Are Your Beneficiaries up to Date?

by Kristin Smith

Your phone, your wardrobe, your contact information. These three things have something in common. Can you guess what it is?

If you said, “you update all of them,” give yourself a pat on the back (sorry, we don’t actually have prizes for the correct answer). You update these things regularly, but how often do you update your beneficiaries?

What’s new with you?

If you haven’t reviewed your beneficiary designations recently, ask yourself these questions:

• Has your marital status changed?   
• Have you had a child?
• Have you changed jobs recently?

If you answered “yes” to any of these, you probably should do a quick beneficiary designation review. Why is it important? 

• Grief is already hard enough – The people you care about will already be dealing with a lot if something should happen to you. By keeping everything up to date, you can help make the whole process a little easier for them.     
• Secondary = just as important – If something happens to your primary beneficiary, your secondary beneficiary is next. Make sure to keep your contingent beneficiaries up to date, too.
• What will? – Certain things, like life insurance policies, bank, and retirement accounts take precedence over your will. If the identified beneficiary of those policies and accounts don’t match your will, then your assets could go to someone you don’t want them to.

Regular updates aren’t limited to just your phone, wardrobe or contact information. Keeping your selected beneficiaries up to date is a simple step that you can take toward protecting your family’s financial future.