Dear Dave,
I’m 26, so I haven’t had time to accumulate a lot of money yet through my career. I do have a good, full-time job, though, and have started saving money. Do I need a will or trust when I’m so young and have so little in terms of assets?
Alisha
Dear Alisha,
I love the fact that you’re already thinking about things like this. You’re a wise young lady.
Considering that you’re young and just starting out, you don’t need anything complicated in place. Trusts tend to be geared toward people with complex estates, so it doesn’t sound like that’s something you need to worry about. But you do need a simple, inexpensive will.
You didn’t give many details, so let’s say you have a car, along with the money in the bank you mentioned, plus a few belongings. With a basic will, it’ll be no problem to work through your estate and follow your directives if something unfortunate should happen. Here’s something else to think about, too. Another important document you’ll want in your will package is a healthcare power of attorney directive. This includes things like who’s going to make medical decisions for you if you’re unable to make them yourself. As a part of this, you’d also want to fill out the paperwork on whether to disconnect life support systems in the event you’re in a coma.
All this stuff’s a real wake-up call, right? I know these kinds of things aren’t fun to think about—especially at your age. But thinking about them, and doing something about them, is the right thing to do. It’s the smart thing to do. Plus, it will take a huge burden off your loved ones. And all this becomes even more important if you have children, because the state will step in and decide what happens to them if you don’t.
Having these things laid out ahead of time, and sharing them with your family and close friends, would be a very thoughtful and mature thing to do, Alisha. Think about it. They’re already going to be grieving and distraught if something happens to you. You don’t want to make things harder by leaving a lot of important and difficult decisions for them to make in the middle of it all.
— Dave
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