EP15: Estate Planning in 2022: Is Your Family Protected? with Portia Wood

Today’s topic is something people often avoid: estate planning. 

I was recently meeting with a new client and her fiance. As I was reviewing their current planning, I discovered that they hadn’t started talking about their estate planning.

No one likes talking about what happens after they pass away. But the reality is that we all need to ensure our assets go to the right hands.

In this episode, Portia Wood gets into the nitty-gritty of the concerns and circumstances of creating wills, trust funds, and prenuptial agreements for engaged couples, Black and Latino families, the LGBTQIA community, and singles.

This is one episode you don't want to miss! Watch Her Money Story — THE SECRET SHAME OF MONEY MISTAKES with Katherine Lankford ▶️

Key points covered in this episode: 

✔️  Prenuptial agreements and trust funds are not evil. These words bring the images of a wealthy man and a gold-digging wife. Or spoiled rule-breaking brats. But these plans exist so that our wishes and loved ones are honored when the time comes.

✔️  Most African-Americans are passing on negative wealth. For Black families, generational wealth seems unattainable. Statistics have proven that each generation of African-Americans starts from zero. Portia Wood has created the Black Trust Fund Kids to normalize intergenerational wealth transfer.

✔️ No matter your background or family type, you should have these 3 things in your estate plan when you’re 18. Have a property power of attorney, healthcare directives, and a distribution plan.

✔️  There is a lack of financial literacy. Unrestricted inheritances are typically squandered in 3-5 years of receipt in Black communities. Other challenges like incarceration hinder the accumulation of wealth.

✔️  Good talent and ideas get stuck because of responsibilities and no safety net. Children with parents that utilize a trust fund are set up for success. Estate planning affords them their basic needs as they pursue their dreams.

✔️  Estate planning allows you to give your loved ones financial freedom. We would want our future children to have the ability to not have to trade their time for money.

Portia Wood of Wood Legal Group, LLP is a founding partner of an African-American mother-daughter estate planning firm focused on using all the tools at their disposal to close the information gap that keeps families from leveraging and protecting their assets to create generational wealth. They serve all families, with special attention to the unique needs of Black, Brown, and LGBTQ families.

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Felicia Gopaul, CFP, is the Premier Women's Wealth Builder dedicated to your financial success!

Ms. Gopaul is a Money Confidence Catalyst and author of an Amazon best-selling books "Preparing for the Five Ds: Divorce, Disability, Downsizing, Disasters, and Death" and "Local Business Mavericks - Volume 20: Insights & Innovation From Top Local Business Owners, Professionals & Community Leaders."

She is also a speaker and Certified Financial Planner Ambassador (only one of 50 people in the United States). She teaches accomplished, successful and educated women to heal their money mistakes, rebuild their wealth, and ultimately reclaim their power. 

If you want to master your money and go from feeling even a little bit of self-doubt ➔ safe➔ secure & ultimately in control of your financial destiny, apply for a Financial Breakthrough Session at https://feliciagopaul.pages.ontraport.net/financial-breakthrough-session