Our goal is to avoid leaving a terrible mess when you go out. Too many people do not plan for their death.According to one study, only 46 percent of U.S. adults have a will. 2021 Gallup Poll. The remaining 54 percent are at the state’s mercy in how their assets are distributed.
According to Gallup, Americans 65 and older are the most likely to have a will, with just over three-quarters saying they have a will.
However, creating an estate plan is not enough. You should discuss your wishes with your heirs and why. You may also need to reconsider your instructions based on those conversations.
Among the things we discussed with our daughter was her desire to be cremated. We would like to set aside funds to help families in need of financial assistance and contribute to college funds for nieces and nephews.
The conversation then turned to a two-story colonial house that my husband paid off before he retired this year. Hallelujah!
Being able to pay off my debt fulfilled my long-held desire to keep my home in my family without a mortgage.
The house hosted relatives who needed a place to recover financially.the It is a central location for large families to gather for holidays, birthdays, college graduations, and more.
I envisioned at least one of our kids, all in their 20s, moving into the house when we were gone. Selling it was never part of our estate plan.
“Mom, we’re selling our house,” Olivia said.
“Well, it’s our home, our choice,” I shot back.
I explained to her again that we had talked about this many times and that black people needed to protect their homes. We are a people who have suffered greatly from systemic racism that has made it very difficult to become homeowners.
According to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, the black homeownership rate in 1940 was 22.8 percent, nearly half the white rate of 45.6 percent.
Until 1968, homeowners and real estate agents could legally refuse to sell homes to African Americans and other people of color. Financial institutions, with the support of federal policy, carved out parts of the city through a racially discriminatory system known as redlining. This allowed banks to deny home loans based on a homebuyer’s race. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 made these practices illegal.
Two years later, the black homeownership rate was 41.6 percent. Among white households, the figure was 68%.
More than 50 years later, black homeownership rates have remained largely unchanged. According to a recent announcement from the Federal Reserve, about 46% of Black families will own their homes in 2022. Survey on consumer finance. This compares to 73% of white families.
I started crying as I reminded Olivia that I had written about race in my “Sincerely, Michelle” series. That is, most Americans’ net worth is ultimately determined by their race. their home property. It is this capital that has created wealth for generations.
My grandmother, the great-granddaughter of enslaved people, saved up to have her mortgage forgiven before she retired. She instilled in me that I should keep her family home as much as possible.
No, ma’am, we won’t sell our house, I told my daughter after history class.
“Mom, I hear you, and I understand your passion for keeping our home,” she began. She is a social worker and therapist by her training, so her tone was calm and respectful.
Then she insisted on selling the house, which I had never considered.
“People who can’t afford paid housing may feel a certain sense of discomfort if one of us is left in charge of the house,” she says. “Besides, this house is too big for us. Wouldn’t it make more sense to take the money and invest it in the house we want?”
Olivia explained that after talking with her siblings, she would like to have her mortgage forgiven before she retires. With a mortgage or a small mortgage, they are free to put money into retirement accounts or save to send their kids to college debt-free, just like we did for them. Sho.
“Wouldn’t it still contribute to building our family’s wealth?” Olivia asserted.
I have advised families who stubbornly held on to their homes, which no one else wanted, but which ended up falling into disrepair because they didn’t have the funds to maintain the property. If one heir wants to keep the house but can’t afford the other heir’s share, a lengthy legal battle could result.
Of the 6% of Americans who own an inherited home or other property, about half do not use it as their primary residence, according to a Washington Post analysis of Federal Reserve data. About 4 percent of black Americans live in inherited homes, compared to about 3 percent of white Americans.
But just because your mom, dad, or grandparents made you swear you’d never sell, what’s the point in holding on to a home that’s unused or doesn’t provide positive cash flow? Or?
We are changing our will.
So I posed the following problem our ashes. “Would you like to display it on your shelf at home?”
“No, Mom, I don’t want your ashes,” Olivia said.
“Why don’t we put the ashes in a locket or turn them into diamonds?” I suggested as a compromise.
“Eh, no,” she said. “I will carry your memory in my heart and scatter your ashes in the ocean because you love the beach.”
So the kids don’t want the house or the ashes, and that’s okay. It’s not just what we want. That’s what’s best for them too.
