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What Happens If You Die Without a Will? Estate Planning Mistakes That Cost Families Thousands with Fernando Ramos image

What Happens If You Die Without a Will? Estate Planning Mistakes That Cost Families Thousands with Fernando Ramos

The Future of Finance
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15 Plays7 days ago

If something happened to you tomorrow…would your family actually know what to do?

In this eye-opening episode of The Future of Finance, Marissa Wood sits down with estate planning attorney Fernando Ramos to break down the real consequences of dying without an estate plan—and why avoiding these mistakes could save your family years of stress and tens of thousands of dollars.

From probate and trusts to guardianship planning and protecting your children, this episode explains estate planning in plain English so you can finally take action.

⚖️ Learn how probate really works
👨‍👩‍👧 Discover why wills alone may not protect your family
💰 Understand how billions of dollars become “lost” assets every year

Whether you’re a parent, homeowner, business owner, or simply someone who cares about their loved ones… this conversation is essential.

⚖️ What You’ll Learn

  • The difference between a will and a trust
  • Why probate can drain time, money, and privacy
  • How to properly protect minor children
  • Why updating beneficiaries matters more than you think
  • The first steps every parent and homeowner should take today

💬 Question for you: Do you currently have a will, trust, or estate plan in place?

👍 Like, subscribe, and share this episode with someone who needs to stop putting this off.

📞 Want help reviewing your beneficiaries, investments, or estate planning gaps?
Visit https://union-financial.com and schedule a complimentary consultation.

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Transcript

Introduction and Purpose

00:00:09
Speaker
Hi, everyone. Welcome to the Future of Finance podcast, where we break down investment strategies to help you live a better financial future. I'm your host, Marissa Wood, financial advisor and one of the owners of Union Financial Services. Let me start by asking you a question.
00:00:24
Speaker
If something happened to you tomorrow, are you 100% confident that your money, home, and your family would be protected in the way that you want?

Importance of Estate Planning

00:00:35
Speaker
Well, today I'm sitting down with estate planning attorney, Fernando Ramos, from North South Law to break down what really happens after you pass, the mistakes that could cost families thousands, and how to make sure that your loved ones are taken care of.
00:00:49
Speaker
But before we dive into that, I would ask you to please subscribe to our channel, whether you're watching on YouTube or your favorite podcasting app. It really does help us. So, Fernando, thank you so much for joining us today. Fernando is a former law enforcement officer and currently one of the owners of North South Law, the best estate planning law firm in all of Florida.

