Author: HairWeavings Editorial Team

“With great power, there must also come great responsibility.”

This quote from Spider-Man speaks to the consequences of our actions and the beliefs that frame our behaviors, especially when they affect many people.

What does a line from Spider-Man have to do with women over 60?

More than you may think.

My previous article and video examined The Great Wealth Transfer, which involves passing $68 trillion to immediate heirs between 2020 and 2060.

Our generation makes up over $50 trillion of this exchange. A great responsibility could be squandered if you are unprepared to be a good steward of such an exchange.

In the final part of our 10-part series, “The Invisible Customer with All the Money®”, we will explore how you and your heirs can benefit from The Great Wealth Transfer.

If you missed the previous articles, you can find them here:

#1: 7 Steps to Reclaim Your Power from the Media

#2: Aging Stereotypes: Can You Be More Feeble?

#3: 10 Steps to Influence Yourself from Within

#4: What Makes Your World Go Round After 60?

#5: 10 Steps to Unleash Your Inspired Voice After 60

#6: 5 Steps for Taking Back Control of Our Choices from the Media

#7: 10 Steps to Re-Engage with Life After 60

#8: 10 Steps to Bridging the Generational Divide

#9: Are You Ready for the Great Wealth Transfer?

Inheritance Is a Mindset

For centuries, wealthy families have passed down their estates to heirs. The Great Wealth Transfer, however, represents an unprecedented opportunity unlike anything the world has seen.

Over the last decade, large amounts of financial inheritance have expanded far beyond the luxurious confines of the ultra-rich to now include the average person.

Therefore, what makes The Great Wealth Transfer so unique is more than just the astronomical amount of money being transferred. It also goes beyond the sheer number of people around the world receiving it.

As jaw-dropping a number as $68 trillion is, ultimately, an inheritance is less about money and more about mindset. But what kind of mindset?

Three Important Factors

Consider the kinds of beliefs and stories you have about love, money, aging, and life itself. Are they wrapped up in a fixed mindset or a growth mindset?

Your answer will determine how prepared you and your heirs are to make the most of any type of inheritance, especially one that involves a lot of money.

Whatever your involvement in The Great Wealth Transfer will end up being, to properly take advantage of it you will want to adopt a growth mindset.

Here are three important factors that make The Great Wealth Transfer unique and the new growth mindset needed to maximize its benefits:

1. People and families with little to no lineage of financial wealth will benefit.

This requires a new story about money, which produces a new mindset.

2. The world your heirs are inheriting is vastly different than the one you grew up in.

Let go of fixed beliefs about scarcity and relinquish any controlling, manipulative mechanisms for how heirs receive and spend money.

3. It’s not just money that is being transferred it’s a mindset you’re transferring.

A mindset is a set of beliefs. Inheritances are determined by beliefs about money, love, and life. If your beliefs are limiting, your gift is tainted.

10 Steps to Make the Most of It

To ensure your inheritance is transferred efficiently, with love, and is in alignment with your heirs’ wishes, here are 10 steps to make the most of The Great Wealth Transfer:

Education

Understanding the basics of financial planning, tax implications, and estate laws is essential for you and your heirs.

Consult Financial Professionals

Interview three or more professional financial advisors before choosing one. Make sure they are ideally suited for your assets and aligned with your intentions to create a comprehensive wealth transfer plan.

Consult Estate Attorney

The same interview process applies to choosing an estate attorney. Seek professional guidance on drafting a will, setting up trusts, and other legal mechanisms for wealth transfer.

Open Family Conversations

Discuss your beliefs about money, aging, and inheritance plans with family members to set clear expectations and a smooth transition of assets.

Comprehensive Will

To avoid future disputes, clearly identify and define who inherits what.Regularly review and update your will, especially after major life events.

Consider Trusts

Trusts can offer a way to pass on wealth while potentially reducing estate taxes. Trusts can also ensure family members with special needs are properly cared for.

Gifting Assets

Strategies like funding education accounts or giving annual tax-free gifts are beneficial to heirs. However, it is important to understand the potential tax risks and tax benefits of gifting assets before death.

Review Beneficiaries

Update information to ensure the beneficiaries listed on insurance policies, retirement accounts, and other assets are current.

Address Debts and Taxes

Prepare and understand your debt strategy. You don’t want heirs to inherit your debts or be hit with excessively large taxes.

Digital Assets

Be sure to list any digital assets. This means documenting all online accounts, digital assets, and their respective passwords.

