Protecting Your Loved Ones in Uncertain Times

Protecting Your Loved Ones in Uncertain Times

Over the last few weeks, I have been getting a lot of emails about a part of my practice that I don’t write about much on this blog. At The Brand Protected®, our mission is to help entrepreneurs and business owners protect themselves and their businesses. Very often, this protection takes the form of legally safeguarding intellectual property. However, there is another, absolutely essential part of our mission: protecting your family.

I Try to Steer Clear of Scare Tactics

 

One of the reasons I try not to write too much about estate planning on this blog is that I don’t want to stir up fear and anxiety. Estate planning is a strange practice: absolutely everyone needs it, but it can be very difficult to talk about without resorting to scare tactics. However, now, in this moment, it is important that you have all the facts about estate planning at your fingertips. I want you to know what a comprehensive estate plan can do for you, and I want you to understand what could happen if you don’t have one in place. So, let’s approach this conversation from a place of empowerment — with the knowledge to make a decision to plan for your family.

Uncertain Times Call for Protective Measures

 

We are in a whole new world. At this moment, it’s not fear mongering to say things can change in an instant. It’s not overly dramatic to say we just don’t know what lies ahead over the next few weeks and months. If you get sick, you shouldn’t have to worry about making plans. I’m still not saying it’s time to panic. I’m just saying it’s time to plan. Creating a plan is like weaving a safety net. You don’t want to be doing it when your hands are shaking and something truly scary is looming. You want to weave that safety net now, in moments of relative calm, so if the worst comes, you can focus on getting well, not worrying about “what if.”

If (and I desperately hope this doesn’t happen) you get sick, the last thing in the world that you should be worried about is who will care for your children, who will pay your mortgage, what will happen to your business, how medical decisions will be made. You should know. To this day, 80% of Americans don’t have any kind of advance planning in place. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy or elaborate, but it does have to directly address your family’s needs and it has to work.

Think About What You Would Write in a Hurried Email to a Trusted Family Member

 

The main purpose of this blog post is to let you, readers of this blog, know that I am here for you. Right now is a scary time, but that doesn’t mean we need to be scared. It does, however, require us to think, to plan, to imagine the future.

Imagine what you would write in a hurried email to a loved one if you weren’t sure what tomorrow would bring. Would you ask them to come pick up your kids? Would you give the usernames and passwords to your financial accounts? Would you want to share some profound wisdom about life, or love, or what kind of people you hope your children become? Think about what you would include. Maybe even jot it down. There. You have your first draft. Really, creating a plan can be this straightforward. 

Once you’ve got this basic outline, reach out to me. We can virtually connect and talk about what it would take to put your plan in place. Let’s weave your safety net together. Give my office a call to get started.