Probate and Asset Management

00:01:10
Speaker
Now, Fernando, what made you go into estate planning? Tell us a little bit about yourself. Sure. oh Thank you for having me. So appreciate that.
00:01:17
Speaker
um so wasn't really planned out. I did my career in law enforcement and i retired and had the law degree way before that. And all of two or three days being at home, my wife's like, nope, get it get out of here. Go go go um follow your passion of being a lawyer now. And that's what we did. um And we really got focused on how can we help others? What kind of practice can we initiate? When I say we, my partner and I, who was also a former law enforcement officer, You know, we decided that estate planning would be a really good launching pad to help others and continue our service.
00:01:57
Speaker
Now, I think when most people hear the term estate planning, they think it's only for the ultra wealthy. What do you think about that? Totally disagree. and You know, you have children, you want to have a plan for your children. You have ah older parents, you want to make sure that their advanced directors are taken care of. um You know, you're you're growing your net worth and and wealth. You certainly want to make sure you plan for that. So it can be all of the above.
00:02:23
Speaker
So anyone with family they care about? Absolutely. an asset or two? Yeah. Family, especially young young children, you want to make sure that however you want those assets to be managed for your children, that you set those guardrails and we set them up early to make sure. Because we never know. We never know when the unexpected can occur. So... Those that say, well, I'm not rich enough or it's too soon, not a good not a good thought. you know You should always be thinking about taking care of your family.
00:02:55
Speaker
Absolutely. and And there are some celebrities famously that did not have an estate plan. And it always blows my mind when I read these articles or or I see news stories on on celebrities like Prince. Yeah.
00:03:09
Speaker
ah Larger than life, had so much money. His estate was something like $150 million. dollars And he did not have an estate plan. And that estate was tied up in court for years.
00:03:23
Speaker
Tons of money cost, tons of time cost. right His family probably went through so much stress. Yeah, I mean, him and everybody else, ah one of the things that that ah impact probate is it's public.
00:03:39
Speaker
So regardless of whether you're Prince or just anyone else, it's going to be public information, which also opens it up to creditors. So if there are creditors out there, they know there is basically a billboard saying, hey, there's money here, come get it.
00:03:56
Speaker
And guess what? Creditors get in line first before any beneficiaries. So even in someone in someone like Prince's case where we know there's a significant amount of assets, family members can't touch it. They can't get access to it until this whole probate has gone through. And not to mention if it becomes adversarial.
00:04:15
Speaker
So, you know, that even, you know, that that'll develop some more complexity to it and certainly cost. So so what is probate for those that don't know? Yeah, probate is the state's estate plan for you in case you don't have your own estate planning plan. So in other words, that's the process where...
00:04:37
Speaker
ah beneficiaries and loved ones would have to go through in order to access whatever assets were there left by the decedent, the person who passed away. It's a so whole court process that can take anywhere from a year and more and cost substantial amounts of money. I can certainly you know dive deep into what Florida law requires But you're looking at anywhere from a year to two years on an average basis. You're looking at 3% paid off to to attorney's fees at a minimum, 3% going to the person representative, and then whatever's out there that's owed to creditors. so you're you're really opening yourself up for a can of worms on that one.
00:05:19
Speaker
Yeah. So the family is going to end up with way less in a lot more time. Correct. And if there are minors, even more complicated because minors cannot inherit directly. So that brings in a whole nother level of ah complexity to it as well.
00:05:34
Speaker
Okay. So everyone does actually have a plan. It's just not their plan. It's this it's the state's plan. Correct. And that might not be a good one. Not necessarily, not in my opinion. you know Costs are just um surmount and surmountable as far as what what it um the funds that would take to go through a probate versus an estate plan.
00:05:56
Speaker
Tell me about those costs. like Give me an example. So think about an ah um an estate worth um a million dollars. which is pretty easy to get to with a life insurance policy, with no up-to-date beneficiaries or with a minor as a beneficiary. Real estate. Real estate plus um like a 401k retirement. So you can easily you know get to a million dollars. That's 3% on attorney's fees.
00:06:21
Speaker
So that's $30,000 right there. And then whoever the the personal representative gets appointed, they can charge up to an additional 3%. All right? So that's $60,000, not to mention creditors, if there are any out there. So it adds up pretty quick.
00:06:38
Speaker
Versus an estate plan is what? A few thousand dollars? a few thousand dollars. Certainly nowhere near as much as that. Wow. And then you can it can be drafted appropriately to avoid that headache and avoid probate, certainly.

