4 Reasons Why Having a Will is Frugal
A will is something no one ever thinks about until they are older. Most think they wont need one until later, so why worry about it now? Until we started listening to Dave Ramsey, I didn’t even think about it. But as I looked into it a bit I saw how expensive It can be to make a will. If you have some connections to a law professional or someone who knows about wills they can be easier and less expensive, but it still can get pretty pricey. But, if you want to live frugally a big part of that is protecting the things you have and sharing what you have with others.
So I put together a list of 5 reasons creating a will is a frugal thing to do.
- Having a will protects your money and assets that you worked so hard to have and keep nice. You work hard to maintain the things you have so you don’t have to spend a ton of money replacing those things through your life. You scrimp and save so you can afford something nice, don’t you want that thing protected so it goes to someone who will treat it with the same respect as you? When you create a will you do just that. Assign your assets to the person you think will treat it the best.
- If you have a family, it is insurance for them. Insurance on your family can cost lots of money. It is important to have life insurance, but what happens to that insurance money when they receive it? Who takes care of your children and manages the money you leave for them? When you create a will you assign a care taker for your children and you designate what happens to the funds you leave for your children. All of these insures your money is used in the right way.
- After you die, having a will eliminates a lot of the cost of probate court. Probate court is a long and costly process. If you have no will it is even longer and more costly. A lawyer has to be hired to take you through the process and to manage everything in court. This is the most costly part of the things that have to happen. But when you have no will, that lawyer has to take all the information to the court to get someone assigned to manage the estate and then the lawyer has to take that person through the process. This is added time, stress and money. Some lawyers that do estate wills and such cost around $300-$500 an hour, so it could be REALLY expensive to have them put in the extra time.
- It gives you peace of mind so less to think about and less is more. In frugal living less is more. Having less to worry about and contend with saves you lots of money. If a will does nothing else in your life, it gives you peace of mind, knowing that everything will be ok and that your money, assets, and all that is important to you will be protected and used as it should.
Do you have any reasons a will would be frugal? I would love to hear about it in the comments section!
I would also like to add having a Will is necessary ***in addition*** to burial arrangements. We’ve had a situation of a distant relative who maybe needing arrangements made for them (this person had a severe stroke and the hospitol wasn’t sure if this person would make it or not). Anyhow, the cost for cremation ($1450 – no services just cremation) and burial ($1400 – being buried with a spouse, again no services) – not including $35 to mail the remains certified and insured, plus the cost of an urn (the funeral home in another state recommended purchasing one at Pier One or Cost Plus Imports where their much less expensive since the urn will be buried.). All in all this older person (in their 80’s) hasn’t taken care of any of these expenses – and gosh I’m not sure who will pay for all this. It’s a sad situation and I wouldn’t want want my family in this situation.
That is a great point Robin. If you have the means, it is always helpful to have these things taken care of before you are in the situation.