If I Told You Once, I Told You A Thousand Times

Written by Mary Grace Musuneggi, CLU, ChFC, CFS, RFC

When I was a little girl and I didn’t do what I was told, prior to some certain grounding or other punishment, my mother would remind me of my error and emphasize the importance of it by saying, “So, if I told you once, I told you a thousand times”.

Clearly this was to plant in my mind that not only was she serious, but the situation was serious. Over the years, at The Musuneggi Financial Group, we have stressed the importance of Estate Planning. And when it really comes home to roost is when we see clients and families suffer from the effects of not doing it.

I am pretty sure I have never said, “So, if I told you once, I told you a thousand times”, but I am sure I have given you my “will” lecture, my “we must have a Financial Power of Attorney for you” spiel, or my “let’s talk about Long Term Care and final expenses” presentation.

Our job is to be sure that when situations arise, we can be there to help. Without the right documents we cannot do that. Still today, married couples, parents, business owners somehow believe that they can handle affairs for their partners, spouses, or children without any special documents, just because they are their partners, spouses, or children. NOT! And certainly not in Pennsylvania.

And when client stress over the cost of doing a will or other documents, we remind them of the thousands and thousands of dollars we see families and small business owners spend when someone dies with nothing in place. When someone becomes disabled without a Power of Attorney in place. We see serious mistakes that are made that cost time and money far beyond the cost of planning:

• Minors as beneficiaries
• Joint accounts that were supposed to go into the estate to pay bills
• Accounts that go into an estate that could have passed easily to children
• Excessive/unnecessary taxes that were paid because of wrong titling of assets
• Multiple Executors where one would have been fine
• One Executor where more than one should have been in place
• One child receiving all assets with the instructions to share with other children incurring numerous expenses
• Beneficiaries that are outdated with ex-spouses or not mentioning new children and grandchildren
• Businesses without a succession plan

Let us help! Let’s review your Estate Planning, your beneficiaries and your plans for Elder Care. Reach out to Danielle or use our Calendly to set a time for us to review your planning. Be sure to send us your most recent Financial Power of Attorney to keep on file. Contact your attorney to be sure your documents are up to date or contact us so we can refer you to someone that can put these in place.

The most important thing we need to do for you is to be there when you have an emergency and need help. Be sure we can do that by having the right documents in place.

Because, If I told you once, I told you a thousand times.