Do- It- Yourself Wills- Good or bad idea?

Few people below the age of fifty ever consider writing a Will. There is this belief that Wills are for elderly, wealthy people yet a Will can go beyond deciding who should inherit the family castle. Look at it this way –  creating a Will ensures that your loved ones receive items of sentimental as well as monetary value.

It’s interesting how many wealthy people die without a Will or don’t update their Will to suit a change in their circumstances. Such an example is Peter Brocks.

In cases where a Will isn’t made the deceased’s property will be shared out according to certain rules. Under these rules only married or civil partners and close relatives can inherit possessions owned by the deceased.

If someone makes a Will that is not legally valid it is down to the State to decide how the estate will be shared out, not the wishes expressed in the Will.

Whilst in many cases people invest in professional help when making a Will it is possible to write your own. Something which can be done from home and without a solicitor. However care and advice must be taken to ensure that a home produced Will is a legal document.

One of the main reasons people opt for DIY is because of cost. Tesco sells their DIY Will kit for £10, Last Will and Testament by Lawpack for £9.99.

A solicitor charges between £95 and £150 for a simple Will, yet their advice and the assurance that this is a legal document may be worth the additional cost.

Either way it is worth checking out what common mistakes are made in DIY Wills:

• Failing to take account of the possibility that a beneficiary may die either before the person making the will or before the estate is settled.
• Lack of formal requirements needed to make a Will legally valid.
• Changing the Will without a signature or witness. If these alterations are not signed and witnessed, they are invalid.
If all the money and property owned isn’t accounted for the property might fall under the rules of intestacy.

Solicitors have detailed guidelines that are designed to avoid foul play and vary from state to state. Making your own Will without these guidelines often renders the Will worthless since it is not in the right format.

Possibly one of the most cost effective routes is to produce your own Will and pay for a solicitor to ensure it is a legally binding document. Certainly it will offer all concerned peace of mind.

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The Journey of Digital Art

With digital art starting to dominate the art industry, it’s safe to assume that some artists may have numerous art pieces, complete and incomplete that need to be organised and saved securely, especially in the case of something happening to the artist. His friends and family may not know where all these art pieces are or what the artist in question would like to do with them

Growth rate of the Music Evolution

Music distribution has evolved so drastically over the last few decades that we don’t have to glance too far back to see the changes. It wasn’t that long ago cassette tapes seemed such cool ways of transporting our music, certainly less clunky than their vinyl cousins. Then the CD turned that on its head, very swiftly followed by digital music.

Do you own the tracks in your music album?

Music distribution has evolved so drastically over the last few decades that we don’t have to glance too far back to see the changes. It wasn’t that long ago cassette tapes seemed such cool ways of transporting our music, certainly less clunky than their vinyl cousins. Then the CD turned that on its head, very swiftly followed by digitalmusic.

Amidst all the hype of which sound system delivers the purest experience, few people have given too much thought to the fact that by downloading music, they are in effect relinquishing their absolute ownership of their music collections.

As emotive as films and photos, our music collections represent a vast part of our very identity and in many cases something we would like to pass on to our loved ones when we die. In fact until quite recently there was the automatic assumption that we could do just that. The entire process had just become simpler, why would it not follow that passing it on would be just as hassle free?

So what does happen to all our music when we pass away?

As it turns out our downloaded music does not belong to us. What we are purchasing when we buy a music track is the licence to play that track. Which means since we don’t own it it isn’t transferable upon death.

It’s a licence granted to the purchaser and only the purchaser and when we pass away that license passes away with us. In fact the license that we buy to play a track or album comes with an extremely limited set of rights.

According to This is money more than £30billion of films, music and books bought through iTunes and Amazon could vanish when their owners die.

In 2012 it was alleged that ‘Die Hard’ actor Bruce Willis was preparing to sue Apple in a battle over who would own his vast collection of digital music when he died. It was alleged that Willis had asked his advisors to set up family trusts to “hold” his downloads, which according to friends include thousands of classic rock tunes and British acts from the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin as well as modern performers including Adele. However, it was later found out that this was a baseless rumour without a known source.

The fact is that this is an issue we all need to look into more carefully, particularly if we value our musiccollections. One solution could be to include all relevant account information when you set up an inventory of your online assets to be passed on to nominated verifiers and beneficiaries. There are those who simply go back a step and burn all their music back onto CDs, going forward however some sort of deal needs to be struck between suppliers and consumers to ensure an individual’s music legacy is protected and passed on.

 

An interesing Infographic on Life Insurance Cover

The purchase of life insurance based on whether it’s for a business or family requires careful consideration. It is important to understand how the insurance premiums work. If you are likely to die in the near future you’ll have to pay more but the insurers look at certain factors which could affect your premium. These include your lifestyle, age, medical history and job.

Here’s an infographic to help visualize our last post.

You need to Measure your Digital Assets

Five years ago, Jeremiah Owyang, a strategist with Forrester, left the company for pastures new. While this in itself was not unusual, Owyang’s departure turned out to be quite a loss for Forrester, much more so than it would have been say three years previously, when social media had not yet quite exploded and less so then than it would be now in 2014.

Because when Owyang left Forrester he took with him his digital identity.

The long tail effect of his personal blog alone was already massive as he had worked as a very thorough and systematic aggregator. Forrester, like most major companies back in 2009 had not yet measured the serious impact of such a departure.

Fast forward to 2014 and many organisations, particularly early stage startups and SMEs, are still taking their digital footprint for granted. There is a gaping void when it comes to companies properly securing and managing the succession planning side of their digital assets.

From a corporate perspective, the sudden loss of digital information goes beyond financial loss, it can also create an intangible loss of goodwill with customers, particularly if documented knowledge and insights are wiped out and sensitive trade information is revealed.

