Estate Planning as You Approach Retirement
You've spent decades building this. Now decide where it goes.
Retirement is when estate planning shifts from theoretical to practical. A few updates now can save your family confusion later.
Why estate planning matters as you approach retirement
The estate plan you made at 40 rarely matches your life at 65. The children are grown, the assets have changed, and the people you named as trustee and agent may no longer be the right choice — or may no longer be around to serve.
Federal estate tax is very unlikely to be your problem: the exemption is $15,000,00026 USC 2001(c), 2010; P.L. 119-21 §70106Verified Jul 13, 2026View source per person, $30,000,00026 USC 2001(c), 2010; P.L. 119-21 §70106Verified Jul 13, 2026View source for a married couple with portability. State tax is the one to actually check, because the thresholds are far lower — 12 jurisdictions levy their own estate tax and 5 tax your beneficiaries on what they receive. If you are planning to retire somewhere new, that is a number worth knowing before you go.
Retirement is also when incapacity planning stops being abstract. A financial power of attorney and a healthcare directive are what keep your family out of a guardianship court if you are ever unable to act for yourself, and stale documents are their own problem: institutions grow reluctant to accept a power of attorney signed twenty years ago, and the agents you named may have moved, aged, or died. Re-signing every five to ten years is what keeps them usable.
What you need to know
1
Beneficiary designations
Your retirement accounts pass by beneficiary, not by your trust. Review what's on file — designations you made 20 years ago may not reflect your current wishes or family structure.
2
Required minimum distributions
Once you hit the RMD age, you must start withdrawing from traditional retirement accounts. How you take distributions affects your taxes and how much you leave behind.
3
Healthcare directives
Document your wishes for medical care — resuscitation, life support, pain management. Name someone you trust to make decisions if you can't speak for yourself.
4
Powers of attorney
Healthcare and financial POAs need to name people who are available, capable, and willing. Update if your original choices no longer make sense.
5
Long-term care
Most people will need some form of long-term care. How you'll pay for it — insurance, savings, Medicaid planning — affects how you structure your assets now.
6
Simplify where you can
Multiple accounts, old business entities, property in different states — complexity creates problems for the people who have to sort it out later. Consolidate what you can.
Your retirement checklist
Review beneficiary designations on all retirement accounts
Confirm your trust reflects your current assets and wishes
Name (or update) your successor trustee
Create a Healthcare Power of Attorney and Financial Power of Attorney
Complete a healthcare directive with your medical wishes
Evaluate long-term care insurance or funding strategy
Consolidate old 401(k)s and scattered accounts where practical
If you own property in multiple states: confirm each is titled in your trust
Confirm your trustee and agents know where to find your documents
Tell your family the plan exists — they don't need details, just awareness
Frequently Asked Questions
If your documents are more than five years old, or if you've had major life changes — retirement, moving states, death of a spouse, change in family relationships — it's time to review. At minimum, confirm your named trustees, agents, and beneficiaries are still the right people and still available.
They pass directly to whoever you named as beneficiary — not through your trust or will. If you named your spouse, they can roll it into their own IRA. Non-spouse beneficiaries generally must empty inherited accounts within 10 years under current rules. Worth a quick check that your beneficiaries are current.
It depends on your goals and their situation. Lifetime gifts use your gift/estate tax exemption and don't get a stepped-up basis. Inherited assets do get the step-up, which can save your heirs capital gains taxes. If your children have creditor or divorce exposure, keeping assets in trust may offer more protection than an outright gift.
Medicaid has a five-year lookback on asset transfers, so last-minute moves don't work. Options include long-term care insurance, hybrid life/LTC policies, or strategic spend-down planning. If Medicaid eligibility matters to you, talk to an elder law attorney before you need care — not after.
They do not expire, but they do go stale. The people you named twenty years ago may have moved, aged, or died, and banks are entitled to be careful: they are the ones on the hook if they honor a revoked document. 31 states have adopted the Uniform Power of Attorney Act, which obliges institutions to accept a conforming power of attorney and gives them a process rather than a veto — but in the other states a bank can simply decline an old or unfamiliar form. Re-signing every five to ten years is the cheapest insurance there is; check what your state requires.
As life happens, SimplyTrust
New Baby or Adoption
Your family is growing. Your protection should too. Guardian nominations, trusts for minors, beneficiary updates, and the documents new parents need in place.
Marriage
What married couples need in place: one joint trust or two, wills, beneficiary updates, and the spousal rights your state grants you automatically.
Divorce
What divorce does and does not undo: beneficiary designations, your will, powers of attorney, and the one account your ex stays on until you change it.
Loss of a Spouse
What a surviving spouse needs to do: death certificates, survivor benefits, whether probate is even required, and the tax election that expires.
New Home
How to put your house in a revocable trust: the deed you record, what it does to your mortgage and property taxes, and when a TOD deed is simpler.
Inheritance
Inheriting assets brings responsibility. How to manage, protect, and plan for inherited wealth — including tax implications and trust options.
Serious Diagnosis
A serious diagnosis changes priorities. Healthcare proxies, financial powers of attorney, and the documents that ensure your wishes are honored.
Moving to a New State
State laws vary significantly for wills, trusts, and powers of attorney. What to review after relocating to make sure your estate plan still works.
Death of a Parent
A step-by-step guide to what happens after a parent dies: the documents to find, the certificates to order, and whether probate is even required.
Named as Executor
What an executor actually does: getting appointed, notifying creditors, paying debts and taxes, and where personal liability starts.
Named as Trustee
Being named trustee means managing trust assets and carrying out the grantor's wishes. Your duties, timeline, compensation, and how to get started.
