Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Warren Buffett wants you to talk to your family about your will. The legendary stock picker, 94, shared his strategy this past week for how to pass wealth on to the next generation while minimizing family conflicts.
His advice is applicable, he says, even if you aren’t a billionaire like he is. In comments released Monday to shareholders of his company, Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett offered a simple but often overlooked estate-planning suggestion for parents: “When your children are mature, have them read your will before you sign it," he wrote. “Be sure each child understands both the logic for your decisions and the responsibilities they will encounter upon your death." “You don’t want your children asking ‘Why?’ in respect to testamentary decisions when you are no longer able to respond," Buffett wrote in the letter, which also announced a gift of about $1.15 billion of his Berkshire shares to four family foundations.
Buffett, who has been donating big chunks of his fortune to those foundations and other charities for years, is currently worth about $150 billion. Discussing the contents of your will is a tactic that is heartily endorsed by estate planners and financial advisers. Buffett’s letter, said Sean Maher, an estate planner in Audubon, Penn., is a “call to action to be very transparent and not have surprises in your will." Sharing and discussing the contents of a will can be emotionally difficult for parents and adult children.
Many feel uncomfortable talking about money and death. And parents often fear disclosure could create conflict among their children. But if you keep your wishes under wraps until you’re gone, those conflicts are likely to surface anyway, estate planners
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