Good evening everyone, and welcome to Plan It Forward.

Estate planning made easy.

My name is Jill Nunemaker, and I'm our major and planned giving manager here at KSPS PBS.

I've spent most of my career in philanthropy, working with organizations focused on things that I care about deeply, such as arts and culture, science and lifelong learning.

Over the years, I've learned that the most meaningful conversations about philanthropy really aren't about money.

They're about the people and ideas and values that we want to to carry forward now and into the future.

And that's what I'm especially looking forward to exploring with everyone today.

Thanks, Jill.

Welcome, everybody to KSPS, My name is Sandra Kernerman.

Most people call me Sandy.

I always think that Sandra is going to be my grown up name and it never works out.

I have worked in a 501 c3 development and fundraising for over 25 years.

First, I was development officer for the Spokane Public Library Foundation, which is where I met my colleague Jill.

When you were out in the county.

And here at KSPS Public Television, where I was Jill's predecessor.

I've served on many regional arts and culture boards and is currently serving on the Spokane College's foundation that supports the community college system here in Spokane and KSPS Public Television For our community to thrive.

I believe that one must pick a passion and an author and an organization that supports it, and then make do everything you can do to make that organization successful.

Very well said, Sandy, and I cannot think of a better way to make an organization successful than through making the gift of a lifetime, all while creating your legacy.

By naming your favorite nonprofit as a beneficiary in your estate plans.

Naturally, we hope that's going to be KSPS public television, but we know that everybody has a passion and everybody has a legacy that they want to preserve in the community.

Today, we're going to have a conversation about the two things that we all have in common living and dying.

When you hear the words estate planning, what comes to mind?

A will, a trust, who will inherit your home or your investments?

Those are certainly important questions, but estate planning is about something much bigger, at heart It's estate planning is about making a plan for the people, values and causes that matter the most to you.

It's about making sure that the people you love are cared for.

That your wishes are understood, and that the decisions you've made over a lifetime continue to reflect what matters most to you.

And perhaps most importantly, it's about giving yourself and your family peace of mind.

Well said.

At KSPS PBS We often talk about the idea of a legacy for many of our viewers and supporters.

KSPS has been part of their lives for decades.

And when you think about the things you want to carry forward, it may be that KSPS and the mission of public media is one of them.

Or you may have one of our other amazing local nonprofits whose values and mission align with causes that are meaningful and important to you.

Today, we're going to take a closer look at estate planning and some of the questions that are important to consider.

Whether you are creating an estate plan for the first time, or simply taking a fresh look at the one you already have.

We'll talk about some of the essential pieces of an estate plan, including wills and trusts, powers of attorney, health care directors, and beneficiary designations.

We'll also talk about the importance of working with a professional advisor and making sure that the different aspects of your plan work together.

And along the way, we'll explore an aspect of estate planning that is especially meaning to our organization, how you can use thoughtful planning to create a legacy that reflects the things that you care about.

Well said.

because legacy isn't necessarily about how much you have.

It's about what matters to you and what you hope will continue because you cared enough to plan for it now and in the future.

We're grateful to have with us today.

Representatives from Washington Trust Bank, with whom KSPS has partnered with for decades, for 40 years, to be precise.

Jessica Allen, Andrew Hastings and Matt Clarke of Washington Trust Bank join us today.

And they're here to help us navigate these questions and make estate planning feel a little less complicated and a little less intimidating and a lot more approachable.

We are incredibly grateful to have these experts with us today.

Matt Clarke, vice president and senior portfolio manager with Washington Trust Bank's Wealth management and advisory services team.

Matt specializes in customized investment strategies and worked closely with clients navigating complex financial decisions.

In addition to his work with clients, Matt is a regular presenter for Washington Trusts Economic Updates, where he shares insights on the markets and the economy.

He brings a disciplined, client focused approach to helping investors stay on track through changing market conditions.

Matt specializes in customized investment strategies and works closely with and with clients in navigating complex financial decisions.

In addition to his work with clients, Matt is a regular presenter for Washington Trusts Economic Updates, where he shares his insights on the markets and the economy.

He brings a disciplined, client focused approach to helping investors stay on track through changing market conditions.

