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Caring.com and YouGov conducted a study of 2,500 Americans to see if COVID had an effect on getting an estate plan. Below are some interesting findings from their study.
Given the last year and a half you would think more people would be motivated to have important documents in place, such as a Will, right? Wrong! While the number of people thinking about Estate Planning has increased, the actual number of people with these documents completed has stayed the same. Less than 40% of all Americans have the proper documents in order that can save their family a fortune and protect their legacy.
Perhaps the most interesting bit of info from the study is the fact that adults aged 18-34 were much more motivated by the pandemic to get the proper estate planning documents. The total percentage with documents increased from 16.4% to 26.8% over the past year. Both the 35-45 and 55+ age groups fell by 3-5% over the past year to 22.5% and 44% respectively. This is a surprising find since Covid had a larger impact on the 35+ community rather than the younger generations.
When participants were asked why they don’t have a Will yet, the most common responses were “I haven’t gotten around to it” and “I don’t have enough assets to leave anyone”. What's also interesting is 60% of people still see a Will or Living Trust as “Very or Somewhat important,” but have still not taken action to get an estate plan in place. When asked how far along in the process of creating these documents, 22% of people said they had at least mentioned or talked to a loved one about it, but less than 5% had even consulted a lawyer!
While estate planning is often put on the the back burner as shown by this study, it is crucial you talk to a specialist about your options. Feeling overwhelmed and not sure where to start with you estate plan? Attorney Michael Monteforte wrote a book on Estate Planning to help you get started. Download the book for FREE here!
If you want to read the whole study click here!
