OUR HOSTS: 

Corinne Foxx - @corinnefoxx

Natalie McMillan - @nataliemcm and @shopnataliemcmillan 

What we're drinking: Sokol Blosser Evolution Pinot Noir 2020 

TOPIC: 

The thought of setting up wills, trust funds, and getting life insurance might seem like something that’s reserved for retirement, but in reality, it’s a smart thing to start thinking about in young adulthood. Today, we’re talking all about legacy planning, the purpose of making an official will, and the biggest benefits to having a trust. We also get into what you should consider when buying life insurance and how having that policy in place can help your loved ones after your passing. 

In this episode, we discuss:

• The steps to creating a will 
• Protecting your digital legacy 
• The difference between wills and trusts 
• How to set up a trust 
• The main question to consider when deciding if you should get life insurance 
• Why and when you should get life insurance 

END OF THE SHOW: 

Corinne and Natalie introduce Hottie of the Week: Will Ferrell

WINE RATING:

Sokol Blosser Evolution Pinot Noir 2020  = 7.5 / Will 

WRAP UP:

To wrap up the episode, we play Overrated/Underrated. Nat comes for a lot of people’s favorite movie with her hot take一she thinks that The Notebook is overrated, and The Hot Chick is underrated. Corinne thinks that Sour Patch Kids are overrated, and Buncha Crunch don’t get nearly enough credit when it comes to movie theater candy. 

We have a newsletter for our Am I community. You can sign up for the newsletter on our website: amidoingthisrightpod.com

You can email us for episode ideas or Random Advice: amidoingthisrightpod@gmail.com

Follow us on Instagram: @amidoingthisrightpod 

Don't forget to rate and review the podcast! It really helps us grow!

[00:00:05] Natalie McMillan: And I'm Natalie McMillan.

[00:00:17] Natalie McMillan: And each week we cover a new topic and we drink a new bottle of wine.

[00:00:31] Natalie McMillan: you don't really kind of mouth it, you know, what's so weird is as you were talking, I was thinking, is it weird that we say the exact same? Like we don't, we don't record this before we say it each time.

[00:00:45] Natalie McMillan: guess not weird, but just

What are you talking about

[00:01:03] Corinne Foxx: what are we talking about today? We are talking about leaving a legacy. How wills trust funds and life insurance work. And if you're young, we are young. Okay. This is not just for people who are 65. Plus this is forever. Okay, we're going to be talking about how to set up a well, what is a trust fund and why you should probably already have life insurance.

[00:01:29] Corinne Foxx: I didn't know, not thinking about this. We didn't think we needed any of these things. And by the end of researching this episode, we both were like, yeah, we need to get

And I did put current in my, well, I am

[00:01:50] Natalie McMillan: on my notes app, I

[00:01:54] Natalie McMillan: should, yeah. Should I pass in the event? Yeah,

Okay. What about your children? I

[00:02:20] Corinne Foxx: Okay. Anyways, before we get him to where I have a little announced speeches am. If you guys are a fan, the show that I co-host with my dad is coming back to Fox for our fifth season on May 23rd.

[00:02:40] Corinne Foxx: participate. Well, there, there some key terms, fast track, fast track,

[00:02:55] Corinne Foxx: to ask you that, like what ha being an audience member, a regular audience member, what's the craziest thing you've seen a lot of it's what happens in between

It can

[00:03:13] Natalie McMillan: air. They're under the air above the air. Okay. I'm sinking. I know there was one in between moment where there was like a full blown, there was a woman who was having like a solo dance. It was like a big, weird dance thing. And I think she was dressed as an elf.

So that was an interesting one. We always have someone every season that doesn't matter. Oh, there's always somebody that I don't know how we have audience members. I can just do backflips. I don't, they, they, they just come out and they flip around and they come and they just look, and these are just regular.

It's not like you hire them. Like, these are the audiences

[00:03:52] Natalie McMillan: And then the other thing I remember that was on air and I think it did actually air, but they were trying to beat Shizam and little red Corvette came on and she was saying it, but your dad got so excited that he thought he said he was prince.

