World 04 · Leave
Leave it the way you meant to.
Decide what you want to leave, who you want to help, and what you want to enjoy while you're still here. Because once you know what's meant for later, you can feel a lot better about using the rest for your life now.
What it covers
How Leave is built.
Intent
Decide what enough looks like
Who do you want to help, and how much do you actually want to leave? Putting a number around it turns “leave something to the kids” into something you can actually plan for.
Freedom
Know what's yours to enjoy
Once you know what you want to leave, the rest doesn't have to be treated like someone else's inheritance. You can use it for your life, your family, your friends, and the things you want to do now.
Taxes
Think about what they actually receive
What you leave matters. So does how you leave it. Different accounts can create very different tax consequences for the people receiving them.
Inside this World
The planning that lives in Leave.
This is where we make sure what you want to happen actually happens, while also looking at whether some of the money would mean more if you used or gave it away while you're still here.
Beneficiary designations
Your retirement accounts and life insurance generally pass according to the beneficiary listed on the account, not your will. We make sure those designations are current and match what you actually want.
Wills and trusts
Your documents should reflect your life today and work with the way your accounts and property are actually set up. Sometimes a trust has an important job to do. Sometimes it doesn't.
What you leave and to whom
An IRA, Roth IRA, brokerage account, and other assets can have very different tax consequences when they're inherited. We look at who is receiving what and whether there's a better way to structure it.
Giving while you're here
Sometimes the best time to help someone isn't after you're gone. Helping your kids, paying for the grandkids' education, or giving to a cause you care about can be part of the plan now, if you can afford to do it.
Charitable giving
If giving is important to you, how you give can matter. Qualified charitable distributions, donor-advised funds, and gifts of appreciated investments can sometimes help more of your money reach the organizations you care about.
If you can't make the decisions yourself
Powers of attorney and healthcare directives determine who can step in if you can't handle financial or medical decisions yourself. We make sure those decisions have been made before someone needs them.
Talk about it before they have to
Your family doesn't need every detail of your financial life. But they should know enough that they're not trying to figure everything out for the first time after you're gone.
The thinking
How we think about it.
Decide what enough looks like
If every dollar might be part of the inheritance, it can be hard to feel comfortable spending any of it. Decide what you actually want to leave, and you can make better decisions about what to give away, what to spend, and what to enjoy while you're here.
What strong looks like
You know who you want to help, what you want to leave, and how you want it to get there. And you don't spend the rest of your life protecting money you never needed to leave behind.
Try it on your numbers
The tools for this World.
Roth Window Illustrator
How much room is left in your tax bracket? Your bracket is a floor on a ladder. Your income fills it. The room is what is left before the next floor.
Open the tool →Withdrawal Order Explorer
Which account should you spend first? Three jars, two orders. The order changes one thing: your federal tax. Tap an order, then drag across the years.
Open the tool →Tax-Bracket Mapper
How much federal tax, and what does your next dollar pay? Each step your income fills pays its own rate. The steps add up to your tax.
Open the tool →Decide what you want to leave behind.
Give us an hour. We'll talk through who you want to help, what you want to leave, and what that could mean for the money you can use and enjoy while you're here.
For those within five years of retirement or already there, with $1 million or more set aside. No cost. No obligation.