In honor of the passing of Sean Connery.
Can we all agree that the famous character James Bond has wildlife? Let’s be honest, the original James Bond, Agent 007, played by actor Sean Connery, was the best Bond of all. Maybe next in line is Bond’s most recent role in Spectre, a 2015 Bond movie starring Daniel Craig.
Attorney Michael Monteforte grew up watching Bond films. When he was a kid, his dad used to let him stay up “past his bedtime” to watch them. Their favorite was Goldfinger – the movie had a super cool villain, the theme song was classically awesome, and contained one of the most death-defying scenes, where Goldfinger strapped Bond to a table and had a laser beam inching toward him (Do you expect me to talk? No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!). Talk about “shaken, not stirred!”
Back then, every kid wanted to be 007. A secret agent with the coolest car, hippest clothes, hottest ladies, and awesome gadgets. He was straight-up smooth, never lost his cool. Plus, he could beat anyone at poker and kick anyone’s butt!
Well, this daredevil in his thirties does have some crazy tendencies and a super dangerous job that will surely need a secure estate plan in place. Just to be safe! So, what does that mean for our crazy, gambling, drinker, and smoker...God forbid anything happens to him!
Attorney Michael Monteforte created an estate plan catered for Bond.
The first thing Michael suggested Bond have is a Last Will and Testament that handles his estate if he were killed in the line of duty. He would also need a proper Power of Attorney and Health Care Proxy incase he became incapacitated (think, stuck in a coma). These three documents are the foundations to any estate plan. Michael calls them the "Big 3" and he even wrote a report based on them (download the free report here).
Michael also recommends a Retirement Trust. This Trust would deal with Bond's pension from Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Bond, we assume, earns a bit more than your average income but at this point in his career, it is hard to say if he has saved enough to worry about estate taxes, or if he blew it all on alcohol, and gambling. Since he always seemed to win any time he gambled, let’s assume so. We think he should look into some estate tax savings tools. Yes, the homework may be boring but we make it easy to understand in our free report, Avoiding Estate Taxes. Don't worry, you can thank us later.
As we know, Bond was a huge car lover!
On top of all his cool expensive gadgets, he has and his amazing Aston Martin. Talk about a speed demon (with an ejector seat!) However, since James' love of his life, Vesper, was killed by Spectre, his fancy cars would not have anyone to go to! How terrible would that be? To have such a legend as James Bond, and his cars go to some random person who will sell it for even more!
In this situation, we think Bond would be better off if he got his hands on a car trust. If Bond were to ever pass away in his “on-the-go" lifestyle, we wouldn’t want those nice cars to get auctioned off, or even worse, land in the hands of his worst enemies. A car trust would make sure that the famous Aston Martin, and his other cars, went to the right beneficiaries. Maybe he’d even leave one to Q since Bond spends much of his time wrecking the cars that Q makes for him!
Lastly, Bond might want to create a Medicaid Trust to protect his family’s property, nicknamed Skyfall, from long-term care liens. All in all, if you need more information on long-term care, don't forget to get our free report on How to Pay for Long-Term Care. To learn more about these trusts, download our free trust guide here!
If you want to learn more about what Attorney Michael Monteforte would recommend to Bond watch his YouTube video here! He goes into more detail about how James Bond movies impacted his childhood and what he hopes Bond did for his estate.
While you may not be living life in the fast lane as Bond did, estate planning is still something you need! Make sure your documents and up-to-date and your family and assets are taken care of. If you need updates on your documents or need to start your estate planning, you can schedule your Strategic Planning Session online at BookMyPlanningSession.com.