And then everybody, they had to do this crazy. Like they had to stop the show for like 30 minutes and like, watch it back and see if he said. At all before her, which he didn't. Oh, he didn't. She started saying it before he did, but it was by like a quarter of a

Yeah, I know we can't rig it at all. And so like, they're super OCD about like our contestants, not knowing the songs that are going to be played. And like, sometimes I don't even know what's going to be played. Cause they, then I could technically tell a contestant, you know, it's like very, it's very official over here at beaches.

And so anyways, good air is May 23rd. Keep your eyes out. I've never watched it. It plays on Fox ears on Fox and then also on

[00:05:05] Corinne Foxx: Oh, gosh, Natalie's been trying to win

is

And I feel that for you and I, and I'm holding space for you. Thank you so much. And if I can't reg it, though, if you do, when it is not, I,

[00:05:28] Corinne Foxx: area. There we go. Okay.

But not first. What are we drinking? This epi? We're

[00:05:54] Corinne Foxx: said him. I just sit in Tencent,

Okay. We'll check back in at the end of the. Smokey smokey.

[00:06:15] Natalie McMillan: recently we've both personally had to deal with things like wills and trusts, and we realize we really have no fucking clue. Um, what they even are or how they work or how to even make one, if you are to need one, right.

Also had an am I right in, on our Instagram and ask if we could cover it. So we were like, all right, it's time to decode this shit.

Anyway. So it's like it's applicable. If you know nothing about. Neither did we, and here we go. Here we go. We're going to start with whales y'all and we're going to start with some recent statistics about Wells. So the number of young people with a whale has increased by 63% since 2020. Which that

[00:07:11] Corinne Foxx: sense.

Why do you feel like that has to attribute to one? We finally had the time to learn about it to the pandemic. Yeah. That we're all

[00:07:25] Corinne Foxx: Okay. In 20 21, 18 to 34 year olds are for the first time, more likely to have a well than 35 to 54 year old.

Oh, my God. Look at us out.

[00:07:43] Corinne Foxx: We love that for us. Despite COVID-19 the overall percentage of Americans with a will has not significant. Change. So it's just us and roughly 67% of Americans reported not having a will in 20, 21. Wow.

[00:08:04] Corinne Foxx: even us, when we went to research this, I was kind of like, we got

Yeah. We were like, oh my God, this is fascinating. And we also have to do

[00:08:14] Natalie McMillan: purpose of. The primary purpose of making a will is to choose beneficiaries, to receive all of your assets. Your beneficiaries may be family members or loved ones or an organization such as a nonprofit, which I didn't know.

I think that's really interesting. I love that. You'll also choose an executor who, someone who it's their job to carry out the wishes listed in the

[00:08:45] Natalie McMillan: have one. Yes. So if you pass away without a, will you are considered into state, into state, indistinct, into state, into state.

I don't know. Well, this just means that state laws will determine how your assets are distributed by the probate court, which. I'm having a will in place allows you to decide who will receive your assets, which can help reduce time costs and conflict in probate court. So let's get definition,

[00:09:19] Natalie McMillan: It is a segment of the judicial system that primarily handles such matters like wills estates conservatorships and guardianships.

[00:09:34] Natalie McMillan: or just get in the will because yeah. You can see how this would be like the thing that I'm going to give you in my kids.

Yeah. So the thing that I'm going to give you, and then your kids would give you if I didn't have a will, they wouldn't ever

[00:09:48] Natalie McMillan: be a conflict to the court in probate court. So let's talk about like, Steps to creating.

The executor or personal representative is the person who will be in charge of handling your estate. And can I just say that the word estate really throws me? It feels very, um, it feels very like Connecticut and we say a state, we just mean. We just need yours

My mom lives in a mobile home park now and she calls it the mobile estate. I mean, I love that. It really makes it seem elevated. Everything you

Administering an estate involves a lot of paperwork. This is not for your slacker friend who okay. And you should talk to this person ahead of time to be sure that they are. To accept the role and let them know where to find your important documents, such as your well insurance policies and passwords for online accounts.

