As a lawyer, I am aware of the fact that lawyers get a bad reputation when it comes to charging high rates. However, when it comes to estate planning, so much time is spent educating people on their options. This is done because estate planning is complicated and not something you should do on your own. This is why many people think that estate planning is costly, but at Sechler Law Firm we make it more affordable.
For years it bothered me that I should be doing things differently with my estate planning practice. I could not quite decide what it was. We had many clients, and they chose the plans they thought suited their needs. I couldn’t see anything wrong with that, until I realized what the problem was. Essentially our clients didn’t know what they needed, and they were guessing which ‘tool’ they would need based on the cost.
Since providing education on estate planning takes time, which is costly based on the billable hours, I was determined to find a way to provide the education at no cost. When I figured out how to do this, we made changes in our law firm. We also decided to eliminate the guessing game, and just provide a full toolbox. By doing so, our clients would have a toolbox containing all the tools they would likely need. Our clients are now able to make the best decisions for their family.
It has been 18 months since we instituted some new processes, creating two new offerings for our clients. The first of these offerings, is our series of classes where we provide free education in a group setting. We often get asked by people which is the best plan for them – a Will or a Trust. This is because most of them don’t understand how these estate planning tools work. Once you understand how each ‘tool’ works, you can decide if it’s the right tool for the job. Instead of just getting a Will, you might decide that having a good estate plan is what you really need. The estate plan includes some other tools which suit your needs more.
This is why we recommend our “Three Secrets to Protect Your Legacy” Workshop. We teach you all about the different estate planning documents or ‘tools’, including wills, trusts, powers of attorney and the different types of trusts. We hold classes in groups to provide the education, because we found that we were often asked the same questions. Doing these group sessions makes it more affordable for you to do estate planning, as we don’t have to charge billable hours. You can register for one of these workshops, which we host in person, at various locations across greater Pittsburgh. Visit our website to register for a workshop HERE.
Our other exciting offering is our ongoing membership program, called our Red Wagon Club. We have over 350 families in our Red Wagon Club, many of whom have joined over the last year. These are people who want to protect their family, and who came to our classes not knowing much about estate planning. They realized that joining the Red Wagon Club was in their family’s best interest, not only to do estate planning, but to have an ongoing relationship with our law firm.
One of the core values or tenets of the Red Wagon Club, is that we believe you deserve a fully loaded toolbox. Instead of having to choose between a Will, or screwdriver, and a Trust, or hammer, you can have both. The problem is that we don’t know what’s going to break next and what tool we will need to repair the item. By the same token, you don’t know if your child is going to go through a divorce or how much money you will have when you pass away. You also don’t know if you’re going to be one of three people who will need long term care.
Your biggest financial risk in life is probably what happens if you get dementia and need long term care. Nursing homes cost $150,000 a year currently, and the cost will continue to increase each year. Nobody wants to lose their life savings to long term care costs, when they have the opportunity to protect their assets.
It concerns me how many people go to a law firm wanting an estate plan, only to be told they only need a Will. We urge caution when going to a law firm that does not only offer estate planning. A law firm that does traffic tickets, divorces and litigation will tell you that you don’t need a trust. This is because they’ve never written a trust. They are often happy to send you on your way after you have paid for a Will which is not enough to protect your assets.
You would be concerned about planning for homeowners insurance if one out of three houses was at risk of catching fire. This means that if you are not insured and your house burns down. You will also lose a lot of money and your home and belongings. By the same token, what would happen if you are one in three people who gets dementia? Maybe you would need long term care in a nursing home. You could end up going broke, paying for long term care. Once you take the time to understand that you can protect yourself from that risk, you would consider using more than just one ‘tool’ to do that.
If this resonates with you, take action and register for one of our Three Secrets Workshops where you will learn about the various estate planning tools. By doing so, you can make an educated decision to protect yourself, your family and your assets. Don’t wait until next month – do it today while you are able to do something. Life is fragile… we never know what the future holds.
We look forward to meeting with you and hope to welcome you as our client to the Red Wagon Club.
