Losing a beloved family member is always tough, but when said person is the primary wage earner, it can be even tougher. What’s even worse is if the loss comes out of the blue—at an early age, due to an accident, or without any foretelling signs. This leaves the family not only grieving but also in a tight financial spot.
While unpleasant to think about it, you should put in place some mechanisms to ensure that your family won’t be left struggling financially in case you pass away.
Invest
Before the internet investing was a somewhat involved process. Now, you can get data on virtually every investment opportunity that exists. From art to properties, and from petrol to cryptocurrencies, there are investment options for every budget and skill level. There are also numerous platforms that can unify all your investment data under a single dashboard.
The beauty of investing is that if you do it well it can let you live a comfortable life and still generate income for your family after your time. What’s more, these days investing can be as simple as installing an app or letting an AI do it for you. There is even an app that invests your spare change.
Build a Business
Building a family business has never been easier. You can take advantage of a ton of opportunities to raise a business from the ground up even if you don’t have the money.
Many online businesses, like freelancing or opening an online store, require very little initial investment. For something more demanding you can opt for a bank loan or turn to crowdfunding.
Once the business has picked up you can come up with an operations plan to ensure that your venture will be successful even after you are gone. Some family businesses have been successful for centuries thanks to strong family traditions. Did you know that Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan-a Japanese hotel has been run by the same family since 705 (no, it’s not a typo)?
Passive Income
If building a business, even a part-time one, sounds like too much of a hassle for you, there are still ways to run your own thing and make money, but with little oversight. What you need is something that generates passive income which is a prevalent topic in Robert Kiyosaki’s famed book “Rich Dad Poor Dad.”
If you are not familiar with the concept, passive income is something between a business and a long-term investment. It requires little of your time, like a long-term investment, but generates regular income like a business. Examples range from publishing books to renting out properties.
Get Insured
Getting life insurance is a popular way of ensuring that your family will have something to lean on after your passing especially if you are the primary breadwinner. Of course, how much they’ll get depends on many factors just like your premium is tied to how much of a risk the insurance company considers you to be.
If you are living a healthy life, have no chronic conditions and are young, your premiums are likely to be at a standard rate with nice coverage. Things get more complicated, however, if you indulge in unhealthy habits, have diabetes or a heart condition which are getting very common. Here you can find more about getting life insurance for people with heart disease.
Make Smart Decisions
Leaving your family something after your passing means making smart financial decisions while you are alive.
Making unnecessary expenses, not having a budget and not thinking about the future are not smart moves. On the other hand, living within your means, planning your expected income and expenses, and preparing for retirement and unforeseen circumstances are wise moves.
Being smart with your money doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy life. Here you can find plenty of tips on how to have fun and save at the same time.
Teach Your Family to Do the Same
Teaching your family how to make smart decisions with their money is a free but very powerful way to leave them a fortune that will last them a lifetime. It’s especially important to teach kids the value of money and time, and how to make the best use of both.
It won’t hurt to sign up for a course on financial planning and get your whole family on board. Financial literacy is something that should be taught in school, and while it’s becoming more common to do so, primary educational institutions still have some catching up to do.
Get Your Affairs in Order
Even if you are in your prime days, you never know what the future holds for you. The earlier you get your affairs in order the more safety you’ll bring to your family.
“Affairs” is a colloquialism for taking care of your will and other legal matters such as estate planning and appointing trustees in case you are incapable of making rational decisions (ex.: due to coma, Alzheimer’s, dementia, etc.).
Something to consider, however, is that you should regularly update these files as your material means change.
As you see, inheritance is not only for the rich. You can build assets to leave behind even without having much money upfront. Knowing that your family will be taken care of after you are gone brings a sense of relief and even pride in knowing that you’ve done everything in your power to be of use to them even after your journey ends. It’s also an opportunity to build something that will keep your name alive.
