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A significant portion of the population does not have children, and careful financial and wealth planning for these individuals and couples requires a clear understanding of their goals, ambitions, and intentions. The conventional priorities that often revolve around funding a child’s education or safeguarding dependents will hold less relevance for them.

Through 2048, an estimated $124 trillion in wealth is expected to pass from older to younger generations in the U.S. Additionally, $50 trillion will pass laterally to surviving spouses, the large majority of whom will be women, before making its way down to children. Known as the Great Wealth Transfer, it comes with responsibility for both the owners and inheritors of wealth. Here, five steps are outlined to help you and your family prepare for the change that also represents a shift in power with younger generations stepping into their financial strength.

For young adults, heading off to college often represents a major adjustment to adulthood and independence. One aspect of this transition is understanding the importance of financial well-being. By knowing the basics of personal finances and creating clear goals, students can set themselves up to succeed during and after their college years. Here are some tips for college students to consider, including building a credit history and organizing estate planning and other essential documents.

For many business owners, their tax accountant has been with them for years, and therefore understands the business, along with some aspects of the industry, key employee roles, and family dynamics at play. In addition, a tax accountant who is viewed as a trusted advisor is in a key position to help a family-owned enterprise think through some of the most pertinent questions when it comes to succession planning.

Families of wealth often want to help their relatives financially but are justifiably concerned about what those individuals will do with the money and how having access to significant sums might affect their values and behavior. While making family trust distributions is a way to provide discretionary income, it’s a framework that gives the trustee control over when and how much money to give to a beneficiary. However, that process is not collaborative.

Whether you and your family split financial responsibilities or delegate them to one person, it is critical for your family members to have access to all your financial information. Use this guidebook created by Northern Trust to detail the location of important documents, accounts, and plans. Designed as a fillable and easy-to-update resource, it will guide your wealth planning discussions and help you gain an understanding of what you own and what you owe, develop a plan in case of an emergency, and understand how your wealth transfer plans will be fulfilled.