Estate Planning Habits by Age

In a recent survey, investors with a net worth between $100,000 and $1,000,000 were asked three questions about their approach to establishing an estate plan; in addition to providing a total percentage for each question, these answers were also broken down by age group. The answers were somewhat surprising:

Have I received estate plan advice from my advisor?

Of those age 65 and over, only 25% had received advice from their primary advisor about an estate plan. That’s the good news. For those people under 65 years of age, the numbers only get worse: ages 55 to 64, only 19% had received advice; ages 45 to 54, only 12%; and, for those under 44 years of age, only 10% had received estate planning advice.

Will I seek advice about this in the future?

This time, the 65-and-over group had the lowest percentage with only 16% stating that they would seek advice in the future. Fortunately, those in the youngest age groups were almost three times as likely as their older counterparts to seek advice.

Do you feel that you do not need this type of advice?

Once again the oldest group led their junior counterparts, but not by much. Of the 65 and over group, 42% stated they didn’t need this type of advice, but the people under 44 years of age were close behind with 38% claiming that they did not need advice about planning their estate.

These statistics are not only revealing, but alarming, as your loved ones may not be taken care of without a proper estate plan in place when you die.