1 Big Piece of Advice From Warren Buffett to Keep in Mind About Estate Planning

This article is intended for educational purposes only and is not legal advice. For guidance on your personal situation, please contact a lawyer.

Warren Buffett is known primarily for his incredible investing record. He’s led Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) (NYSE: BRK.B) for close to 60 years and has increased the stock’s value over that period at an average annual growth rate of 19.8% — vs. 10.2% for the S&P 500 over the same period.

That’s wildly impressive, but just as amazing is his generous heart. Buffett gives away more than a billion dollars annually and has given away more than 56% of his shares of Berkshire Hathaway (much of it to the Gates Foundation, though he has recently parted ways with it). Indeed, he plans to give away nearly all of his wealth.

According to Forbes, “Buffett is likely the largest philanthropist of all time… donating more than $60 billion toward charitable causes in his lifetime.”

Buffett on estate planning

When Buffett offers guidance related to investing, millions pay attention. We should do the same when he offers advice about estate planning, too. After all, one of the richest people in the world is likely to have given a lot of thought to the matter.

In a recent press release, Buffett offered a valuable bit of advice:

I have one further suggestion for all parents, whether they are of modest or staggering wealth. When your children are mature, have them read your will before you sign it. Be sure each child understands both the logic for your decisions and the responsibilities they will encounter upon your death. If any have questions or suggestions, listen carefully and adopt those found sensible. You don’t want your children asking “Why?” in respect to testamentary decisions when you are no longer able to respond.

Over the years, I have had questions or commentary from all three of my children and have often adopted their suggestions. There is nothing wrong with my having to defend my thoughts. My dad did the same with me.

First and foremost, be sure that you have a will — and perhaps a trust and other important estate-planning documents — set up. Do this even if you’re still, say, in your 30s. You never know what life has in store for you, and you may end up temporarily or permanently incapacitated long before you retire. In such circumstances, having a power-of-attorney set up can be extremely useful.

Once you’ve drafted such important documents, take Buffett’s advice and share your thoughts and wishes with those who will be affected by them.

Fail to do so, and once you’re gone, arguments, fights, and bad feelings may ensue. Some may not understand why they did or didn’t receive this or that, and why others did or didn’t, as well. As Buffett notes, the time when you can offer explanations is while you’re still around.

Buffett added, in his press release:

Over the years, [his longtime business partner] Charlie and I saw many families driven apart after the posthumous dictates of the will left beneficiaries confused and sometimes angry. Jealousies, along with actual or imagined slights during childhood, became magnified, particularly when sons were favored over daughters, either in monetary ways or by positions of importance.

Charlie and I also witnessed a few cases where a wealthy parent’s will that was fully discussed before death helped the family become closer. What could be more satisfying?

Buffett’s last investing directions

In the past, Buffett has also explained how he has directed his money to be invested once he’s gone, for his wife. In his 2013 letter to shareholders, he said:

One bequest provides that cash will be delivered to a trustee for my wife’s benefit. (I have to use cash for individual bequests, because all of my Berkshire shares will be fully distributed to certain philanthropic organizations over the ten years following the closing of my estate.) My advice to the trustee could not be more simple: Put 10% of the cash in short-term government bonds and 90% in a very low-cost S&P 500 index fund. (I suggest Vanguard’s.) I believe the trust’s long-term results from this policy will be superior to those attained by most investors – whether pension funds, institutions or individuals – who employ high-fee managers.

Buffett believes so firmly in the power of broad index funds that he put his money where his mouth is, entering into a 10-year, million-dollar bet favoring index funds over hedge funds — and winning that bet.

So as you go through your life, keep Warren Buffett’s advice in mind for both your investing and your estate planning. Note that index funds are great wealth builders at any or all stages of life. They can be all you need to amass your retirement nest egg.