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August 4, 2025 13 mins

Estate planning doesn’t have to be complicated. This episode breaks down the essentials: wills, trusts, and what actually matters, so you can protect your assets and give your loved ones peace of mind.

Wills determine where assets go after death. Trusts do that and more. They can manage assets during your lifetime and help avoid probate, offering more flexibility and control.

In states like Texas, Arizona, and Florida, probate tends to be fast and affordable, so a will might be enough. But in places like California, New York, and Oregon, a trust can help you avoid long, expensive, and public court proceedings. Some situations call for extra planning regardless of location, such as blended families, special needs beneficiaries, or owning property in multiple states.

This episode also explores the idea of a “dead box,” a digital folder that holds important documents, passwords, and instructions to make life easier for your family during a difficult time.

Estate planning isn’t just about legal documents. It’s about creating clarity and making sure your family knows what to do when it matters most.

Listen to Part 2: FAQs: Wills, Trusts, Power of Attorneys, and Other Estate Planning Tools 

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Advisory services are offered through Root Financial Partners, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. This content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. Viewing this content does not create an advisory relationship. We do not provide tax preparation or legal services. Always consult an investment, tax or legal professional regarding your specific situation.

The strategies, case studies, and examples discussed may not be suitable for everyone. They are hypothetical and for illustrative and educational purposes only. They do not reflect actual client results and are not guarantees of future performance. All investments involve risk, including the potential loss of principal.

Comments reflect the views of individual users and do not necessarily represent the views of Root Financial. They are not verified, may not be accurate, and should not be considered testimonials or endorsements

Participation in the Retirement Planning Academy or Early Retirement Academy does not create an advisory relationship with Root Financial. These programs are educational in nature and are not a substitute for personalized financial advice. Advisory services are offered only under a written agreement with Root Financial.

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Ari Taublieb, CFP ®, MBA is the Chief Growth Officer of Root Financial Partners and a Fiduciary Financial Planner specializing in helping clients retire early with confidence.


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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 0 (00:01):
It's time to finally simplify trust and wills, and
let's do it right now.
So think about a will as anafter-death purpose.
It's there to direct whereassets go after death.
Think of a trust as somethingthat certainly does direct
assets after death but can alsobe managed while you're alive.
There's way more planning thatobviously goes into it.

(00:23):
There's so many different typesof trust.
There's special needs trust andirrevocable trust and
charitable remainder trust.
I'm not going to bore you todeath with all of those details
today.
I have other podcasts where Igo into great detail on nearly
every single type of tax orfinancial or estate or
withdrawal or healthcarefinancial topic.
I know I just said financialtwice there, but you guys know

(00:45):
what I mean.
I love this stuff and, if youdon't know, my name is Ari
Taublieb.
I'm a certified financialplanner, host of the Early
Retirement Podcast and I'm thechief growth officer here at
Root, where we love helpingpeople retire early.
Now.
We help people from all walksof life, but estate planning is
a big thing that comes up Mostof the time.

(01:09):
I'll be totally honest with you.
It's pretty simple.
It's you have a beneficiarythat you have not updated in a
long time and you want to makesure you're not missing
something.
So in an early meeting with aclient we will go hey, do you
have a POD?
And they'll say what did youcall me?
No, they won't say that, butthey'll say what is that?

(01:29):
And I'll say what is that?
And also, it's a payable ondeath.
So this is something that youwant to set up at your bank
account to remove hassle, sowhen you pass away your heirs
don't have to go search in andtrying to find documents.
It's just gonna make lifeeasier for them.
So there are things likepayable on death.
There are things like TOD,which stands for transfer on
death.
That goes at your brokerageaccount.
You don't need it at your IRAor 401k.
You can list a beneficiarydirectly.
That's not how it works with abrokerage account.

(01:51):
You need a TOD transfer ondeath.
So there's all these littlethings power of attorneys,
durable what types do I need?
I'm going to put together fornext week an episode where I go
into more detail on all of thoselittle tidbits.
Today is just trust and wills.
Now I'm going to start byexplaining what states generally

(02:12):
not going to say don't needtrust, but generally where a
will can be sufficient, becausepart of my role, as I see it, is
to save you all time.
I know you can go look up realquick on ChatGPT and just quick
Google search hey, do I needthis trust?
Do I need this will, and I'llhave people submit questions
going hey, look this up.

(02:32):
But I'm still not confident.
So let me give you some moreconfidence.
Today I have clients that haveshared with me hey, I know
online, it said I didn't reallyneed a trust here, but I got one
and, to be honest, it saved somuch hassle.
I wish you could have toldother clients to do it and I did
it, but I got lucky.
So I want to be able to passalong those actual sentiments
that I've heard for all of youOnce again.

