3 ways to achieve more before the year ends

The past few months in 2020 have sped by almost in a blur leaving a lot undone and times uncertain all thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. But the remaining three months don’t have to be that way. You can start now to revisit the goals you’ve probably set earlier in the year that you’re yet to pursue and start taking meaningful steps towards achieving them.

Here’s a quick guide to help you.

Create a plan of action

A plan is like a road map that shows you how to get from point A to point B. Whatever goal you have set apart for this year – be it with your finances, health, or relationships, draw up a plan to achieve it or at least start moving towards achieving it in the next three months. Write it down – that way, it goes beyond just a wish.

Commit the time and resources required

Procrastination is not just the thief of time, but of opportunities. If you must schedule the actions required to take you closer to your goals, do it. If you need to reach out to anyone, do some research, or make new connections to get you closer to those goals, do it. Remember, your goal is to achieve more before December comes knocking.

Psych yourself up

Self-talk is the greatest motivation there is because you tend to believe what you say to yourself more than what others say to/about you. 2020 is not over yet – tell yourself that a lot can turn around in three months. Even if it sounds like a lie initially, repeat it to yourself and keep taking the necessary steps required to achieve your goals. Soon, you’ll start believing it and of course, start living it.

You can also achieve more with your retirement savings when you make Additional Voluntary Contributions to your RSA. More is always better than less.

Keep tomorrow looking good!

7 Things a Valid Will Cannot Control

7 Things a Valid Will Cannot Control

A legal will cannot—and thus does not—control everything. When it comes to estate planning, there are several types of documents that already name your designated beneficiaries. Thus, your will does not control:

  1. Who receives your life insurance proceeds. If you’ve designated a beneficiary, the beneficiary gets the life insurance no matter what you may state in your will. If you have a change of heart, you should change the beneficiary with your life insurer.
  2. Who receives money from your retirement accounts. These act like life insurance proceeds. Whoever you’ve designated as your beneficiaries will get the money from the retirement accounts despite what your will may say.
  3. Joint checking and bank accounts. These go to the survivor, even if the will says something else.
  4. Joint real property. If you have real estate held jointly as tenants in common with the right of survivorship, the surviving party receives the property despite what the will says.
  5. Joint property, such as cars. If there are two names on the vehicle title, the survivor gets the car.
  6. Assets you’ve put into a living trust. You may want to consider having a living trust in addition to a will. A living trust avoids the probate process and allows beneficiaries to receive your property faster. Discuss your options with an estate planning attorney.
  7. If your will is going to be contested. People who expected to inherit from you and did not, or who are not satisfied with their share, may contest your will. As long as you made a valid will and it was reviewed by an attorney, in most cases your will should withstand the challenge. In some cases, however, it will not, and then it’s up to the probate court to decide.

A will is an important instrument, but it must be valid or your property will be divided as if you had died without having a will in place.

As noted above, the formalities required for a valid will vary in each state. Check with an estate planning attorney to make sure your will has been properly prepared.

If you don’t want joint property or life insurance to go to certain beneficiaries, discuss this with an estate planning attorney so you can change your beneficiaries and joint property now before it’s too late to do anything about it.

Credit: LegalZoom

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CBN reduces Monetary Policy Rate (MPR)

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Following the recently concluded monetary policy meeting by the Central Bank Nigeria (CBN) where the majority of committee members voted to reduce the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by one percent, from 12.5% to 11.5%.

The key takeaways:

  • This reduction means the rates on fixed income instruments such as treasury bills will possibly remain low for the rest of the year.
  • Interest rates on customer savings deposits with banks is now lower at 1.15% (previously: 1.25%).
  • This policy is expected to drive lower rates on bank loans to individuals and foster lending to businesses, we believe concerns on the weak state of the economy will make it difficult for the CBN to achieve its objective and banks will remain hesitant to give out loans.

Way forward for investors

Remain strategic, focused and disciplined. Your risk appetite should determine your next steps.

  • High-risk appetite: Explore opportunities in traditional instruments such as equities that will pay good dividends.
  • Low-risk appetite: Maintain money market or fixed income instruments to ensure your capital is preserved as well as guaranteed return on your capital.

Regardless of your risk appetite, be careful not to fall in the hands of ponzi schemes or investments that can disrupt the value of your wealth.

We are available to guide you through appropriate investment decisions suitable to your risk appetite and remain focused on navigating the market environment, with the aim to keep your investment on track towards reaching your long-term goals.