And you should also just have a list of your online accounts and your password that gets you through. Yep. Yep. Cause you went missing. Okay. So step number two in creating your well is to make records of your property. And this includes real estate property, physical homes or land and personal property like stocks, bank accounts, jewelry, family heirlooms.

And not only that we'll fund them again. And if you own something jointly, you can only give away your share. For example, if you want a vacation home with your best friend, you can only give away your share of the ownership in your wealth. So you can't give somebody all of something you don't know.

So if you have children that are minors, they usually will go to your spouse. However, if you don't have a spouse, you will want to appoint someone else to be responsible for your children. In the event of an unexpected death, also consider where you would want your pets to go. I put that in my will where I want Zeplin to go.

Yeah. In my wheel, on my iPhone. But not real yet. The other thing is you want to protect your quote unquote digital legacy. So be sure that you share any relevant login information so that there's passwords or security questions with the appropriate people. A password manager can keep your sensitive information in one place, making it easier to transfer hands.

You might also need to include your computer password and phone pin for the people you choose to access these accounts. Also, this is something that's very, I wouldn't, I would not have considered this consider what you want to happen with your social media accounts. Do you want your Instagram to stay up forever?

Do you want it deleted? These are all things that you should consider that are relatively new when

[00:12:57] Natalie McMillan: it will delete

They have like a type of account. Oh. And then it just becomes more of like a wall that you can just like post memories on. Oh, that's really interesting feature. Interesting. So now what are some tips that can help you write your well,

So use very clear language and exact names when deciding who gets what be realistic too. So know which tangible assets like artwork or furniture you can bequeath to specific instead to specific people to avoid conflicts about splitting things

[00:13:49] Natalie McMillan: forever. You are not locked in.

You can amend it. And you should. So like, if you get married, if you get divorced, if you came into a large amount of money, if you win beat Shazam. Yeah. Yes. When beaches am, if you want to be stressed now, You should reconsider what your will entails and amending it is called

[00:14:13] Natalie McMillan: Go to sell, brought to you

[00:14:24] Natalie McMillan: you do. You do? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. It can't just, you have to, it has to be an officially.

Okay. Yeah. Okay. And your notes app will not stand up and will not stand up? No. Okay. That's just a rough draft, right? Okay. Gotcha. And then I'm probably going to have Kathleen file, whatever it is for me notarize it. Okay. But here's the other thing. So we've got wills, right. But then we've got,

I know, I know. So wills and trusts are legal instruments that ensure assets are passed down to heirs as per your wishes, helping to provide for the people and the causes close to your heart. Well, each can be a pillar of a state plan. You're a state,

[00:15:04] Corinne Foxx: of your state. Yes. Wills and trusts have key differences to consider from when they take effect to whether or how much they can be contested, depending upon your situation, you might need only one or the other, but some people end up actually using both to help achieve different outcomes.

So the main difference between a will and a trust is actually when they come into effect. Oh, okay. So a well comes into effect after the creator's death. Whereas a living trust comes immediately into effect after it is created. So when the creator is alive, they can control their trust. So if the person becomes incapacitated and can no longer make their financial or healthcare decision or dies, the person nominated by them.

Into handle their affairs and trust can cover property that actually wills can not such as life insurance policies or retirement plans. And like you said, a will actually can the stoke guardianship like an animal or child. So they actually like cover different things. So that's when you would have both.

Yes. And another key, key difference between wills. That actually, I think also like one of the most important is that your trust assets will not go through probate court. So your successor trustee can continue managing the trust as usual with no interruption caused by probate proceedings, which can be like lengthy and.

No, it's just like, it's, it doesn't have to do all that. It's less messy as less messy. It's very clear. Yes. So now let's get into like, what is a trust if you just didn't even understand it from that? Okay. So

Of a beneficiary, a trust greatly expands your options when it comes to managing your assets. Also, guys, assets seems really fancy. It's just like your money, your cash you have. Yes, yet. Yes. Yet. When you hear the words, trust or trust fund, the first image that may come to mind is like a wealthy family and a mansion with inherited wealth passed down generation generations, debt the estate, but you really don't have to be a member of.