(02:55):
I love getting to go throughthis.
So I appreciate you all fortuning in.
Now I'm going to start withgoing through a little quick
table, and I'm going to startwith going through a little
quick table and I'm actuallygoing to show it to you on my
screen right now.
If you're listening on thepodcast app, like many of you
are, versus watching on YouTube,totally cool, you're not going
to lose any user experience.
I listen to a lot of podcastsmyself and I know what it's like

(03:23):
when someone says, make sure towatch the video right here,
when it's just easier for me tolisten.
So here is a quick summarytable.
It's just easier for me tolisten.
So here is a quick summarytable.
These are the five states thattraditionally.
If you're like, oh my gosh, doI need a trust, the answer is no
.
No, because of the following InTexas, pretend you don't have a
trust the probate cost andspeed.
It's low, meaning it's a lowcost and you can go through it
quickly.
So Texas low cost, fast speedin terms of going through

(03:47):
probate Probate.
Once again, that is the hasslewe want to remove hassle there's
no estate taxes in Texas andwhen trusts are just less
necessary.
Why is that?
Simple estates, local assets.
Arizona same thing no estatetax, low cost, it's fast.
Florida, technically, iscategorized as moderate, with

(04:07):
manageable speed.
But think about it like the DMV.
That's how I'll explain it.
With all of this, do you need atrust?
In a lot of these states, no,but there are instances that I'm
going to go over when I wouldstill recommend having a trust
instead or in addition to a will.
But Texas, arizona, florida,south Dakota and Alaska are the

(04:27):
primary states where, if youwere to come to me as a client
and say, oh my gosh, ari, you'regoing to freak out, I don't
have a trust, I might go.
Well, I might not freak out andlet's go through it Now, on the
flip side, there are morestates where trusts are highly
advisable and I'm going to gothrough this list because I live
in one of these statesCalifornia Probate is super
expensive.

(04:47):
Statutory fees up to 4% of yourestate does not seem like a big
deal, but it's just unnecessary.
It's like you don't need fiveNetflix subscriptions, so it's
super slow and it's public.
That's the triple threatExpensive, slow and public.
Key issues those high legalfees, long delays and lack of
privacy.
Once again, this is on myscreen here, or, if you're

(05:09):
listening, on the podcast app.
I will continue to go througheach of these.
New York probate is slow,expensive, complex and court
supervision there is an estatetax exemption.
All of this is constantlysubject to change, so I tell my
clients not to get hung up onthese things because they're
always changing.
Massachusetts this sucks, I'lltell you.
I'll be totally honest.
This sucks.

(05:29):
That's not any financial jargonfor you, just real life.
Probate can take 12 to 24months with high legal fees and
there's no state estate taxunder $2 million.
But there's still complexityand delays there.
I had a client that wentthrough 36 months of that and
that was not fun.
State estate tax starts at $1million in Oregon.

(05:50):
Probate slow and extensive.
I'm not going to go throughevery single one here, but
California, new York,massachusetts, oregon, new
Jersey, connecticut, hawaii,washington State that's
generally where a trust isadvisable.
Now there are other instanceswhere you certainly want to
consider a trust or a will orsomething that is going to once

(06:11):
again minimize hassle.
The ultimate thing that I wantyou to do is to feel peace of
mind, for if you were to passaway, you're not leaving a huge
burden to your spouse or heirsbecause I can assure you, the
last thing they're going to wantto think about is the finances.
They're going to be goingthrough the emotional side and I
have clients that go, oh mygosh.

(06:32):
Now this is not a great example, but I had one client that said
it was kind of a nicedistraction.
I'm going through the financesand I'm not just thinking about
when we used to be able totravel and I'm not saying this
to depress any of you, just thereality.
And then they're like, oh mygosh, it's just becoming so much
.
And now I realize my life isnot what I thought it was going
to be, and it's just, you don'twant to go down that path.

(06:53):
Leave them with the minimalhassle.
So there's an advisor I followwho talks about what's called
the death box.
I personally have a death box.
I'm actually going to see maybereal quick, cause I'm just
searching on my computer If Ican show you all an example.
I do have it.
It's called a dead box, not adeath box.
Now I'm going to go throughthis only because you can

(07:17):
literally see it on my screen,but I have my vows that, in case
I were to pass away, I want myspouse to be able to always read
and never forget.
I put together a PDF of otherthings to think through.
This is a big document of justestate stuff.
I have all my assets andaccount lists.
I have where to go foreverything, photos for my
funeral partnership, detailsregarding where I currently work

(07:40):
, and then a big Word doc thatsays Ari is dead.
Read this first, where there'semotional things in addition to
just how can I make their lifeeasier.
This is on Google.
So for all of you, I recommend,if you have not already set
something like this up for yourspouse or for your heirs Every
single year, I will update thison January 1st with passwords,

(08:01):
things that have changed.
Other thoughts I want toinclude some videos and things
like this for future familymembers.
So this is just a nice thing todo.
Not necessarily on the willversus trust stuff for today.
Now, in some states the truthis, probate is simple, it's fast
and it's inexpensive.
Making a trust quitenecessarily not necessary Solely

(08:22):
for probate avoidance, that'swhere I'm like.
I don't know if you really needit.
In fact, I do know you don'talways need it.
If you have a well-drafted will, proper beneficiary
designations, payable on death,slash, transfer on death, that
can be fully sufficient.
You do not need to also go geta trust.
So we sometimes will see a lotof clients come to us with Texas
.
That's where a will can besufficient.