Andy Hastings is vice president and wealth management relationship manager with Washington Trust Bank.

He works with individuals, families, and business owners to bring all the pieces of their financial lives together, helping ensure their investment and planning strategies align with their, long term goals.

Before joining Washington Trust, Andy spent more than a decade practicing law with a focus on estate and business planning, bringing valuable legal and planning expertise to the clients and families he serves today.

Jessica Allen is vice president and senior trust officer with Washington Trust Bank's wealth management and advisory services team.

She works closely with individuals and families on trust, estate, tax and financial planning strategies, helping them navigate some of life's most important financial decisions.

Before joining Washington Trust, Jessica, 13 years as an estate tax attorney in Washington and Idaho, advising clients on estate planning, trust administration and wealth transfer strategies.

Today, she partners with clients and their advisors to help create thoughtful plans that preserve and transfer wealth across generations.

PBS is committed to lifelong learning in our region.

About ten years ago, we took a step to educate our young viewers on the topic of financial literacy and began to create a series of financial literacy videos geared toward young people, focusing on the power of saving, explaining interest, and many other important topics.

Now, we are excited to expand that commitment to financial literacy, to estate planning, and are proud to partner with Washington Trust Bank in this effort.

Yes.

Thank you, Jessica, Andy and Matt, for joining us today and being our panelist at the Plan It Forward Estate Planning event.

Welcome at KSPS, we are incredibly grateful and appreciate the long term partnership with Washington Trust Bank.

Again, that that's been the past 40 years.

It's a long time and we appreciate that partnership so much.

One important note today's conversation is intended to provide general, educational information.

Estate planning is, personal.

And the right approach is different for everyone.

As such, our chat today does not constitute tax, legal or accounting advice.

We encourage you to consult your own qualified attorney, financial advisor, or tax professional.

Before making decisions about your estate.

So let's get started, shall we?

Okay, Andy, perhaps you can tell us today what is Washington Trust banks wealth management group.

Thank you.

Sandy.

You know, first share a little bit about Washington Trust Bank.

And then I will go into some specifics about our wealth management division.

Washington Trust Bank was founded in 1902 actually as a trust company.

It was founded here in Spokane, and we remain headquartered here in Spokane, although our footprint has gravitated to the PNW.

The bank is in its fourth generation of family ownership and management.

And I shared that background about the bank, too.

Highlighted a couple of things for our conversation tonight.

The first is that commitment to community.

We remain firmly planted in the communities that we serve, and that includes Spokane.

And I think that has some resonance and consistency with, KSPS and its mission and its values.

The second reason is that successful transition of the bank over four generations.

We tend to think of as an estate planning success story in and of itself, which is what we're here to talk about tonight.

Estate planning.

Matt, Jessica and I work in our wealth management division.

Again, that's a division within Washington Trust Bank.

Historically, it was referred to as the Trust Department.

In our department, we help clients in three primary areas.

The first is what I'll call estate administration.

And that's what it sounds like.

So that would be if someone in their Will were to name Washington Trust Bank as personal representative or executor.

Those are synonyms, more or less to be in charge of administering an estate after a death.

And when we're in that role, it's our job to figure out what assets are involved, what debts remain to be paid.

And otherwise distribute the assets from the estate consistent with the terms of the will.

So again, that's the personal representative for executor role The second area that I'll highlight is, ongoing trust management.

And in this situation a little bit similar but different, similar in that someone might name Washington Trust Bank as trustee.

And that's for an ongoing relationship where we as trustee are managing assets on behalf of one or more beneficiaries.

It's our job to make sure that the investments in the trust are being managed appropriately, and that distributions are made to the beneficiaries of the trust consistent with the rule set or the rulebook set forth in the terms of the trust.

So that's the trustee role.

The last area I'll highlight is helping individuals, businesses and nonprofit organizations with their investment decisions, investment planning and investment portfolios.

So if you think about all those those three areas, they tend to have overlap and they tend to be broad in scope.

And that's true.

And and that's one of the joys of our job is we get to work both in a broad, comprehensive way with our clients in terms of subject matter, but also in terms of duration.