Avoiding Common Estate Planning Pitfalls

00:06:50
Speaker
Yeah, that's huge. And I mean, i think a lot of people think, well, if I just handwrite a will, then that's, you know, I'm telling people where I want my money to go and and should that suffice? I know a famous person, in Aretha Franklin, she had a bunch of handwritten wills, which actually created more chaos than anything because there was multiple. And the will is really not a legal document, correct? Or is that a misunderstanding? The the will...
00:07:21
Speaker
You can draft, you can write one yourself. You can even write it on a napkin. The problem is that that's not going to avoid probate. The only thing that's going to avoid probate is having those assets in a trust.
00:07:32
Speaker
So you can have all the wills you want, and it can be as as fancy as you want it to be. But at the end of the day, a will has to be submitted, and that will guarantee an initiation of probate in the state of Florida. Mm-hmm.
00:07:43
Speaker
So and and then the complications occur when you have multiple wills and you can't tell what's the most recent. And if there are no note if there's not notarized, if there's no witnesses, then it even complicates things further. So um if you're looking for probate avoidance, then a will is not that answer.
00:08:01
Speaker
Okay. So what is the difference between a trust and a will? Yeah. And that's it. That's it right there. Significantly, you know, think about it as um peanut butter and jelly. They're both good apart, but together they're even better. So when you add a will to a trust, now you've taken care of it 360. So a will in that scenario acts as a backup in case whatever you put in your trust um either slips out or you forgot. So I'll give you an example.
00:08:29
Speaker
We create a trust and then we create a will. You have your home and a trust, you have your bank accounts as the trust being the beneficiary of those bank accounts. But let's say down the road, you create a third bank account and you don't have a beneficiary. So in that scenario, the previous accounts and the home, they're covered through probate once one once one passes. But that third account that you forgot,
00:08:57
Speaker
Well, they never went into the trust. The trust is not the beneficiary. So now the will kicks in and the will determines, all right, well, they had they had a spouse and if the spouse predeceases them, they had three children, it goes to the three kids. But that process to get to the three kids would initiate probate. But at least there's direction as to how you want it to go and who you want it to go to. It's not ideal.
00:09:21
Speaker
You would rather have it in the trust. Mm-hmm. But at least if there's a will, it covers the directions on where to go. The process the problem is you're going to have to go through probate. Okay.
00:09:31
Speaker
So, you know, in the event that there's some holes in that yeah bucket of water, you want to have the will the safety net below it or, you know, an extra... Peanut butter and jelly. Yeah, peanut butter and jelly. that' That's great. um Now, something that you and I have discussed previously is that there is so much money in the U.S. currently that is unclaimed. Mm-hmm. How much did you say that was approximately? Well, in Florida, there's over $2 billion.
00:09:59
Speaker
wow Nationwide, there's over $50 billion. And you know what's the source of that? you know I don't know where all the sources are, but I can tell you that more often than not, it's that small bank account that you had, didn't disclose it, didn't have a beneficiary form for it, you pass, and then it's just there unclaimed, and your loved ones don't even know about it. They don't even know how to initiate the search. Those 401ks that we bounced around and jumped from job to job back in our and 30s, and oh, it's only 2,000, oh, only 3,000, you forget about them.
00:10:35
Speaker
about them Well, they add up to $2 billion dollars in Florida. you know So um those um virtual bank accounts that people have to you know buy stocks and what have you on their apps, that's another source. So you you you know you start looking at that and you don't you you pass away without an estate plan. You never shared that information with your loved ones. They don't even know what they don't know in this scenario. That's a great point. And how terrible that is And probably so common, I bet you, and that's one of the reasons we always recommend four zero one k rollovers and consolidating all of those, what you deem as small accounts, really can add up over time. But consolidating those into an IRA, an individual retirement account, or your current 401k plan, and having an advisor help with that because we can update your beneficiaries.
00:11:30
Speaker
We can have that organization. We can be there to help your beneficiaries if and when the time comes and you pass. We have that organization. We can help them claim those assets. Yeah. um Let me add ah something, too. So recently, I've been working on a probate, and it's been now a year and four months. um And it was a simple CD that an individual had. He had his spouse as the beneficiary. Spouse passes before him.
00:11:59
Speaker
He then passes, never updating the beneficiary. He had a trust. The home was in a trust, but unfortunately in that scenario, he forgot about that you know that one account. And it's it wasn't a small amount. It was a six-figure account. So now we're dealing dealing with probate when, in fact, had he updated his beneficiary form to have the trust as either the backup beneficiary, or the primary beneficiary, then the family would have avoided that.
00:12:29
Speaker
So he had someone deceased listed at as the current beneficiary. And that happens more often than not. People forget, yeah right? That account, it was a CD. It was probably open 20 years ago. ok And at the time, it was him and his spouse. Spouse passes. He never thought of updating that.
00:12:45
Speaker
Maybe he just didn't get around to it. And fast forward, now he's passed. And the family members are just waiting. It's been a year and four months waiting to be able to access those funds through probate.
00:12:58
Speaker
And that's a real problem because what if those family members have expenses to keep paying for, ah you know, if it was a family home, they have the mortgage, they have bills that don't stop just because probate's taking a long Or they pass.
00:13:13
Speaker
Oh, boy. Then it really messy. Then it gets even more complicated. Right. So all of these things can happen. So my advice to folks is, you know, that's great that you have a loved one as a beneficiary, but unfortunately humans fail all the time, right? We

