October is National Estate Planning Awareness Month. MMFA is here to help you with your plans! Recently, I had the opportunity to worship with Christ Moravian Church in Winston-Salem. The Rev. Reed Lawson and the Board had arranged for members to share different points about the church’s profound legacy. This legacy, which we all contribute to, is a testament to our shared faith and the impact we can have on future generations. Hearing Moravians from different generations share what the church had meant to them was incredible. Many of us have our legacy stories or experiences that have shaped our lives as followers of Jesus. Do we do anything with that?
I want to give you a simple acronym as you consider your plans and how you do something with your story. The acronym is WHAT.
W is for wills and papers. Everyone over the age of 18 needs certain documents. You can easily complete these tasks using the free tool on our website. You have the power to take control of your future with these simple steps:
- A valid Will – if you don’t want your state to decide what happens to your stuff, you need a will that has been appropriately executed in your jurisdiction. If you have minor children, your will needs to include provisions for guardianship for your children should something happen to you and their other parent simultaneously.
- A Durable Power of Attorney establishes who can make financial decisions on your behalf should you be unable to do so yourself.
- A Healthcare Power of Attorney establishes who can make healthcare decisions on your behalf should you be unable to make those decisions yourself.
- A Living Will establishes the level of care you want should you not be able to determine that on your own. It guides healthcare professionals so they can honor your wishes.
H is for heart. What are the things that are important in your life? What has formed you as a follower of Christ and influenced your major life choices? Do you want your great-great-grandchildren to know what you were about? Does your use of time, talents, and treasure align with those things? MMFA has tools and resources to help you identify, think through, and define your “H.” When you compare your actual activities and what is truly your heart, often, the two do not align. If you read this article, the church is not just a significant part of your H but an integral part. Are you making plans to support ministry more now and in the future?
A is for action. Do you do anything about it once you complete your paperwork and further define your heart matters? Do you properly execute all of your documents and tell your named powerholders where to find the documents and that you have named them to these roles? Does someone close to you know where you keep your passwords and important papers? If you have had a life change, like marriage or divorce, have you updated your beneficiary designations on retirement accounts? There are so many important matters in life that we put off to tomorrow. Make sure you take the appropriate action.
T is for telling others. Please share with your friends that MMFA is here to help. We serve as a resource for you, your church, and Moravians. We can help analyze plans and provide resources to assist you with decisions. Not everyone will read this article, look at a bulletin insert, or visit a website, but a referral from a friend goes a long way. Why do planned gifts matter to our ministries, and why would you tell people? Dr. Russell James from Texas Tech has researched various donors to find those who have a planned gift to an organization and automatically give between $3-$7,000 more dollars each year to that organization. When we plan a gift, we intrinsically want to help a ministry succeed while we are still actively part of the ministry. It is simply human nature and links back to matters of the heart. The last thing we want is a friend from your church to sit and wonder how to help the church or to have estate planning needs and not know where to start. You are our best resource. Please tell others.
So often, we make estate planning harder than it needs to be, but it is a necessity. We give so much of our time, talents, and treasure to the ministries important to us during life; why would we not include those when we graduate to the more immediate presence of our Savior?