We have the nice opportunity to work with our clients over the arc of their lifetimes and oftentimes over multiple generations.

And and that, of course, involves many financial decisions that are tied to what I'll describe as big advance in life.

And those events, some of them are fun, some of them are hard.

You might think of marriage, the sale of a business, the birth of a grandchild, funding an education for a grandchild in the fun, enjoyable category.

And then there's the tougher stuff that comes with life, which is death, divorce.

So on and so forth in that arc, of experience, those big events, like I said, tend to have a financial component with it that requires planning and financial decisions.

And an underlay to all of that is estate planning.

And again, that's our focus tonight.

So, really that, need to figure out how will those pieces of the puzzle fit together and how an estate plan could be structured, and make sure that your goals and objectives fit with that, your circumstances and changing circumstances.

Thanks for that, Andy.

One follow up question, is that unique to Washington Trust?

I like that question a lot.

And the way I would answer it is not all banks have a trust division.

Not all trust companies are tied to or associated with a bank.

And so we at Washington Trust really like that.

We have both.

And that allows us again, I'm going to sound a little bit like a broken record, but really to have comprehensive long term relationships with our clients.

And it might help if I share an example of what that looks like.

And, what I am picturing is a situation where we as a bank have an opportunity to bank, a small business, for a number of years.

And the owners get to a position where they either want to sell the business or transition it to a next generation.

And that's where we and our department can come in and team up with our banking partners and work together with a team approach to help with that transition and make sure that we're helping find solutions for, all of the financial components that go along with that transition and our clients experience.

Thank you.

Thanks, Andy.

And as another, corollary to the original question, when should people begin the process of estate planning?

I like this question a lot, too.

And my short answer is, it's never too early.

In my experience, I have, noticed that there's a tendency for some people to think that there's a requirement that a person must have a certain level of resources or a certain level of complexity to require estate planning.

And and I would contend that to a certain degree, we all need a plan.

And it really echoes what, you, Sandy and Jill shared earlier is that opportunity to make clear what's important to you.

What what what are your values that you want to instill for what happens when you're gone.

And that includes not only what you want to have happen with your resources that you've built, but where it goes, those you care about, and making sure that you have a structure in place that accomplishes that.

So that that tends to require a need to to have a structured estate plan to accomplish those goals.

The other way I look at it is that having a clear plan in place, is your opportunity to make sure that that intent gets carried forward.

And then the other part of it is, in some ways, I look at having a clear plan that works well as a gift in and of itself for those you care about, because that can help avoid misunderstanding, conflict, and heartache that can come sometimes when there's an absence of a plan.

Okay.

Thank you for that, Andy.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Matt.

For those in the audience today, who may be questioning whether they need a wealth advisor.

Can you expand on why that is a good idea and how a wealth advisor can can help them?

We've already had a few people submit that question today.

Oh I look forward to those questions as well then.

Thank you for that.

Andy said something earlier on that really resonates with me.

Team approach.

And so as I think of Wealth Advisor, it's it's really the three of us here, Jessica, Andy, myself, when we're talking with clients, it's all of us.

And I'm going to answer this question primarily through the lens of an investment advisor, though I think about the portfolios, I think about the assets, the securities that we manage for on behalf of our clients.

So when we get together and we sit down with a client, I think the first line or the first, well, probably the most important value that we bring to the table is that initial conversation.

It's exploring, needs, goals.

We'll have a thorough conversation about risk and reward, and then we'll begin to build out what I like to refer to as a financial roadmap.

It's really a financial plan, but that financial roadmap will have different stops along the way.

Some of those are goals.

So that's that really informs how I begin to think about the client and their assets, their portfolios.

What mix of securities do they need in their portfolios, the mix between stocks and bonds?

Do we include funds in the portfolio?

And if we do are they mutual funds or they exchange traded funds, are they active or are they passive?

And then I'll begin to look at the various types of portfolios that they have.

One might be a taxable portfolio, a trust, maybe two tax advantaged portfolios like an IRA or a Roth IRA.

How do these come together and work together ultimately for the benefit of the client?

So a lot to consider.

And, you know, one thing you said earlier on, Jill, was, everyone's situation is different.

So that mix of assets is different.