Mr. Bill gates family, to set up a trust fund. You can just be a normal ass person. Trust are used for distribution of assets and not for personal property that has little monetary value. Yeah. So for example, you can put a painting in a trust because it may be in of incredibly high value. However, you cannot say that you want to give your cousin your favorite leather.

In your

[00:17:52] Natalie McMillan: Yes. You would put that in your will. Yes. You also cannot include custody in your trust. Like current had mentioned. So the main thing is that they're for financial distribution, right? Yeah. Right. So why would somebody need to.

And trust can hold different kinds of assets. Like we said, investments, accounts, houses, cars, for example, the big fat and largely the biggest benefit of having a trust is avoiding probate. Like we said before, and since there's generally no probate court process, when you have a living trust, there is no need to make your assets.

Or your personal wishes public. Uh huh. Cause if it would

[00:18:32] Corinne Foxx: court, they're public public. Yeah. And with the living trust, you can continue to protect your family even after you're gone. So delay distributions until children reach a certain age or they graduate, you can make sure money doesn't fall into the hands of creditors or ex-spouses and make sure.

Special needs children still qualify for benefits. So you can hold off on distributions until your children reach like a big milestone. Like we just said, you can basically create terms in your trust that you really can't create in your will. I have some friends that have a trust fund from their grandfather that said they can't get their money until they're 30, which I think is great.

Yeah. But those terms and conditions were written in the truck.

[00:19:17] Corinne Foxx: years old. Yeah, exactly. And a trust can also be used to ensure that your children don't lose their inheritance due to substance abuse, creditor problems or divorce. So sometimes through probate court, they can decide like you're not fit.

That's the same with like special needs children. Like you're not fit to, you know, inherit this money, but also like conservatorships and things like. That helps with trust. So in short, with a trust, you can dictate the terms of inheritance. And another benefit of having a trust is reducing the estate tax.

The federal estate tax is applied to an individual's assets when they die by placing our assets into a trust fund. Before you pass away, you minimize the size of your estate and could substantially reduce or eliminate the estate texting.

[00:20:10] Corinne Foxx: when we die. So you do actually a friend of mine passed away and my mom is doing his taxes.

Oh my God. I didn't consider

[00:20:24] Corinne Foxx: So now, how do we set up a trust?

The beneficiary. This is the person, group, or organization intended to benefit from the trust. They do not own the trust property, but have the right to receive the benefit of the property. As the trust allows, for example, a grandchild can receive distributions to pay for college. Gotcha. Then there's the trustee.

So the trustee is responsible for managing the property. By the trust a trustee can be an individual or an organization such as a bank or a law

Right.

Interesting. So it's really just your, your planning, where you want everything to go when you're done. Yup. With a lot of, uh, control, whereas wills are a little bit less. Yes. So how do we make a trust

So most grand tours opt to enlist the help of a professional estate or trust attorney. Um, you can ask friends, families, and colleagues for referrals. If you're doing, if you're comfortable doing so. And maybe you can work with a financial advisor. I've just put a pin in that. Yeah, I, I, a later episode. Yeah.

Yeah. And he, or she should also be able to point you in the right direction, stay in local bar associations, also list attorneys that will be familiar with state trust laws. And since fees can vary widely, you should compare prices as. Testimonials, you should also check whether your employer offers discounted estate planning services as part of their employee benefits package.

Interesting. I would've never thought that. I mean either, but would you say not like a trust is more important than a well, uh, and

As it sees fit. Yeah. In fact, a will is the most important part of your estate plan and you can make a will for free online. Oh wow. I know. Yeah. But that being said, having a will and a trust can help ensure that your money not only goes to who you choose, but also in the manner you choose.

The combo package is probably the way to go. Yes. And lastly, in this estate planning, epi, we're going to hit his life insurance insurance. Y'all I want to know all I know about

[00:23:54] Corinne Foxx: the licensure.

$500 a year or more, but the average cost is closer to $160 a year. So there's a pretty big discrepancy in perceived costs versus the actual cost of life insurance that gets not as expensive, less than $10 a month. Yeah. Then it's less expensive than people think. I

It seems fancy. It

And you should consider life insurance and terrain now. So let's get into what is life insurance, if you don't know what it is.

