National Estate Planning Awareness Week

This week we're celebrating the 5th annual National Estate Planning Awareness Week and encouraging everyone to spread the word on the local level. 

The goals of NEPAW are to: 

• Substantially create financial awareness and help to improve financial literacy. 
• Alert the public why having a current and up-to-date estate and financial plan is an important financial responsibility not only to themselves but to their families and loved ones.
• Motivate the public to take action to get and keep their financial house in order with an up-to-date estate and financial plan. 
• Help the public find the right professionals to cost-effectively help establish and keep their financial and estate plans up-to-date. 

Below are ways you or your local council can participate:

1. Place estate and financial planning editorial content on your website, in your newsletters, social media groups, local newspapers, and radio/television/web-based shows.
2. Host or take part in community-wide programs built around estate and financial planning. 
3. Circulate financial awareness campaign materials and the Press & Industry Media Kits and Guides, to your members, colleagues, associates, and other parties as you see appropriate and encourage them to support and participate in these important events. 
4. Be sure to email us your articles, checklists, ads, and seminar/webinar activity notices so we can highlight them and you in the 2013 National Estate Planning Awareness Week Campaign Report and Scrapbook. 

At last week's National Conference on Philanthropic Planning, The Stelter Company presented the results of a new survey of advisors who hold the Accredited Estate Planner® (AEP®) designation. This study finds that many advisors are quite willing to collaborate with charitable planners, although not necessarily in the ways traditionally preferred by the charitable planners. The most fruitful areas for collaboration, according to advisors, are:

• Showing clients they are willing to work as a team to formalize a planned gift (53% are interested in this)
• Raising awareness of estate planning (51% are interested in this)
• Explaining the tax advantages of planned gifts (47% are interested in this)

AEP®s surveyed in the Stelter study were less interested in receiving the following assistance from nonprofit planners:

• Raising awareness of the importance of planned gifts (38% are interested in this)
• Receiving technical information on planned gifts (33% are interested in this)
• Ongoing assistance in analyzing gift transactions (31% are interested in this)
• Assisting the advisor on language to be included in documents (31% are interested in this)

Did you miss our conversation with one of this year's honorary co-chairs, Paul Schervish? If so, click here to read the post.

Start planning now for National Financial Literacy Month in April. We'll send more information your way early next year.