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In today’s new normal economic, political, and social environments are routinely in a state of flux. In such times, optimizing investment performance, mitigating risk, and managing the cash flows of family assets becomes a challenging task. Adding to this, long-term preparation will also include planning for the consequences of mortality. However, a succession plan for family wealth and the family business is crucial as it can go a long way in ensuring a structured transfer of best wealth management software and control to the next generation.
Without a clear succession plan and the absence of a Will, acrimonious conflicts are likely where the next generation will be left scrambling to find financial records to prove ownership of assets. Add to that the lengthy procedural and legal formalities in the case of disputes or missing records.
Since you can’t take your money with you, what you can do is choose to leave your financial affairs in order. Start with these basic steps to avoid leaving behind a chaotic mess.
1. Consolidate asset and liability records
Scattered and disjointed records are the biggest challenge. The first step is to consolidate these by using a single platform to update and monitor your wealth. Select a secure technology platform that supports uploads and auto-syncs to reduce data entry, keeps the information up-to-date, and most importantly allows for the aggregation of multiple classes of assets and liabilities:
- Liquid Investments – direct equity, mutual funds, bonds, bank balances etc.
- Real Estate – residential and commercial properties, real estate funds
- Private Investments – private equity, venture capital, hedge funds, direct investments etc
- Collectibles – art, jewellery, etc.
- Insurance – sum assured, general insurance
- Liabilities – credit cards, loans, mortgages, insurance premium
2. Fill in compliance gaps and assign nominees
Once consolidated records are in place, you can access a snapshot view of your assets and check if they are held in single or multiple names and whether nominees have been registered or not. Based on this you can take action to add names, assign nominees, or include clear instructions for the inheritance of indivisible assets like real estate, jewellery, art, etc in your succession plan.
3. Maintain a secure digital record of important documents
Always maintain soft copies of the original personal financial planning software documents as a backup. A software platform like Asset Vantage allows you to store vital documents like a Will and important financial documents tagged to your entities or transactions for easy reference. You can also assign secure and selective access to your lawyers and accountants to retrieve this information as and when it’s needed.
Are you thinking, “I’ll take care of it later”? But you haven’t put off buying insurance, have you? So, think of a succession plan as premium-free insurance for your loved ones. It will enable a smooth transition, reduce costs and time to transfer assets thus ensuring greater flexibility and liquidity for your heirs.
Consolidating all your assets and liability records on a single technology platform gives you the added benefit of easily monitoring your wealth and enables financial decisions based on aggregated reports and insightful analytics.
