“I’m far too young to think about estate planning. I’ll worry about it when I’m older.” Many a person has said or thought such a thing, and in many cases, it’s not proved an issue for them. Yet, for others and their families, it certainly has.
You may envision a long, healthy life ahead of you, but that is not how things always work out. People get severe illnesses or die without warning at all stages of life, and that lack of an estate plan could come back to trouble your loved ones.
The age of majority is old enough to start thinking about estate planning
You can make an estate plan as soon as you hit the age of majority. While you might not own much yet, that does not rule out a plan being useful. Firstly, if you were to die in your prime, those few possessions you do own may feel even more valuable to your loved ones. If you don’t want your best friend and your sister squabbling over who gets your guitar, you can create a basic will to define who gets what.
Remember, estate planning also covers situations where you are ill enough to be unable to communicate with doctors, but may still survive. If you know your mother would tell doctors to do anything they could think of to keep you alive after a serious accident, but you’d rather slip out of this world there and then than be resuscitated only to spend the rest of your life unable to do much for yourself, you can make this clear in your plan. You could either spell out what treatments you don’t want or stipulate that someone who understands your wishes better act as your health care power of attorney to coordinate with doctors.
But I might change my mind multiple times
Most elements of an estate plan are updateable. As life goes on, you should review your plan and amend it as necessary to reflect your current preferences and wealth. Getting help to create your first plan can set you on the right path.