How do you wish to give effect to your wishes about your wealth when you are no longer around to do so?

When you reach retirement, it is often a big adjustment. Your source of income may have changed, and you may face other lifestyle changes too. It also brings into focus the reality that you won’t always be around or capable of giving effect to your wishes about your financial affairs. At Nedbank Private Wealth we have advisers and experts in technical estate planning who will understand your priorities and can help you structure an estate plan to give effect to your wishes about your wealth. Whether you have local or international assets, we understand that estate planning is not a ‘one size fits all’ process and provide solutions that are tailored to you.

We simplify the process by taking a close look at your unique financial situation and your wishes.

The first step is to ensure that you:

• have a valid and executable will,
• know and plan for the costs associated with dying (the tax implications and practicalities of what happens with a deceased estate); and
• make provision for these costs to avoid having to sell assets and creating financial hardship for your loved ones.
  
  

Our advice will help you with the following:

• Planning your estate to ensure that it is structured optimally, both during your lifetime and after your death. This will help you minimise the impact of costs and taxes.
• Being confident that your wealth is structured optimally according to the latest local and international legislation, regulations and best practice.
• Enjoying peace of mind, knowing that your family will benefit from your wealth long after your death.

Having an estate plan ensures that your estate is distributed as you wish, before and after your lifetime.

It also makes life easier for your beneficiaries, loved ones or those to whom you wish to bequeath specific assets or your wealth in general. Except for death, there are other scenarios to look into that can help you plan your estate better.
 

Examples:

• If you were to be incapacitated, will your loved ones be able to access your finances through a discretionary trust and not through wills and administrators or curators?
• In the case of insolvency, assets held in your company, endowment policy or a discretionary trust can also be very useful.
• Under the right circumstances these structures protect assets from creditors – enabling you to still provide for your loved ones.

Trusts have a life beyond yours, and can be instrumental when transferring wealth between generations.

It is important to know and understand the different tax implications on different kinds of trusts. We constantly keep abreast of tax changes and how they affect your investments. It is our job to provide advice and help you make informed decisions about any wealth structures you need to mitigate additional tax burdens for your heirs.

We can help you keep your legacy intact and determine the following tax implications:

1. The rights of beneficiaries, as these rights inform who, between you and your beneficiaries, are liable for tax.
2. If the trust was funded by a donation or through a loan, as there are different tax implications within each and across both scenarios.
3. Tax provisions or principles of different types of trusts, as different principles are subject to specific provisions.

The process of preserving, sharing and transferring wealth is a complex one, but it is doable and can be a success. Our goal is to ensure you enjoy the benefits of your hard work throughout your lifetime, while creating better outcomes for your loved ones in future.

Reach out to your wealth banker or financial adviser. They are ready and equipped to help you finetune the details of your estate.

Want to know more?

• Contact your wealth banker.
• If you’re not a client yet and want to find out more about how we can help you, we would love to hear from you. Call us on 0800 111 263 or complete an online contact form.
• To find out more about how we can assist you with your retirement planning, click here.