(08:43):
There is independentadministration, meaning an
executor can administer theestate without ongoing court
supervision, which saves youtime and money mainly time and
there's no state estate tax.
I keep saying that but it's justa mouthful.
Many families just do not needtrust purely to avoid probate.
So I don't need you to go setsomething up in a super fancy

(09:06):
way just for the sake of it, butI do want to make sure you're
protected.
And many of you who do reachout to Root, you're not your
traditional retiree in the senseof I've done videos on average
401k balances and the hundredsof thousands Most of you are
reaching out going look, I havea few million bucks.
I want to make sure I'm doingthe right things.
Yes, I want my spouse set up, Iwant my heir set up, but at the
same time, I want to make sureI'm not missing anything.

(09:28):
So today is not tax savings.
Today is just a state hassleand once again, there are lots
of states where you just don'tneed it.
Now here is what I really wantto make sure I'm finalizing
today's episode with, which iswhen a trust still may be needed
, even if you're in a statewhere I just mentioned, a will
could be sufficient, which Iknow you're going, ari.

(09:48):
That contradicts itself.
Just hear me out here.
So, blended families so if, forexample, you're divorced and
then you get remarried, tocontrol distribution of timing,
I have clients that will reachout and say, hey, I love my son.
But if they marry someone who Ijust don't think is the best
fit and I pass away, I want tomake sure those dollars aren't
accidentally going there.

(10:09):
And how do I control that?
Well, there's lots of things.
There are things called HEMSprovisions, which stands for
health, education, maintenanceand support, which means you can
literally make it.
So dollars can only be used forcertain purposes If you have a
child with special needs, if youhave real estate in different
states, if you have privacyconcerns, if there is asset
protection planning, so acertain trust for a child that

(10:31):
maybe has gone through difficultcircumstances, creditor
protection and then incapacityplanning.
So I will say on this sometimespower of attorney is sufficient
.
So if you have durable power ofattorney, you might very well
not need a trust.
Of course, you know this iscoming.
If you really are about to setup a trust or a state or will or

(10:52):
medical directives or power ofattorneys, I encourage you to go
with a financial advisor who isgoing to help execute all of
this with you For our clients.
We use an amazing servicecalled wealthcom where we help
our clients walk through this.
This is exclusive to advisorsand we help them get everything
they need in order, if you are amember of my early retirement
academy, in the description ofthis episode, both on YouTube

(11:15):
and in the podcast app, I dooffer a way if you want to get
everything up and running.
I personally yes, I have a bias, but I believe it's way better
than services like LegalZoom.
It's super simple.
It walks you through how to doit.
You can get all of these thingsup and running and you can chat
with them in real time.
So if you want, you can usethat service.
And then, finally, what we dohere at Root is holistic

(11:37):
financial planning, so not justthe estate or the tax or the
withdrawal or the health care orthe insurance.
We do it all.
So I joke with people you don'twant a new job in retirement as
a coordinator.
You want to make sureeverything's happening the way
it should, without you traveling, worrying about hey, did the
law just change on health care?
And what about taxes and estateplanning?
We do it all for you and we actas your partner.

(11:59):
So it's not us saying you haveto do this, it's us saying, hey,
here's what just changed.
What would you like to do inthis situation?
We are true partners.
Thus Root Financial Partners.
Now that's it for this episode.
Hope you enjoyed it.
See you guys next time.
Thank you all, as always, forThank you all, as always, for
listening to the EarlyRetirement Podcast.

(12:19):
I love getting to host theseshows and make different content
for you guys every single week.
I've not missed a single weekin years and that is because I
love getting to do this.
Now, please be smart about this.
Before you actually execute anystrategy that you see me talk
about or hear me talk about,should I say Please talk to your
financial advisor, your taxpreparer, your estate attorney.
Please be smart about this.

(12:39):
None of this should beconstrued as financial advice.
This is for fun, educational,informational purposes only.
Once again, just quickdisclaimer here.
Guys, please be smart aboutthis.
Appreciate you listening, asalways.
You can, of course, submit aquestion on my website,
earlyretirementpodcastcom, ifyou, of course, want me to

(13:00):
address a specific case study ortopic.
I will not promise I can get toit, but I respond to every
single person and if I find itwill be helpful for a lot of
people, I will absolutely makean episode on it.
At the very least give you someinsight.
That's it.
Thanks, guys.
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