Do you back into your parking spots or just pull in? How you pull into parking spots may determine what kind of estate planner you are. Read on to find out where you fall.
At Ritz’s Diner one morning there was a whole row of trucks that were backed into their parking spots. I pulled in the “regular way.” Can you spot my car in the picture below?
Posting this picture on Facebook started an interesting conversation on the two types of people in this world — those who back in and those who back out of their parking spots.
As the Facebook conversation progressed, it seemed to come down to people wanting to avoid risk when they back out, or being prepared if there are going to be a lot of people pulling out all at once (like at church). The backers take more time on the front-end so they can avoid risks or complications later.
So, what does parking have to do with estate planning?
This, of course, led me to think about estate planning and how backing into your parking spot is just like estate planning! (I’ve been accused of being able to connect everything to estate planning…)
If you think ahead and create your estate plan before crisis strikes, then it’s easier and less risky. If you wait until it’s urgent, then there will be a lot of other risks and things coming at you, which will make creating the plan more stressful and complicated. (Much like backing out of a parking space after a large sporting event.)
Back In to Your Estate Plan
You know you’ll need a plan at some point. There are only two things in this world that are guaranteed – death and taxes – so, despite the fact that I tend to pull in forwards when I park, I definitely encourage people to “back in” to their estate planning. Take the long view. Take some time beforehand to make an effective plan. It will make life a lot easier on you and your loved ones down the road.
Many people put off planing as long as possible, then problems come along and they have to do an emergency plan. And this is NOT the most effective way to do things.
If you’ve been putting off planning, attending an upcoming workshop can be a great first step. Check out our upcoming workshops here.
Give us a call today at 217-726-9200 if you’re ready to get started planning with an Initial Meeting.