One Size Does Not Fit All

This article and the accompanying video are not intended to serve as financial advice. Nor are these 10 steps a one-size-fits-all approach to The Great Wealth Transfer.

Decisions concerning inheritances, whether they are given or received, require proper planning and oversight of a licensed professional.

Whether you are gifting money and assets to family, friends, or a charity, keep in mind this is a legacy exchange. Make sure your choices align with your values and intentions.

I invite you to join me in the video where I will share additional insights along with six journal prompts to help you integrate what you’re learning.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

How do you prepare for and approach inheritances, such as those referenced in The Great Wealth Transfer? Have you set up all proper documentation? What else might you need to do

It’s definitely a polaroid love.

Hello, I’m Nancy Lang Gibbs, and I just turned 65. And I’m wondering if the more I say it, and write it, the more it will begin to feel real?!

The day I saw “Nancy’s 65^th birthday” on my computer calendar I honestly took a double take, and if there had been a speech bubble over my tilted head it would have said, “Whose 65^th birthday?!” Seeing the visual of my name next to that number did not compute.

And I’m sure I’m not alone! This is why I’m passionate about rallying together all of us women in later life to discover how to love this time of life regardless of societal messages, and to become more aware of our internal ones as well.

Is Getting Older Easy?

Nope! And you could say that about any age!

We are all getting older. My baby grandsons are trying to sit up without falling over. Young kids beginning school are figuring out how to make new friends, college grads are faced with making a life for themselves. No matter our age, we all face challenges, fears, new stages… and new opportunities!

I will say, however, that society doesn’t make it easy. I get very frustrated with each commercial espousing how to fight aging and look younger as though getting older is a disease! Especially for women.

The Messages Are All Around Us

If we don’t use this cream and wear that make-up to hide all our “imperfections” then we won’t look beautiful. And it’s not just societal messages, it often comes from our friend and familial circles as well.

I’ll never forget one time when my grandma was visiting, and I didn’t wear any makeup that day. That night we got dressed to go out, so I put make-up on and when she saw me, she said, “Is this the same girl?” To be fair, she wasn’t intentionally trying to insult me, we’re all just so conditioned as to what ‘pretty’ is, that we pass these messages on from generation to generation.

And what begins as generational messages, can end up being believed as the truth.

Keeping Hold of Who We Are

As we enter our 50s, 60s and older, we get to a stage of life when many of us begin to feel invisible. We often don’t get the compliments we once did which can lead to feeling less attractive. Also, we can begin to feel less valued because our wisdom doesn’t seem to be as important as the influencers on social media.

We can lose sight of our beauty and importance because, perhaps, we unknowingly rely on external sources to fuel our fire, versus trusting our knowing to emanate from the fire in our belly.

This quote from Maria Shriver really resonates with me: “The truth is, we all want someone to see the jewel that is inside of us. We all long to be seen as valuable, no matter how old we are. And we work hard trying to get others to recognize our value, our worth, so often giving them the power to decide if we are, in fact, jewels to be cherished. But that power is actually our own. It’s yours. Don’t give it away.”

Yes!!

Here’s the thing: feeling appreciated, and hearing that we are valued and loved is a beautiful thing, and we’ve got to, got to, got to recognize and acknowledge it within ourselves first. We’ve got to love ourselves and know our worth without needing to hear it from anyone else; because if we don’t, we are giving our power away. And we cannot give others that power.

Prior to turning 65 last month, I had a sudden impetus to write, and what came out of me was completely unexpected. I have never been prouder of anything I’ve ever written. I have never, ever written anything like it, and it became the 95^th episode that is now the most listened to episode of my podcast Loving Later Life. It is called, “Spoken Word Poetry of Birthday Thoughts & Wishes Gone Wild as I Officially Become a Senior.”

If you click on that link you can listen to it from the play bar on the website page. You can also find it on whatever podcast platform you prefer.

I hope that you listen (not because I’m looking for external praise!), but because from all reports, it encompasses parts of all of us, and I want to share it with as many people as possible. So please feel free to share and to follow the podcast if you’d like.

No one else can provide the level of pride and love that we can give to ourselves. And it’s never too late. We have the power. Anything is possible. At any age.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Have you turned 65 yet? How does it feel to be a senior? What does it mean to you? How does it affect your life?

Suki Waterhouse & Michelle Williams-approved.

Don’t be funny with my money…