[00:25:43] Corinne Foxx: Okay. Isn't it along came Polly that Ben Stiller plays a life insurance

[00:25:56] Corinne Foxx: something like that. But I remember it being like, and he would go like, people don't like that.

Cause it's like, oh, if you ski even like your, your policy might be a little bit more like things like

And then that goes into like a pot basically. And then when somebody dies, then basically the whole question about, would your death financially impact the people in your life? That's why you have this setup. Yes, because let's say you are, you're the breadwinner you pass and your husband. Fuck,

It can be that, like, I was actually talking to my mom about, about life insurance and she was saying even Joe, like he would be so distraught with my death that he probably couldn't work for a year, you know? So like, or just like even writing him into my will and things like that. We're not married or anything.

Provide for him, but he would be so impacted by my death that it would actually affect his ability to work. Yes. You know, so it doesn't even have to be, if you're a breadwinner, it could just be like, who would this like actually financially impact we impact,

[00:27:14] Corinne Foxx: why should you, I mean, like you were just saying too, if you have a family, a business or others who depend on you, the life insurance benefit of a whole life policy acts as a financial safety net.

So when you die, your beneficiaries will receive a lump sum payment that is guaranteed to be paid in full provided. All premiums are paid and there's no outstanding loans and it's essential protection that you can carry. To be there for your loved ones when needed. So I want to put a pin

You don't know as somebody's end of life. If they have any money, like if it's in the will, like my kids get my whole checking account. Well, you're taking account could be $70. Yeah. This is guaranteed.

If the income you provide. Like suddenly disappeared with whole life insurance. You can make sure that your loved ones have the money. They need to help with like paying the mortgage, you know, affording health care, childcare, other services, covering tuition or other college expenses, eliminate household debt, preserve a family business.

Like all of these things that, you know, if you're like, oh shoot, if I die early, you know, what would I be able to provide for my children? The things that they're going to need down the line. All types of stuff, but there are actually two types of life insurance.

While term life insurance provides protection for a certain. Kind of self-explanatory. Yeah. So term life insurance is the most popular type of life insurance sold in 71% of purchasers actually get term life insurance. According to that insurance barometer report term life insurance provides coverage for certain amount of time and the premium payments stay the same amount for the duration of the policy.

So typical choices for policy length are 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 years. Permanent life insurance provides the lifelong coverage and is more expensive than term life because you know, it's your whole life. And it usually builds cash value. So the cash value component accumulates on a tax deferred basis over the life of the policy.

It acts as a savings portion of the policy. So typically you can borrow against the policies, cash value. Or make withdrawal. So if you decide to end the policy, you can get the cash value minus any surrender charge. And if you're like, what the fuck is all this? Basically you can take money out and you can get the cash value minus the surrender charge, which is like a fee you have to pay for 10.

[00:30:14] Natalie McMillan: makes sense. So I think my big question, Joanie here is when do you get

Oops.

It's a common misconception that it's a good idea to buy life insurance. Only after someone is dependent on the policy holder for income or services, even people without anyone, depending on them may want to plan ahead and get covered. That's because buying life insurance early on can result in lower premiums.

Like remember that health. Questionnaire thing. Like when you're younger, you have less going on. You're less risky, but also, you know, life milestones can also provide a simple answer to the question of when to get life insurance. Simply it may be a good idea to get a policy after getting married without life insurance.

Your spouse may be responsible for your debt. If you pass away to ensure your family is provided for in the future, it's recommended to get life insurance coverage. That's true. To 12 times your annual salary. Jesus. Quiet. That makes sense. If you make, if you make $50,000 a year, $500,000. Oh yeah. Okay. I know what you mean.

Yeah. Not should you buy life insurance right now, if you're listening and you're an AMA, what, what do you do? What do you do? You probably should

You postpone buying coverage.

[00:31:58] Natalie McMillan: So I'm like, God damn, I wish I got this when I was 18.

[00:32:08] Natalie McMillan: All of the above, all of the above, I take my will out of my, uh, phone and onto an actual document.

Yeah.

[00:32:30] Natalie McMillan: is lower? It was the peanut for Willamette valley 2020.

