People sometimes neglect to do their estate planning simply because they think that they’re too young. If you talk to someone in their 30s about making end-of-life plans, they may tell you that you’re jumping the gun a bit. They don’t even think that they’re halfway through their life, so they tell you that they’ll make an estate plan later.
But this is a common fallacy. The truth is that you can’t be too young for an estate plan, and here are a few reasons why.
Parents can plan for children
If you are a young parent, one thing to consider is that you can use your estate plan to set up a guardian or put your assets into a trust. As long as your children are minors, you need to have some sort of plan in place to protect them. An estate plan can help you do this at any age.
The risk of accidental death is real
Unfortunately, you also have to consider that life is unpredictable. The most common reason for accidental death for everyone between the ages of one and 54, for instance, is being involved in a car accident. It is simply better to have an estate plan in place in case something like this occurs than to just assume that you can make your plan years in the future.
You may need to make medical decisions
Finally, an estate plan can help you make medical decisions by setting up an advance directive or a Do Not Resuscitate order. You can also use it to establish a medical power of attorney, giving an agent the legal ability to make your medical decisions. Regardless, future medical planning is important, especially if you have a medical emergency that leaves you incapacitated.
For all of these reasons and more, if you’d like to create an estate plan, be sure you know what legal steps to take.