That plan is going to be different, very unique for each individual that we're working with.

And if I were to distill this into into something else and something more simple, it's simplifying the complex plan, the needs for on behalf of the client.

And then ultimately it's it's treating the client or working with the client through a fiduciary lens, always doing what's best for the client, always what's in their best interest.

And that's done through objective, unbiased advice.

And then I always like to say this, the most important thing that I bring to the table, I think, as an investment advisor, is the follow through.

And internally I like to joke that that's the accountability piece.

It's really the discipline piece.

Without the discipline meeting your objectives, meeting your goals becomes less and less easy.

So I'll I'll end there and then expand upon that later as I hear some of those other questions.

Thank you.

Yeah.

These are all pieces that are so important and complicated.

And on top of everything you said, the rules change all the time.

Every year they.

Do.

So get a Wealth Advisor.

Jessica, what is an estate plan and why do I need one?

Sure.

When I think of an estate plan, I think of a story.

And it's the story that you tell, and it's a story that has characters in it, which are your beneficiaries, the people that matter to you, the causes that matter to you, and it's the people that implement it, such as the executor or the personal representative.

So an estate plan is just a legal set of documents that tells your story, in a way that must be followed.

And it's important.

When I think of an estate plan, I think of four separate documents for the most basic, rudimentary estate plan.

You can always make it more complicated.

But when I first think of it, it's, your durable powers of attorney for property management and health care.

So these are documents in which you've named an agent to make health care decisions for you, or property decisions financial if you're alive but unable to so you're disabled or incapacitated, you're not dead.

The Will dictates your assets, how they pass when you're passed away.

But when you're alive and you can't act.

Having the powers of attorney for health care and property management allow an agent to make decisions for you.

Failure to have a power of attorney for health care and property management may result in needing to petition the court for a guardianship or conservatorship, which can be timely and costly.

So powers of attorney are of utmost importance.

After that, I think of a health care directive, which some people refer to as a pull the plug form when you're in the process of dying.

Diagnosed by two primary treating physicians, you've indicated your desire for your agent under your health care to know whether you want to stay on artificially provided hydration or nutrition or not.

So it's a way of you making your your desires known when you can't articulate them.

In the last document you're all familiar with is a Will.

A will just says the story of where your assets pass when you die.

The will often can have trust created under the terms of it, and they're called testamentary trust.

For instance, I have two minor sons.

I want to benefit them, but I can't give my seven year old my funds if my husband and I weren't around.

So instead, I established testamentary trust under the terms of my will.

So I'd have to name a trustee to manage the investments of these assets for my kids and make distributions to them.

So that's the way you can benefit the minors without them being able to hold them at present.

After thinking about your four basic documents, it's important to think about a beneficiary designation for non probate assets.

Non probate assets would be life insurance, retirement accounts and IRAs.

Those tend and generally almost always passed by beneficiary designation.

So even though I might revise my will doesn't automatically affect the non probate assets.

The beneficiary designation to me is like a mini will for retirement accounts, IRAs and life insurance.

Usually there's a primary and contingent.

So if my beneficiary designation for my life insurance was Andy but under the terms of my will it's Matt, that's not consistent And maybe that's okay and maybe it's not okay.

But just because we revise the will, we need to always reflect what's the beneficiary designation in place.

And finally, failure to have these documents doesn't mean you don't have a story.

It's just not your story.

We have every state has contest state statutes that say where your assets pass when you die.

It's very rigid and, not able to affect the timing of distributions like a trust could for the minors.

So best practice would be to consult with an attorney that focuses in this area and tell your story and don't rely on i contest state statute to do so.

These are all great, great questions to think about.

And I like framing, as telling your your story.

So, back to you, Jessica, for this next question, do I have to consider taxes in planning my estate?

It's the great question.

I think it's always prudent to know what the landscape is for estate taxes, and to know where you fall in this or not.

At the federal level, it's very high right now, it's 15 million per individual.

That being said, Washington state has its own estate state tax, and that's at 3 million per individual.

After reaching that 3 million mark, it's been a 10 to 20% marginal tax bracket above that.

So so the answer is yes.

We should know what the estate tax looks like.