Planning for Families and Children

00:13:25
Speaker
pass away. We're becoming incapacitated. Trust is always there.
00:13:29
Speaker
The trust will be there to catch, whether it's, like I said, whether it's primary beneficiary to these accounts or secondary beneficiary, but you should at least have that to serve as a backstop so we avoid these headaches. Because it could have easily been avoided.
00:13:43
Speaker
Absolutely. So if you're listening to this and you're thinking, i don't even know if I have beneficiaries listed, especially on bank accounts, that can fall through the cracks a lot because it's not an automatic part of opening the account. You have to ask for, they literally call it a TOD, transfer on death form. Right. and ask for that if you don't know if you have it already maybe go to your bank call up your bank teller and make sure you have at least a beneficiary listed and then once you do open a trust you can change that beneficiary to the trust so something to keep in mind um and we'd be happy to review your beneficiaries with you as well on any investments or 401ks that you have and You can just go to union-financial.com, click schedule a meeting. You can book a call, Zoom call, in-person meeting, and we can review that with you and also introduce you to Fernando. um Now, another part that we really wanted to discuss, and it's so important that most people overlook, and that is the guardianship and
00:14:46
Speaker
Planning for your children. i mean, if we're talking celebrities, Paul Walker, he actually left everything to his daughter, but a custody battle drama ensued. And, you know, money is one thing, but guardianship is another.
00:15:02
Speaker
Making sure your loved ones are taken care of. So let's talk about naming guardians. Yeah, that's one of the biggest mistakes people make is two things. One is they have that but life insurance policy. They have ah you know whatever those assets are. and they say, well, when I pass, I want this to go to my kids.
00:15:20
Speaker
And their child is five years old. Well, that's a problem because in the state of Florida, minors cannot inherit directly. So in in the event that something happens while that child is still a minor, then now not only do we have probate, we have guardianship.
00:15:34
Speaker
So we have to appoint a guardian, which also costs money and adds another layer of headaches to the whole process. And unfortunately, as soon as they turn 18, they get an outright distribution.
00:15:45
Speaker
wow So think of an 18-year-old kid or child still Inheriting fill in the blank, you know, whatever that is at 18 years old with no directions. alllthough All right, judge hands it over and now it's yours. So that's a, you know, that's a significant issue. The other problem that I see mistake is um when families have minor children, they say, well, if I pass, I want my sister or my brother to inherit all of this to take care of my kids. Well, where does it say it in writing? Mm.
00:16:16
Speaker
That once your sibling takes that money or that insurance policy, that they actually have to take care of your children once you're gone.
00:16:26
Speaker
Nothing. There's nothing in writing. Yeah, we're just assuming. You're assuming. You're hoping. You're hoping for the best. But who's the beneficiary? It's your brother. It's your sister. It's your loved one, not your child, with no guarantee that they're going to take care of the kid the way you want.
00:16:40
Speaker
Or maybe they get remarried to someone you don't even know. Correct. They have no obligation to you. Right. Yeah, so you're you're're exposing yourself significantly that way. Okay, so naming guardians is so important. And and I always think about, too, um that series of unfortunate events. It was a book series, and then it was TV and a movie. And and it scared the daylights out of me when I was a kid watching it. I remember going to my parents and saying, um do you have guardians named for me? and And what happens if you guys go on vacation and and your flight goes down? I mean, God forbid, you know. right, right.
00:17:16
Speaker
But as a child, I was like, oh, my gosh, so many bad things can happen when parents don't plan properly and everyone's too busy and they'll get it done after that vacation. They'll get it done after they renovate the kitchen. And it's just never top of mind. And that's so irresponsible as a parent.
00:17:35
Speaker
So you bring up a couple of good points. um You know, You mentioned what's the difference between a will and a trust. Well, that's in the will is kind of where you identify your guardian. ok I pass away. My money goes here. My tangible personal property goes there. And this individual is my guardian for the for my minor children.
00:17:59
Speaker
But what if you don't pass away? What if you're just incapacitated for the next three months? um What if you just went out to lunch and don't make it home to be able to pick your child on time and you and your spouse, or if you're a single parent?
00:18:13
Speaker
The will doesn't cover that. The will only covers if you passed if you've passed away. So where a lot of um estate plans fall short is in that scenario where people have a false sense of security thinking that in my will, I've identified a guardian, but that's only if you pass away.
00:18:31
Speaker
So we we try to do something that goes a little bit step further and focus on that as well as what happens if I'm just incapacitated, if I'm out and no one can pick up my child from daycare or from school. um So we kind of come up with a kids protection plan to ensure that there are no gaps.
00:18:52
Speaker
ah You have a temporary guardian. Someone that can immediately respond, such as a first responder, that can that we've identified that individual in our documents, notarized, that they can go and pick up that child.
00:19:05
Speaker
Maybe the permanent guardian is in Sarasota or somewhere further south or just not you know a ah couple hours drive away. They can't respond immediately. They'll come in after and they take take over. So we have layers.
00:19:18
Speaker
So temporary, that's very smart for especially out of town permanent guardians. That is probably something that most people have not thought of. Correct, correct. um Yeah, there's something that, you know, throughout the past few years, we've started seeing that we see these gaps here.
00:19:37
Speaker
um The will covers upon death, but what about someone's incapacity? What about someone's just not available to to respond right away? So we wanted to make sure that we have we cover those gaps for our clients. And that's called the Kids Protection Plan? Yes, ma'am. Yeah. we we you know So that Kids Protection Plan covers that first responder, the temporary guardian, and up to permanent guardian. And series of documents that we provide to our clients ah with their estate plan so that they can share that with their school, with their kids, with their first responders so that they know that they've selected them. Obviously, I hope they've had those conversations prior yeah um so that there's