Click here and we will contact you to respond to any queries you may have. Alternatively, send us an email at [email protected] or call us on 012715000.

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ESTATE PLANNING: LEAVING A LASTING LEGACY

Wakanda Forever. Unfortunately, no-one lives that long.

Chadwick Boseman excited and inspired countless youths and adults when he played the world’s first black superhero, King T’Challa of Wakanda, in the blockbuster “Black Panther.” His recent passing at age 43 shows us that even those who appear to be young, vibrant, wealthy and heroic need an estate plan whose key elements include:

  • A Durable Power of Attorney, which appoints a surrogate to make decisions about property and financial affairs on behalf of an individual, especially when or if they become incapacitated;
  • A Healthcare Power of Attorney which appoints an Agent for you to make healthcare decisions on your behalf when you’re unable to do so for yourself. This may be combined with a Living Will that expresses your wishes regarding end-of-life decisions, including specific treatments to take or refrain from taking.
  • A Trust – a   legal vehicle that allows a third party, the trust, to hold assets on behalf of a beneficiary during their lifetime. Trusts allow a number of estate-planning options, not least of which is the ability to avoid the probate process and the cost, delays, and publicity which it might bring.

Trusts can also allow you to control how your assets are directed after your death, not only to whom the money will be given, but also under what circumstances. This control can be a valuable feature when directing assets to individuals with questionable ability to handle money. You can also choose reliable trustees to manage and direct the trust on your passing.

While trusts can be complex, one of the simplest and easiest to execute is the revocable trust, which helps steer your assets through probate, and directs the assets according to your wishes. Changes can be made during your lifetime.

One of the reasons for the continuing popularity of trusts is the ability to limit exposure to estate taxes. Irrevocable trusts can help with this.

  • Beneficiary Designations: Ensure your retirement plan beneficiary designations are up to date. Without naming a beneficiary, the distribution of benefits may be controlled by the state or federal law or according to your particular retirement plan.

 Speak to your wealth advisor for a more detailed plan. Estate planning can help prevent a number of potentially distressing problems from occurring. By determining how you want to handle your estate before you pass, you save your loved ones a lot of effort, money and grief when it comes to apportioning your estate. And even more crucial – you get precisely what you desire, whether you’re around to see it or not.

7 Things A Valid Will Can Control

7 Things A Valid Will Can Control

Valid last wills can provide for:

  1. Appointment of an executor of the estate. The executor should be someone you trust to administer the estate and follow what the will provides. The executor also pays the estate’s debts and taxes. He or she helps ensure that the beneficiaries receive what you wanted them to receive.
  2. Division of your assets. You can divide your assets any way you choose.
  3. Appointment of a guardian for your children. You can name a legal guardian, and/or an estate guardian, for your minor children. Make sure the guardians are people you trust to raise your children and/or to manage the finances of the child’s estate. You also can appoint a successor guardian.
  4. Care of your pets. To make sure your pets are properly cared for, you can list who you want to take care of them.
  5. Disinheriting of specified relatives. You can specify if you want to disinherit anyone.
  6. Your residuary estate, by using a residuary clause in the will. This is crucial because there will be property left over after all debts are paid and beneficiaries receive their designated property. Whatever is left over can be left to specific beneficiaries in a residuary clause. Without it, such property would be transferred by state law as if you had died without a will. It’s important to have a residuary clause so this doesn’t happen.
  7. Accuracy of beneficiaries after major life events. After a marriage, a new baby, a divorce, or any other major life change, make sure you change your will. You won’t want your ex-spouse to be your beneficiary, so an update is necessary. You also want your will to accurately reflect how the marriage or divorce affects your wishes for your children.

    Writing a Will is easy and simple. Contact ARM Trustees to get started with Easy Will

Credit: LegalZoom

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Market Update: August 2020

Equity:

The Nigerian Equity market closed the month of August on a positive note. The ASI expanded by 2.51% on a month on month basis, whilst on a year -on-year basis, the losses eased to -5.6%.

On a sectorial basis, telecoms emerged as the best performing sector gaining +20.47% year-to-date, followed by the cement sector (+8.37% year-to-date). Other sectors closed on a negative note including Banking (-16.26%), Brewers (-39.25%), Oil and gas (-60.36%) and food (-16.34%).

Going forward, we anticipate improved local domestic participation in the equity market due to the lower yield environment in the fixed income market. However, we do not expect this to sustain a meaningful rally in the equity market. Against this backdrop, our outlook on equity is now neutral (previous: neutral to negative).