It's called evolution by I'm going to, I think it's so cold. Blocked.

[00:32:43] Natalie McMillan: idea for that? So we were trying to think of like, we're like, we don't want to put somebody that's like about to die. Who should the Hottie be? So then we thought, I, well, I guess I said like, who's somebody named Willis.

Yeah, like a

[00:32:57] Natalie McMillan: we'll will. So would you like to say who we've

[00:33:13] Natalie McMillan: No, no, our evolution now that it's opened up more. I not mad at it, but it's nothing that I'm like, oh my God, I'd give it an eight, seven.

I was

All right. This is the part of the episode where we play a little wrap up game. And this week it's overeat. Underrated, can we need a song? You got

Well, this is a fan favorite. So I think the movie, the notebook is overrated. I know. I'm sorry. I'm speechless. I know. Okay. Okay. I know.

[00:34:19] Natalie McMillan: do. And it's on the same theme as, um, it's Rachel McAdams movies. Okay. I think is

[00:34:27] Natalie McMillan: time traveling ones.

The time traveling we can't get into or wife, the other one, you're talking about the other one. I'm talking about the hot jet. Oh, the hot chicks of Maine is so underrated because I feel like people don't really, it's not like one of those things that everyone has seen by. I remember exactly where I was

I know what movie theater I went to when I was like, you know, 13 or

[00:34:53] Corinne Foxx: was walking out and feeling like that was one of the

[00:35:00] Corinne Foxx: love that movie. If you guys haven't seen it's Rupt Schneider

[00:35:05] Corinne Foxx: Adams,

Like they accidentally switched bodies. So then Rachel McAdams, who's like a high school girl is in the body of this like 40 year old man,

[00:35:23] Natalie McMillan: she's in her house. And she has to

[00:35:33] Natalie McMillan: By their cheats and liars, they have this whole, they such a big disgrace to second baseball baseball of. Underrated movie. That's a great one. Underrated.

I think sour patch kids are overweight.

[00:36:09] Corinne Foxx: good. I think like I enjoy it from time, but people lose their fucking minds over sour patch kids. I never

[00:36:17] Corinne Foxx: I like them though. I, no, it's like a very big cultural thing. There's a whole sub culture of sour patch, kids, people.

I think those are overrated. And I think under read it, it's bunch of crunch. What's bunch of crunch. Exactly. It's only asking movie theaters and it sell it anywhere else.

[00:36:40] Corinne Foxx: little rice Krispie balls dipped in.

And they're like it's yeah. It's like a chocolate rice crispy ball. You've never had, you've never seen this one. I've never even heard of

[00:36:52] Corinne Foxx: Oh yeah. Let me see. You've seen the box for a bunch of

[00:36:59] Corinne Foxx: never seen this.

You've never seen

[00:37:08] Corinne Foxx: bites. It's like a little, it's like a little rice dipped in and they're just like little, like little popcorns, but they're not corn. It's rice in chocolate.

[00:37:20] Corinne Foxx: Yes. Oh yeah. It's a crunch bar. Yeah. Okay. Wow. Oh my God. But they only saw them at movie theaters. I don't see them anywhere. Well,

[00:37:32] Corinne Foxx: to, oh, we'll put this in the story. You guys, you guys can vote. I mean, I do think people are doing. Not agree with me on, on sour patch kids.

And I do think you might, I think I I'm likely to get a lot of the times the notebook is people's favorite movie of all time.

[00:37:54] Corinne Foxx: it's overhyped. Yes, exactly. And I understand that I am

[00:38:01] Corinne Foxx: All right, you guys. Well, if you liked this episode, please rate and review it. We love when you guys rate and review, we love reading your reviews. So go ahead and review us on apple podcast. You can also write in for random advice. I am I doing this right pot@gmail.com or write in for like a requested episode.

We do a lot of the episodes that you guys. Oh, yeah. Like this one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We love when you guys ask us to cover certain topics. So we would love to do it. Also. You can sign up for our newsletter. Am I doing this right? pod.com and like always we'll be back next week with another episode. I love you.

Love you guys.