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CHOOSING BENEFICIARIES by LUBA KOS Life insurance policies, pension plans, IRAs...all require that you name a beneficiary. Many people don’t give the process much thought, simply naming a spouse and/or children and then putting the whole thing out of mind. Choosing your beneficiary, and keeping that choice up to date, is very important. Here are some of the things to consider: — Don’t stop at naming a single beneficiary. Always name a “contingent” or secondary beneficiary as well, just in case you outlive your first beneficiary. — Make a specific election, rather than having the proceeds of your insurance policy paid to your estate. One of the great advantages of life insurance is that it is paid to your family immediately, without delay. If it is payable to the estate, however, it will have to go through probate along with the rest of your assets and your fam ily will have to wait. — Think carefully about the wording of beneficiary designations (your insurance agent can help you here). Saying ”wife/husband of the insured” without a specific name could result in an ex-spouse receiving the pro ceeds. Similary, naming ’’John, husband of the insured” may create a problem if, at the time of your death, you’re actually married to “George”. Changing the beneficiary designation is easily accomplished, but you have to remember to do it. Naming specific children may mean that later-born children will be left out unless the beneficiary designa tions are changes. Saying “children of the insured, Mary X”, might mean that your husband’s child from a pre vious marriage, whom you meant to include, is in fact excluded. Saying “children born of the marriage of John and Mary X” may mean excluding adopted children. Think it through very carefully, so that you actually do what you mean to do. Decide, also, how proceeds should be distributed if one of your children dies before you do. If you then want the proceeds to go that child’s children, you must say so. You must also decide how much grandchildren will share in the proceeds with your other children, whether everything will be divided equally or whether the grandchildren will split what would have been their parent’s share. It is very important to anticipate as many situations as possible. It is also vitally important to review your beneficiary provisions regularly. Unless you make an irrevocable designation, as might be the case in a divorce settlement, you can change beneficiary designations as often as you like. You won’t want to change frivolously, but you should change when it is appropriate to do so. Just as with any important documents — life insu rance policies, pension benefit records, investment records should be kept in a safe place which should be known to the appropriate individuals. Careful record keeping will make things much easier. Beginning with this issue, O u r Life will be featuring an occasional column on financial planning by Luba Kos, owner and president of Kos Financial Services. Ms. Kos, who was raised in Philadelphia, currently resides in New York City and is licensed to practice as a financial consultant and insurance consultant in the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Her company specializes in providing advice and informa tion on personal finances, insurance, and pension and estate planning. Kos is also a partner in Preferred Insurance Services which specializes in commercial insurance, home owners insurance and auto insurance and is a general partner in LZ Properties, a real estate investment partnership based in New York City. As Vice President for Membership in the New York City Association of Life Underwri ters, she is active in lobbying state and federal legislators to protect consumers’ interest in maintaining a favorable tax status for life insurance proceeds and annuities. Ms. Kos also acts as freelance financial advisor for several real estate cooperative boards in New York. An active member of the Ukrainian community, Luba Kos is currently serving on the board of directors of the Ukrainian Institute of America and is the Institute’s treasurer. She is a member of UNWLA Branch 88. 22 ’НАШЕ Ж ИТТЯ”, ЧЕРВЕНЬ 1995 Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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