Have you simply not gotten around to doing your estate planning yet? Do you have some vague idea about what you want to do with your assets someday and how you want to write a will, but you haven’t actually taken any steps to get that plan in place?
If so, you should know that you are definitely not the only one. Studies have found that most Americans (60%) do not have a will.
Now, some of it may depend on your age. Although even many of those who are over the typical retirement age do not have a will, the percentages are smaller than they are for young people. For instance, for baby boomers who range in age from 53 to 71, the study found that 58% had done some estate planning. When comparing that to millennials who range in age from 18 to 36, they found that 78% hadn’t done their planning yet.
Of course, you can make the argument that even young people need a will, especially if they have young children. So why don’t people do it? The top two reasons were that they felt like they didn’t own enough assets (29%), and that they merely had not yet gotten around to doing their estate planning (47%).
As you can see, people often put off estate planning or think of it as something they only have to do later in life. That can be a mistake if you pass away unexpectedly. It is very important for you to know what steps you can take to provide the best future for your family at any age.
