People avoid discussing death and estate planning, but failing to have those conversations while alive leaves outcomes up to chance or the courts, so proactive planning and even bringing in a financial advisor as a neutral party is important.
Taylor argues that because mortality is uncomfortable to discuss, families often avoid estate planning conversations, but doing so leaves things to chance; a financial advisor can serve as an objective third party to facilitate those talks. ✦ AI generated
Taylor · The Compound · 2026-07-15 · original ↗
starts at this moment · 15:40
“So, how do you see it fitting into our client relationships and the financial planning process?”
If you're not willing to do the work and have those conversations, when you're gone, right, you kind of leave it up to chance or to the courts or whatever. So, I think there should be a big emphasis on it... one of the things that a financial advisor can do is have those difficult conversations. If you don't want to have them amongst your family, the objective third party can come in and do the talking for you.
verbatim transcript · starts at 15:40
15:29and the planning while someone's living, and to your point, Ben, people don't like to talk about death or taxes, right? >> a taboo subject. Like, let's just pretend it's not going to happen. >> Right. Mortality is is hard to to really think through, um, but if you're not willing to do the work and have those conversations, when you're gone, right, you kind of leave it up to chance or to
15:52the courts or whatever. So, I think there should be a a big emphasis on it, and obviously, that goes for any range of wealth, right? Um, especially, you know, with thinking of passing assets to your children or family members, like, you want hopefully, you want them to be as buttoned up as possible, and then want all that to go smoothly. >> want to make that as clean [snorts] as
16:14you possibly can, right? So, it's just preparing for that eventuality. There's plenty of things you can do to plan, so you're not trying to scramble after the fact, right? And and this sounds like we're doing a commercial for financial advisors, but one of the things that a financial advisor can do is have those difficult conversations. If you don't want to have them amongst your family, the objective third party can come in
16:34and do the talking for you. >> Yeah. And I think what what maybe is also missed is thinking like, well, I have X amount of money today, and you know, I spend X, and I'll probably run out. But that might not always be the case, and so, you know, I know here we do a lot of projections and looking at what portfolios may grow to over 20, 30 years, and you may be
16:53surprised to see what might actually be left, right, to your kids, um, or to your family members, and and it might that might kind of, you know, um, make it worth spending time on if you see those numbers. >> Yeah, and there's obviously always unexpected things that can happen. It could be, you know, there's there's two spouses, and one of the spouses passes away, and you you
17:13want to make sure your spouse is taken care of, or your kids, or whatever, and it's it's sort of planning ahead. Yeah. Um We I know we have a good one next I think that kind of can get more into the process. What Duncan, want me to go to the next question? I think this kind of gets into the more nitty-gritty of this, too. >> Okay. Uh next we have one from Eric.
17:31Please help me with the following situation. I married and my mother-in-law asked me to be executor of their will. Her first husband died and she remarried when my wife was about 10. Each has kids of their own and they did not adopt the others. She has stated that they do not have a will and I don't know how they handle their finances. How do I bring this up?