life leaves you unprepared in the unlikely event something happens. Especially if you have young kids at home. Failing to plan for them could leave them at risk of being placed with unwanted guardians.
According to new research, 72% of U.S. millennials (ages 25 to 40) with wills created them or updated them in the past year.
MSN’s recent article entitled “Here's why millennials are so into end-of-life planning reports that more than two-thirds of millennials don’t have a will. While the pandemic brought greater attention to end-of-life planning among millennials, they’re still largely unprepared. According to the 1Password findings, 68% of millennials don’t have a will.
As a result, respondents say that descendants would lose access to an average of $22,500. Only 38% have clarity over who should handle their digital assets after they die. Among those who do have a will, here’s what sparked it:
With a digital transfer, the primary concern for respondents is giving their executor login credentials to banking and financial accounts (67%).
About 57% of millennial respondents say granting access to social media accounts is more important than giving access to email, subscription and e-commerce accounts.
The pandemic also provided a wake-up call for millennials and their end-of-life planning. However, there are some areas of estate planning that are uncertain. The survey finds 51% of millennials will be responsible for the execution of their parents’ wills. However, only 36% have access to their parents’ online account passwords.
While about a third (34%) of respondents said they’ve talked with their parents about their digital assets in the past year, about half (52%) have never discussed it with their parents or can’t recall the conversation.
Among those who have handled the execution of wills, 63% say it was more challenging than they anticipated to access accounts after a death.
Reference: MSN (Dec. 13, 2021) “Here's why millennials are so into end-of-life planning”
Suggested Key Terms: Estate Planning Lawyer, Wills, Intestacy, Probate Court, Inheritance, Asset Protection, Executor, Personal Representative, Digital Assets, Probate Attorney, COVID-19 (coronavirus)