Regular Review and Real-Life Stories

00:20:16
Speaker
no gap.
00:20:16
Speaker
OK. So we want to avoid those gaps. So what does that look like when someone does visit with you and becomes a client and has now their estate plan, their kids' protection plan?
00:20:28
Speaker
How do they distribute it? What should they do with those documents? Should they have digital copies, paper copies? Where should they keep them? Yeah, we provide um kind of a, it looks like a, it's not bulletproof, but it's a waterproof and fireproof um briefcase with all the documents. And, you know, we call them, always keep the originals there. I always recommend that people share Copies with their loved ones, with the school, the kids' protection plan, obviously, with the school so that they have those on record. um you know Your medical professionals on your advanced directives, which includes your health care surrogate, guardianship, living will.
00:21:11
Speaker
So yeah I actually give instructions on what each document is, what it does, and who should have a copy of that. That's But always keep the originals. For example, the will and the trust, you need those originals because if we ever end up in probate, those are the documents that need to be filed.
00:21:29
Speaker
The trust doesn't get filed in probate. A certificate of trust does, but the will does if we ever have to go to probate. Okay. That's really good to know because I think that might be something that holds people back from even taking that first step is I don't know what to do with it once I do have it. So if you guide them through that, that's amazing. Yeah, we guide them through it. And we also provide funding instructions on how to fund the trust, what does actually mean, how do you fund the trust in certain ways. ways You put, for example, bank accounts. Yeah.
00:22:00
Speaker
We will put the beneficiary as a trust, or we can actually have the trust be the owner of the bank account. So that's one way. The the most the most um common way to fund the trust is through your home.
00:22:15
Speaker
So once you've bought a home, you can deed the property into the trust. And now the trust is funded. The trust owns the home. You no longer own the home directly. Thus avoids probate in the state of Florida.
00:22:27
Speaker
Simple as that. Brilliant. So if someone has children but is not sure if they have any of these items taken care of, what would be the first step that they should take? Yeah, well, you know,
00:22:39
Speaker
I would certainly recommend that they have a conversation with their spouse if they have one and then start thinking about an estate plan. You know, whether even with or without children, you know, you want to make sure that you have that plan. And, you know, these plans, in my opinion, should grow gradually as you grow. Maybe at the beginning, um less assets. Maybe a trust isn't necessary.
00:23:01
Speaker
But you should certainly have a will and you should certainly have your advanced directives. Once the kids come around, okay, now you definitely should be thinking about that trust because that's where we're going to guide ah those funds for the benefit of our children in the future. And we can certainly, we can set it set it up to the point where ah your child can have their elective shares protected from future creditors and future ex-spouses.
00:23:28
Speaker
So that's ah that's a big deal. We want to make sure that they're they're protected today and beyond. Yeah, that is that is true. How long does the typical process take? How many meetings is that? you do virtual? Does it have to be in person? All of the above. You know, we can certainly meet virtual. I prefer to meet in person. I think that develops a ah level of comfort between the client and our and ourselves.
00:23:50
Speaker
And we can really break it down and show it on the board what it looks like. So I like to draw diagrams. And typically, you're looking at about three meetings. So we have our our, you know, first meeting, our first consultation, figure out what exactly, um you know, based on your circumstances you need. Mm-hmm. Then um there's an interview that we go through to make sure that we've identified any and all assets, create an inventory. Most people don't have that inventory. Think about that $50 billion unclaimed funds. wow
00:24:21
Speaker
That's where we get to identify everything that we have so we can avoid that. right So we it'll be the most organized inventory you've ever had on your finances. Once we get through that, then we start drafting. So three meetings. On the third, we get meet in person. We get everything signed up and ready to go. And typical process anywhere between two to four weeks. Okay. That's not too long considering it could be a lifetime of peace of mind and family being taken care of. Yeah. And what I'll add is um this is not the type of document, in my opinion, that you should set it and forget it. This is something that you should be dusting off and looking at on a regular basis because things change. Beneficiaries pass away. Children become adults. And they can certainly now be more involved in in your estate plan. They can be personal representatives as well as beneficiaries. They can help with the advanced directives and so on and so forth as they get older. So once you do it, you should not just put it away. You should certainly be looking at it at least once a year. Yeah. Yeah. It's a shame because I think you'd probably agree with the fact that you work in an industry where it's never important until it's an emergency. And I'm sure you get so many panicked calls. And I've seen it before, too. you know, mom or dad is now in the hospital and needs to go into a nursing home. And we never did that power of attorney.
00:25:46
Speaker
And we don't have the advanced directives done. Right. And it becomes a crisis situation because it wasn't done ahead of time. And so for anyone listening, it's not only if you have children of your own, but if you have parents that you want to make sure are taken care of and not taken advantage of, and you want to be able to help them age in place or age gracefully, and you want to be involved in that process, and selfishly, you want to make sure that
00:26:19
Speaker
Their assets are protected protected and you're a beneficiary and you're yeah you're avoiding probate. There are so many layers to it. So it's not only if you have children, but if you have parents as well, if you have a home, don't let it get to the point of crisis. Plan ahead of time. you know, it's funny. um I have a client right now who they're going through probate because i mentioned the scenario earlier. um ah The dad passed away and didn't update the beneficiary. Excuse me.
00:26:51
Speaker
Well, guess what? This is an older couple as well. And they don't have an estate plan. And ah they just shared to me with me some um on sad medical information on one of them.
00:27:06
Speaker
And I asked the questions, like, are you prepared? Have you taken care of? Like, no, we haven't. Like, you would think that after you're going through probate because of your path yeah um you know one of your parents passed away, that they would be on top of that because it's been over a year and it's been costly, the probate. Well, guess what? They have not. They have not prepared their estate pack plan yet. It's not surprising. So we we agreed that we're going to be meeting soon, so at least we can have that conversation because the medical prognosis um wasn't great.
00:27:39
Speaker
And now is the time because if you get to the point where there's an incapacity, you can no longer sign those documents. and now you're stuck going through um conservatorship or guardianship in the state of Florida, which adds even more complication to your probate.
00:27:57
Speaker
So let's take care of that now while we can. Yeah, let's let's get it done. And for anyone listening, Fernando is so great to work with. He's a father of four, truly compassionate, explains things in such a nice way. We have referred so many of our clients to him, and he's always taking good care of them because it's an emotional conversation, but it has to get done. If if you have loved ones that you care about, let's get this done. Let 2026 be the year you have your house in order. um
00:28:27
Speaker
Fernando, anything else that you wanted to add that you think should be a call to action to any of our listeners? Yeah, I think that um the hardest part is scheduling the appointment, right? Once you sit down, you realize, okay, not as complicated as I thought. It's not as scary as I thought.
00:28:43
Speaker
um And I'm not going to die when I walk out of the room just because I did my estate plan. Unfortunately, there's a lot of folks that think that way that I'm bringing this on me if I do this