And then to reflect on what that looks like.

If your estate is over the 3 million, you'll need to file a return with the Department of Revenue and report the tax above that.

By working with an estate planning attorney, there's ways to minimize or minimize that estate tax.

So that's a consideration that you should be aware of.

What is the size of your estate and what's the exemption amount.

And then work with your attorney on navigating that.

Matt, what should investors consider when markets are unpredictable?

Oh boy.

That's my day.

Every day I wake up to a headline, I wake up to a tweet, and the markets are spiraling.

Spiraling.

Anyway, market uncertainty is a given.

It's something you can't avoid at all.

But I think the more practical question really is, is your plan and your portfolio structured in such a way that you can weather that storm or absorb it.

So as I think about that, maybe, four questions you might want to consider or four things you might want to consider.

I think the first is, you know, addressing liquidity needs and thinking about that through the lens of a portfolio manager.

Your short term moneys need to have a dedicated strategy that specific to those, as well as your, your, your what your goals with that are with a, with a purpose that's decades out should have a very different investment approach.

Another is, are you able to absorb a loss, you know, and, I can't tell you how frequently I talk with a client who's comfortable with risk, but doesn't understand the difference between risk tolerance or comfort with risk actually being able to absorb that risk.

This is where a financial plan is really beneficial.

If you like this, this is something that we can model actually, you know, we can model a financial crisis like event in a financial plan to see if your if it's robust enough and if it's not.

This is where we can add value, suggest changes not just to the plan but possibly to the portfolio.

Another is risk management.

And I typically like to lead with the idea that and it's, it's it's true, at our core as an investment advisor, one of my primary responsibilities is to manage risk effectively for our clients.

And we do that in a lot of different ways.

And one of those is looking at the portfolio to see where you might be exposed.

Where do you have risk or undue risk in the portfolio?

Is it in a specific company?

Do you have too much exposure to another country?

Maybe it's currency or commodity, something like that.

So we'll look at our client portfolios for those risks.

And and to the extent it's, it's these some of our clients have outside advisors.

We'll look at those portfolios as well.

And we like to do what I like to refer as a portfolio X-ray, where we look at those holdings and layer them on top of our portfolio.

If there's risk there, we'll have a conversation and, address those risks and possibly make changes.

And it goes the other way.

Also, maybe there's not enough exposure in one area.

Maybe someone's missing a minor asset class.

That's really an important part of return over the long term.

Another one.

And I think this is critical.

What warrants a change in your portfolio or your plan over time when the markets are in turmoil?

That's typically when I get calls asking for a liquidation.

We want to go to cash because the world is falling apart.

That's typically the worst time to to sell in your portfolio.

So I spend a lot of time managing client expectations.

And I'll remind clients the plan is always paramount.

It's a critical part of the long term.

And when you make a change to the portfolio, it needs to be, I would argue, tied to a significant event in your life.

Maybe it's a life event, like a health event.

And the other thing I didn't mention earlier on and I probably should have is, structure of your financial arc.

We spend a lot of time with clients early on in their in their earning years.

And as they, approach retirement, they crest, they enter what I like to refer to as the preservation years.

They're eyeballing retirement and they begin to consider the distribution years.

Also, I like to refer to those the decumulation years.

So your goals and your preferences are going to change over those periods as well.

So we want to revisit the plan, maybe make some changes and have some conversations.

Also I think the final the final time I would in short, ongoing due diligence with the portfolio.

I like to refer to that as maintenance of the markets run.

One of the things that we want to do is revisit the portfolio to make sure you don't have any imbalances, find some realignment.

So the mix of assets is in alignment with your risk profile.

So I think those would be a good starting point for conversation.

And yeah.

And further consideration.

Great.

Thank you Matt.

Andy, this one is for you.

Why should I use a professional fiduciary.

Yeah.

You know, I'll answer that question a little bit with definitions.

We've used the word fiduciary a few times already tonight Matt shared that generally speaking, fiduciary means you have to put your client's best interests ahead of yours.

But what I want to focus on here is a specific, type of fiduciary in a specific context.

And that's for our estate planning discussion tonight.

We've already talked about the personal representative or executor role or the trustee role.

