When you’re beginning your career, newly married, starting a family, or putting your kids through college, you’re probably not thinking about what might happen to your wealth and possessions or how your family’s financial security might be affected should you pass on unexpectedly.
With all these day-to-day priorities, it’s understandable why many Gen X-Y-Zers and Millennials don’t think about estate planning.
But it’s important to have a plan if you want to help ensure that your loved ones won’t face financial hardships if you die at a young age. A solid estate plan can also keep much of your wealth from undergoing a complex, time-consuming probate process. Here are eight suggestions to get started.
1. Determine your estate and legacy planning priorities
An estate plan isn’t just about deciding who will inherit your wealth. It can encompass a broad range of priorities, from providing financial protection to your loved ones to authorizing people to act on your behalf when you’re no longer able to do it yourself.
That’s why, before you start making actual decisions, it’s important take a step back and think through what you want this plan to achieve. You may want to start by answering the following questions:
- Have you saved enough money to provide for your family’s financial security should you pass on at an early age?
- Have you assigned beneficiaries to your investment, banking and retirement accounts?
- Do you have a good idea of how you want your assets distributed to your heirs or to charity after your death?
- Do you want to make sure that your family understands your end-of-life wishes?
- Do you want to remove your home, business or other property from your estate?
- Are you worried about estate taxes?
Depending on your answers, you might want to consider any of the following actions.
2. Get life insurance
If you were to die unexpectedly, would you have enough money put aside to pay for your family’s everyday expenses and for future costs, such as your kids’ college costs?
If not, purchasing life insurance can provide the financial protection they need.
Younger people typically purchase enough coverage to:
- Provide money to pay for their family’s living expenses for an extended period of time.
- Pay off the balance of a mortgage and other major loans.
- Fund their children’s college education.
- Pay for their interment expenses.
In general, the earlier you take out a policy, the lower your premiums will be if you’re in good health.
3. Make sure beneficiaries for your financial accounts are up to date
It’s important to make sure you’ve assigned beneficiaries for your investment accounts, IRAs, bank accounts and employer retirement plan accounts.
When beneficiaries are assigned, the assets in those accounts are passed on directly to them after your death.
If you don’t assign beneficiaries, the remaining assets in these accounts may end up going into your estate and their final disposition could be subject to probate.
It’s also important to update these beneficiaries when your situation changes. For example, when you have a child, you should add that child as a beneficiary. If you get divorced, you’ll probably want to remove your ex-spouse as a beneficiary if your divorce decree permits it.
4. Assign power of attorney
Power of attorney (POA) legally gives someone else the authority to make financial and other decisions on your behalf if you’re no longer able to do it yourself. You can give someone POA right away, or you can have it go into effect after a physician determines your incapacity. There are pros and cons of each option that you may want to consider before you assign POA to anyone.
5. Choose a healthcare proxy
A healthcare proxy legally authorizes someone to make medical decisions on your behalf if you’re not able to do so. In end-of-life situations, this person typically authorizes care providers to carry out the instructions in your living will. They may also be authorized to make medical decisions on your behalf in non-life-threatening situations.
6. Draft a will
A will is a legal document that specifies how you want your money, property and possessions distributed after death. Generally, a will covers the distribution of property that becomes part of your estate, such as your home, vehicles, and household items. If you’ve assigned beneficiaries to your financial accounts, you don’t need to mention these accounts in your will.
A will can be simple or complex, depending on how granular you want to make it. For example, if you and your spouse want one child to inherit your jewelry and another to receive your rare baseball card collection, and you want your fine art to be donated to a local art museum, it’s important to document these wishes to avoid potential conflicts after you’re gone.
While you don’t have to hire a lawyer to draft your will, a legal professional may come in handy if your estate is complex, you want to make special provisions for children with special needs or you want to minimize the impact of federal and state income and estate taxes.
7. Make a living will
A living will is a legal document that specifies what kinds of medical or life-sustaining care you want (or don’t want) in end-of-life situations. For example, you can specify the removal of life support systems if you’re in a permanent coma or do-not-revive instructions if you’re terminally ill.
8. Consider whether a trust makes sense
A trust allows certain valuable assets (such as your home) to be removed from your estate, which can make it easier to pass on these assets to your heirs. A trust also allows you to establish formal procedures and conditions under which assets in the trust will be distributed to your beneficiaries.
There are many different kinds of trusts, each of which offers different kinds of tax and asset protection benefits, so it’s very important to speak to a qualified estate planning attorney to determine if a trust—and which kind—makes sense for you.
Seek professional help for the more complex decisions
There are many things to think about when formulating an estate plan, but you don’t necessarily need to act on all of them at once.
You may want to start with the relatively easier ones, such as assigning beneficiaries to your accounts and shopping for life insurance (an independent insurance agent can help you understand the pros and cons of different kinds).
You can then work your way through your power of attorney and healthcare proxy decisions.
Wills and trusts, while important, can be further down on your priority list, especially if you don’t own a home or other valuable physical assets. When you get to that point, it’s probably worth your time to seek the assistance of a qualified estate planning attorney. If you have a financial advisor, you may want to bring them into the discussion as well.
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This article was authored by David Jaeger and Jeffrey Briskin. David is a financial advisor with Canby Financial Advisors, LLC, an Investment Adviser registered with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. SEC registration does not constitute an endorsement by the SEC nor a statement about any skill or ability. David can be reached at 508.598.1082 or djaeger@canbyfinancial.com. Jeffrey Briskin is Director of Marketing at Canby Financial Advisors.
©2026 Canby Financial Advisors, LLC.