It Turns Out That an Overwhelming Number of Americans Are Simply Uncomfortable or Unclear About the Estate Planning Process
published 5/21/2024
New research shows that Americans, not surprisingly, are uncomfortable with the prospect of investing, retirement planning and estate planning. A study of more than 5,000 individuals put forth by the group, Hearts & Wallets, identified that individuals who are late career between the ages of 53 and 64, and people who are likely to retire within 5 years have discomfort when it comes to retirement planning, investing and estate planning.
All three of these financial issues are an important component of looking ahead to the future, particularly as it relates to the fact that longevity is increasing in the United States and people have more questions about setting up estate planning goals in line with their needs and retirement planning in line with having to support themselves for a longer period of time. More than 25% of individuals who participated in the study said that estate planning was very difficult or somewhat difficult for them. This was an increase of 2% in 2015.
Even though those individuals recognize the value of estate planning, only 8% of them had actually sought out help from an Ohio estate planning attorney in the previous 18 months. Many people are uncomfortable with the topic and don't understand how to incorporate it into their regular schedule.