When Owyang left Forrester he did so in an organised manner. But imagine if the founder of a thriving business was suddenly cut down in his or her prime. All digital information is more likely than not going to disappear with them. From basic access information such as passwords and usernames through to vital documents, all locked in the cyber world and totally irretrievable.

This is why planning for the protection of all digital assets is now becoming a key imperative in all business and financial planning, and something which small businesses in particular need to give careful consideration to. Individuals and business owners alike must take greater responsibility in safeguarding and ensuring proper succession planning for their virtual data.

Different businesses will have their own unique digital footprints and assets, from customer data and crucial passwords to patents, presentations, white papers, and financial spreadsheets, so there is no one formula that fits all requirements. However, taking an inventory of all digital assets is the first step towards managing the issue at hand. This involves everything from where the assets are located, how they are accessed to who can access them. Creating a chain of trusted verifiers and ensuring all this information is contained in one place should the need arise is one of the best strategies.

Regardless of whether the digital assets can be measured as a tangible value or as a consequence of loss, the fact of the matter is that digital property is multi-faceted and needs to be stored and managed as carefully as traditional assets.

Where once companies were concerned with their carbon footprint, the new focus now needs to be on ensuring carefully regulated and documented digital footprint-planning.

 

Life Insurance – Are you covered?

Life insurance is believed to have originated in Rome and India and is based on the fundamental premise of securing and protecting loved ones from paying off debts and providing for family when the care provider is deceased.

It is a contract between an individual and an insurance company leaving detailed instructions on how the company should pay the policy holders’ when they pass away.

Of course if you are single with no dependents or elderly with children that do not need to be taken care of you are less likely to need a life insurance policy.

On the other hand if both you and your partner are employed it’s always good to set one up to guard against the unforeseen.

Taking preventative steps to ensure your loved ones are taken care of makes perfect sense but what are the disadvantages?

The life insurance acquisition process can be lengthy and at times complex. The purchase of life insurance based on whether it’s for a business or family requires careful consideration. And of course, there is a cost involved.

However on the plus side a life insurance policy can be exchanged for another life insurance policy without incurring taxation. Also the cash value grow tax deferred during the policy holder’s lifetime, and of course your family is protected.

The key reasons people opt for life insurance are to fund their children’s education. This is followed by covering any final expenses such as funeral costs, car payments and mortgage payments.

The two main types of life insurance cover are;

Term insurance

This type of cover can also be called level-term assurance. The payout would be the same no matter when the policyholder died during the term.

This is a very popular kind of cover because it pays out a lump sum or a monthly income if you die within a set period of time but if nothing happens to the policyholder it simply lapses and they get nothing in the end.

Whole-of-life cover

This is a life insurance policy that covers the policyholder for the insured’s whole life and requires (in most cases) premiums to be paid every year into the policy. The proceeds of the policy will usually go to the policyholder’s family or beneficiaries of their estate. These policies are more expensive than term assurance policies, which only pay out if you die within a certain timeframe.

Interested in getting one now, but don’t know how?

First you have to understand how the insurance premiums work. If you are likely to die in the near future you’ll have to pay more but the insurers look at certain factors which could affect your premium. These include your lifestyle, age, medical history and job.

There is a raft of choices these days for getting more information and costs, from your employer to cost comparison sites and your bank. Ask friends and family too as recommendations are often the best route to take.

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A little about the NHS…

5 Fun Facts about Money. I couldn’t believe number 4!

Everyone has money but not every one is rich! That’s an interesting fact aside my fun facts. But it gets more interesting. In life it often happens that the way we live, the respect we are given or the value of our worth is often related to money. Oh Money!

1.The idea of the world’s first ATM machine came to John Shepherd- Barron in a bathtub  after getting to his bank too late to withdraw money. Read more – Image Source

2. The world’s first paper money was created in china. 1400 years ago. Read more

3.Spending money on Experiences instead of Possessions results in more Satisfaction according to studies. Read more

4.The first credit card was invented in 1949 by Frank X McNamara. He was  head of the Hamilton Credit Corporation and went out to eat with a friend. After the meal he realised he forgot his wallet and didn’t have any money to pay. Read more –Image source

5. Bob Marley’s  final words were  “Money can’t buy life. Read more

Told you these where some interesting facts. Number 1 is inspiring isn’t it.  The lesson is: the best ideas as we know come in the least expected places.

Have a great day 🙂

 

Who is influencing your decision?

Over the years i have learnt that with adequate planning and careful decision making everything in life gets easier

But what happens if we fail to plan and get our life and affairs in order?

We often steer our lives in the direction of what happens to us in the future.  Some of us tend to make bad decisions and blame others. Some of us tend to let other people make decisions for us and then we blame ourselves or others when things don’t go the way we want them to.

I personally always make my own decisions based on the notion that if I listen to others and make decisions based on what they say, if things do not go right who should I blame?

Myself for listening or others for influencing me?

None of the above. I listen to the advice, words or statements other people might offer or say but the final decision is always mine. The decision is based on what I feel is right and best for me. That way if it goes well or bad, I know it was all me.

I am solely  responsible for my actions and their outcomes. Just as everyone else is. Life is full of ups and downs. If you constantly give yourself reasons to  fight with your inner self, how will you conquer your battle against society and the world?

As a result i like to try my best in planning and organising everything. From my finances, career, profession, holidays to my digital accounts.

Every little detail counts and that is why i personally have an account with PlannedDeparture for my digital assets. All my social account information and pictures and music are safely stored because i do not want to risk losing any information.

Just as we have measures guarding our physical assets, our digital assets are equally important.

With every step remember PlannedDeparture isn’t just here to help your loved ones in future but to support you by assuring your digital assets are safe and secure.