Conclusion and Final Encouragement

00:28:55
Speaker
paperwork. So let me just ignore People think that about life insurance too. Exactly. I'm going to die as soon as I get life insurance. Exactly. So I would submit that for those that have that like having that thought in their head, ah reach out. Let's have a conversation. um you know ah Our job is to educate.
00:29:11
Speaker
And then the client will leave much more informed and they can make their better decisions for themselves. Yeah. And we do educational events as well. We have one coming up. This episode might be posting after we had it, but we're probably going to do it a lot in the future too. So if you want to learn more about the kids protection plan and some estate planning, we are constantly doing fun events, whether they be lunch and learns or happy hours. if you have interest in that, reach out to us and we can give you our schedule of upcoming events. Yeah. Yeah. So thank you again, Fernando. My pleasure. If this conversation made you realize that there's gaps in your current plan or you don't know what you don't know, let's not wait.
00:29:51
Speaker
We'd be happy to connect you with Fernando Ramos to get your kids' protection plan, will, estate plan set up. And if you have specific questions about your investments as well, want to make sure that your money is not part of that $50 billion unclaimed assets. All you have to do is go to our website, union-financial. We'd be happy to have a conversation with you, whether by phone, Zoom, or in person. You can click schedule a meeting and it'll bring you right to our personal calendar. And if you found value in this episode, please make sure you're subscribed and share it with someone you think might need to hear it. Fernando, thank you again. pleasure.
00:30:25
Speaker
This topic is one of those that might not seem exciting on the surface, but it can change a family's life. it has to be done. Absolutely. Well, thank you again. Appreciate your time. Absolutely. And thank you, everyone, for tuning in to another episode of the Future of Finance podcast. I'm your host, Marissa Wood. We look forward to helping you live a better financial future.
00:30:46
Speaker
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