And when we say professional fiduciary, what we're thinking about there is a company or organization who provides that service for a fee as opposed to naming an individual, an uncle, a friend, another family member to serve in that role, and evaluating the question of whether it makes sense to have a professional fiduciary in that role, I think requires kind of understanding what's involved.

And the short of it is it's a big job.

There's a lot that's in the undertaking.

There are legal matters to be navigated.

Tax compliance that is required, coordination of other advisors and third parties and a number of administrative steps.

That tends to be pretty time consuming.

There are also time constraints involved.

So often there are deadlines that have to be satisfied.

Another consideration for the job is that, there is risk involved.

It's a legal job with legal requirements.

And if you'll forgive the expression, whoever takes it on in some ways has a target on, their back because the they have accountability to ultimate takers.

And then the last thing I'll highlight is what I refer to as the relationship aspect.

And the person in the fiduciary role oftentimes has to make decisions that might frustrate or anger or disappoint the beneficiaries or other parties involved.

And no matter how good interpersonal relationships are between individuals, sometimes that constrain the relationships or compromise or jeopardize those relationships.

So if you take all those factors into consideration, sometimes choosing a professional fiduciary can prove to be the most efficient to make sure that the work gets done appropriately, that professional fiduciary is going to have the expertise and the knowledge and the oversight, to make sure that the tasks get done efficiently, timely, and prudently.

And yes, there are fees that are charged for that professional fiduciary.

But if you account for that, the time and the costs of an individual taking on the role and then those qualitative costs of potential strain on relationships, you know, a lot of in a lot of circumstances, choosing that professional fiduciary can be the right fit.

Just as an aside, Washington Trust has managed the KSPS endowment, which is currently over $5 million from donors like you.

And you guys have done a great job protecting that money, and it's not enough to protect it.

You have to grow the money.

And clearly nobody at KSPS has that kind of financial knowledge to do that.

So we're very grateful that your team has done that for us.

And yes, we pay a fee.

And it's a very reasonable feel that we fee that we feel is more than worth it and more than worth the expertise.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Sandy.

Jessica, what are three questions to answer before you meet with your estate planning attorney?

Sure.

The first question would for me would be, what's my estate?

What are my assets?

What do I own and do?

A simple, inventory and an easement on a sheet and write down what?

Real estate.

How much real estate do I own and where is it, and what's the approximate value, and where are my investment accounts, and where's my life insurance?

Or do I have any more to my IRA?

Just systematically goes through your estate.

And as you're doing that exercise, also reflect on what's the characterization of these assets.

Are they separate property assets, incurred before I was married or a gift or the community property assets?

The really reason that's relevant is the Will dictates all of your separate property and one half of your community.

So the attorney is going to want to know, okay, these are your assets, but what's the characterization of them.

So if you could notate that and then it would be approximate values.

Because as we know there's a state tax that a federal and state level, the estate planning attorney is going to want to know if that's on the radar or not.

Reflect on titleing.

So when you have or when I have, a checking account with my husband, is it joint tenants with writer survivorship meaning when my husband dies it passes automatically.

To me, is one account that's in my name only a payable on death POD or a transfer on death TOD account.

Meaning when I die, it goes to Jill?

These are all questions that if you can do the homework before meeting with your estate planning attorney, it will help them be more efficient with their time.

And they're going to need to be asking these questions anyway versus trying to gather this information from you at the initial intake.

You can be proactive there.

Second would be the the players, the characters, and the causes that matter.

When I die, I want it to go to my husband, and if he's not around, I want it to go to my kids.

But maybe KSPS means a lot to me, which it does.

And maybe I want the first 10,000 to go to KSPS as a pecuniary bequest.

So off the top, I'm going to carve out 10,000 to KSPS remainder to go to my husband and then in trust for my kids.

So I'm thinking about the causes that matter to me, as well as the family that matter to me.

Another would be, for my children.

They're minors.

It's not just the trust for them, but in minors, for your grandkids.

Well, that would be for your children that are minors.

Who's a guardian?

Who's the hugger?

Who's going to be caring for them day by day when I'm not here, as well as the money person or the trustee for their trust.

