Leaving a Legacy: Planning Your Estate

Video Transcript

Text: Currency Conversations. Chase. Essence.  

Note: The video opens with jazzy music.  

On screen: Three women are seated at a table over brunch: Saundra Davis, a woman with short light hair and a necklace with beads; Kéla Walker, a woman with long black hair, dressed in yellow, and Lynette Khalfani Cox, a woman with black wavy hair and a thin silver necklace.  

Text: Saundra Davis. CEO, Sage Financial Solutions. 

Saundra: Hello. I am Saundra Davis, financial coach and educator, and I am here for a currency conversation with two of my very favorite ladies. So I'm first going to introduce you to Kéla Walker, lifestyle authority and media maven…  

Text: Kéla Walker. Media Maven and Lifestyle Authority. 

Saundra: And Lynette Khalfani Cox, The Money Coach. 

Text: Lynette Khalfani Cox. The Money Coach. 

Lynette:: Thank you.  

Saundra: And we're going to talk about estate planning today.  

Kéla: I think of estate, I think of property.  

Saundra: Right. And everyone has an estate. If you have a body, and, as fabulous as you are, everything about you is your estate. So, the first thing that we want to look at is our assets, right? What we own. So, let's think about it for a minute. What are some valuable assets that we know about that we have?  

Lynette: Real estate is one. People might own stocks, different types of investments.  

Kéla: Is my jewelry a part of my estate?  

Saundra: So, absolutely.  

Lynette: Yes, it is.  

Saundra: Yeah, absolutely. So, the value of it is not really as relevant as what do you want to have happen to it when you're no longer here? So, a lot of times people will think this conversation is about doom and gloom, right? This is about you choosing what happens with the things that you've worked for.  

Lynette: Because even if it's just something that you want to say, I want this to go to my daughter, or to my niece.  

Saundra: Absolutely. And so, when we think about what's important, and Lynette already talked about the home, of course, real property, right? That's kind of how they distinguish that. Real property. Automobiles, investments, jewelry might be something important like that. What else? What else is valuable to have as an asset?  

Lynette: Life insurance. The cash value of that.  

Kéla: I got that. I got life insurance. I'm like, ding ding, ding, I've got that.  

Note: Laughter. 

Lynette: That's an asset, and that's really a part of estate planning in the proper way. And I feel like so many times in the black community, we're thinking about intergenerational assets and what we can pass along. You know, some of us haven't planned, necessarily, just yet, or we don't see that it's like oh, this is something that I can pass along to my kids.  

Saundra: Assets are what you have, what you own. And then the asset protection, as Lynette was just talking about, is how do you keep what you have? And so, this whole conversation is about really understanding how your money lives in the totality of your life. Because we earn it, we build it, and then we want to transfer it. What I would want to hear from the both of you is that when you think about something that you really want to talk about or think about as far as your legacy, what do you want that to look like?  

Lynette: Really, what I hope to do is to model a life that I would feel is worthy of being replicated in terms of the values that I've taught my children, the practices that we do together as a family, the things that we hold near and dear as sacred to us, I would hope to pass those along. Because I think sometimes people, they get so caught up in thinking that the thing that I have to leave behind is something economic.  

Saundra: Right. 

Kéla: For me, it's something that I'm still always mindful of. What will my legacy be? And being that I don't have children, right now it's for me how I make people feel and what I impart on them. Like, I may not leave something behind to someone because I don't have children, but I can still make them feel a certain way.  

Saundra: And the thing that's valuable about that is that, because you are someone who is prominent out there, right? So, people are already having an experience of you.  

Lynette: Living legacy.  

Saundra: Yes. 

Lynette: You know, it's not about like, oh, after I die.  

Saundra: That's right. 

Lynette: You're having that, you know, be yielded right now. So that people who are inspired by you, who you touch in a positive way, you're creating your legacy right now as you're living, you know what I mean?  

Saundra: So, I'm wondering-- I know for me, I've been helpful in or responsible for other people's money in my family. So, I have what's called a power of attorney for my mom's financial situation. And I think often we think about what would happen for our estate planning if something happened to us or the people behind us, but what about our elders? 

Lynette: It starts with asking your parents about not only what they have, but what they need. Like, do you need help with anything? For most older folks, they don't want to feel like their kids are coming in and taking over. Or like, you're just waiting for me to croak so you can get my money. You know? Whatever. So, if you don't have the conversations, people will ascribe a whole set of motivations.  

Kéla: They will assume— 

Lynette: Exactly. 

Kéla: And put a lot of things on you. 

Lynette: And it could be, like, totally wrong. Like, no, I wasn't thinking that at all. It's important to start talking to siblings, to parents, to your own kids— 

Saundra: Have a currency conversation.  

Lynette: Have a currency conversation, indeed. I mean, because it all matters and it's all intertwined, right?  

Saundra: So, you heard it here first-- or maybe not first, but you heard it here now. So, start your own currency conversation, right? Go to essence.com/currencyconversations. You'll see a little button that says Engage, Connect, Sign Up, Commit to Yourself. Do that now. Do that now. Go ahead, sign up. Join us. We want 20,000 black women to have this kind of conversation. We're not scared of it. We don't want you to be scared of it. It's all about choice. You get to do you and do it your way.  

Text: Your goals are waiting, make the commitment today. essence.com/currencyconversations. Currency Conversations. Chase. Essence.  

Kéla: Cheers to that.  

Lynette: And have a drink with it, too. It's OK. You can have a drink. Enjoy it.  

Saundra: I'm kind of feeling like a lightweight.  

Text: Currency Conversations. Chase. Essence.  

Note: Small print legal disclosures appear. 

Text: The statements, views, and opinions that are expressed in this video are those of the presenter and are not endorsed by, or reflect the views or positions of JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. or any of its affiliates. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. or any of its affiliates are not liable for decisions made or actions taken in reliance of any of the information covered in the content. Please consult with your personal tax advisor on all tax-related matters.