And finally, we've talked about beneficiary designations, but to reflect on on that as well.

But lastly, the the third issue that raised is who is the big shot in my estate plan, who is able and capable to implement my desires and follow the story as I see fit?

Who is the personal representative that will marshal the assets on my estate, pay off the creditors, wait the four month statutory creditor claim period and start making distribution.

Who's who's well versed in this, who's knowledgeable and attention to detail, as well as who's the backup for that individual.

If they get hit by a bus and someone else needs to step in that role, is that a corporate fiduciary then, or another family member as well as the trustee role to if you have trust, you're going to need to name a trustee and a backup trustee.

So that's the three three main issues I'd come prepared.

Thank you, Jessica.

Matt, what are the three questions that all of us should answer before we meet with our wealth or investment advisor?

Sure.

I think there are quite a few more.

But its What are the three main ones?

Well, to to end a little bit, like I began, you know, one of the most important things an advisor can bring to the table is, there focus.

They're going to listen to you.

So, when you come to them, I think it's best to be prepared to answer or to think about what you want your money to do.

And we really encourage you to be specific.

If it's retirement is it retirement at 55, 58, 65, what does that look like that helps us when we begin thinking about the the financial plan, is it taking care of family?

I think that's an important consideration as well.

What does that mean?

Is it taking care of your children, getting them through college?

Is it taking care of your parents?

Another important one would be gifting.

Jessica spoken to this with the estate planning piece.

Who is it that you want to gift to?

How much we can focus?

We can fold that into the plan as well.

Another important consideration would be how much money do I need and when am I going to need it?

You know, earlier on I spoke about liquidity needs.

You're always going to need money for your ongoing your utilities, insurance, taxes, your groceries.

Down the road, you're also going to have one off expenses that are going to be, maybe they're unforeseen, but they're also things that you can plan for.

Maybe it's a roof, maybe it's a heater, maybe it's a car down the road.

You're also going to have life events that are significant, like a marriage.

Maybe it's a grandchild.

You want to have money earmarked for those so that you can travel so you can celebrate.

Another.

That's that's extremely important and very difficult to plan for, but you can address it.

Are emergencies.

You never know when something significant is going to change.

I mentioned a health event so you can prepare for those through insurance, but also just simply through the planning process.

Final one, and this helps us with the risk profile.

What concerns you most about your financial future?

Is it a is it a significant correction, you know, or a devastating event like the financial crisis?

Is it running out of money?

Is it not making it to retirement, or is it having to depend on family?

It can be anything.

But when we have a better understanding of what those are, it helps us to build that into a plan, refine it and help you ultimately.

So I think that would be the starting point, but there is so much more to consider.

Thank you.

Yeah.

That brings us to the end of our panel discussion.

I think that I have a lot to think about, and I'm sure all of you are kind of spinning as well.

We just crossed over my husband and I into the recent retiree.

And so we're navigating that oh the Will that we have is not relevant anymore.

And now we're spending as opposed to saving.

And it's it's a lot I mean it's a lot to get under.

So thank you so much.

And thank you all for being here tonight and for your thoughtful questions.

I'd also like to extend a very special thank you to Jessica, Andy and Matt for sharing your time and expertise with us today, and to Washington Trust Bank for partnering with KSPS PBS on this important conversation.

I hope you leave tonight with not only a little more confidence about estate planning, but also reminder that planning for the future is really about taking care of the people and the things that matter the most to you.

And perhaps that is what it means to truly plan it forward, to make thoughtful decisions today that can provide peace of mind for you and your loved ones, while carrying your values and the causes you care for into the future.

I'd like to share one final thought about legacy, particularly for those who feel a connection to KSPS PBS.

Unless a donor specifies otherwise, 90% of the bequests we receive are placed in the KSPS PBS endowment.

Sandy, who is here with us tonight, was instrumental in creating that endowment back in 2016.

At that time it was established It began with $125,000.

Today, that endowment has grown to more than 5 million.

And that growth is possible because of people who, like many of you, believe that something they valued should continue for generations to come.

That, to me, is the real power of a legacy gift.

It's not simply about leaving something behind, it's about helping ensure that something you believe in has a future.