Estate Planning Checklist for Pre-Retirees in Northwest Indiana

Introduction

You’ve spent decades building your wealth. Now, as retirement approaches, one of the most important — and most often overlooked — steps you can take is making sure that wealth goes where you intend it to go.

Estate planning isn’t just for the ultra-wealthy. If you own a home, have a retirement account, or have people you care about, you have an estate. And without a proper plan in place, the state of Indiana — not you — may decide what happens to it.

For pre-retirees in Northwest Indiana and the Greater Chicagoland area, the years between 55 and 70 are the ideal window to get this right. This checklist walks you through the essential steps every pre-retiree should take before they stop working.

Why Estate Planning Is a Retirement Issue — Not Just a Wealth Issue

Most people think of estate planning as something you do “someday.” But consider this: retirement is the point in your life when your income shifts from a paycheck to withdrawals from accounts, pensions, and Social Security. If something happens to you during that transition — or after — without clear legal documents in place, your family could face months of court delays, unnecessary taxes, and painful family conflict.

Estate planning done right gives you three things: control, clarity, and peace of mind.

The Estate Planning Checklist for Pre-Retirees

1. Will or Revocable Living Trust

Every adult needs a will. But for many pre-retirees, a revocable living trust may be a better option — especially for those with real estate, minor grandchildren, or assets in multiple states.

A will goes through probate, which is a public, court-supervised process. Indiana’s probate process can take several months and comes with fees. A living trust transfers assets privately and can be far more efficient for your heirs.

Questions to ask yourself:

                  •               Do I have a current, signed will or trust?

                  •               Has it been updated in the last five years?

                  •               Does it reflect my current wishes, family situation, and asset values?

2. Beneficiary Designations

This is one of the most overlooked — and most dangerous — gaps in estate planning. Beneficiary designations on IRAs, 401(k)s, life insurance policies, and annuities override your will entirely. That means even a perfectly written will cannot redirect these assets if your beneficiary forms are out of date.

Common mistakes we see in Northwest Indiana:

                  •               A deceased spouse still listed as the primary beneficiary

                  •               An ex-spouse listed after a divorce

                  •               Minor children named directly, which can trigger court-supervised custodianship

                  •               No contingent (backup) beneficiary named at all

Action step: Request a complete beneficiary review from every financial institution where you have accounts. Do this at least every three to five years or after any major life change.

3. Durable Power of Attorney (Financial)

A durable power of attorney allows a trusted person — your agent — to make financial decisions on your behalf if you become incapacitated. Without one, your family may need to pursue court-ordered guardianship, which is expensive, time-consuming, and emotionally draining.

This document does not take effect at death. It covers you during your lifetime if you are unable to manage your own affairs.

Key considerations:

                  •               Who do you trust to make sound financial decisions?

                  •               Should your agent act alone, or require co-agents?

                  •               Does your document clearly authorize the powers your agent may need — including managing retirement accounts and filing taxes?

4. Healthcare Power of Attorney and Living Will

Separate from your financial power of attorney, these documents address your medical care.

A healthcare power of attorney names someone to make medical decisions if you cannot make them yourself. A living will (also called an advance directive) spells out your wishes for end-of-life care — ventilators, feeding tubes, resuscitation, and similar interventions.

Without these documents, medical providers may be legally required to take extraordinary measures, regardless of your wishes. And your family members may find themselves in the painful position of disagreeing about what you would have wanted.

In Indiana, these documents should comply with state-specific statutory requirements to be enforceable.

5. Titling of Assets

How your assets are titled determines how they pass at death — sometimes more than your will does.

Common titling structures include:

                  •               Joint Tenancy with Right of Survivorship (JTWROS): passes automatically to the surviving owner, bypasses probate

                  •               Tenancy in Common: each owner’s share passes through their estate

                  •               Transfer on Death (TOD) or Payable on Death (POD): passes directly to a named beneficiary, bypasses probate

For homeowners in Northwest Indiana, reviewing how your home is titled — particularly after a divorce, remarriage, or death of a co-owner — is essential. Mistitling can unintentionally disinherit a spouse or child, or trigger unintended tax consequences.

6. Review of Retirement Account Distribution Strategy

IRAs and 401(k)s are among the largest assets most pre-retirees own — and also among the most tax-sensitive to pass on. The SECURE Act 2.0 changed the rules significantly for inherited IRAs, compressing the distribution timeline for most non-spouse beneficiaries to 10 years.

This means a large IRA passed to your adult children could force them into significantly higher tax brackets over the following decade.

Strategies to consider:

                  •               Roth conversions before retirement to reduce the tax burden on heirs

                  •               Naming a trust as IRA beneficiary in certain circumstances (requires careful planning)

                  •               Charitable remainder trusts or direct charitable giving as part of your legacy plan

                  •               Coordinating your estate plan with your overall retirement income strategy

7. Life Insurance Review

If you have permanent life insurance, it may be a significant estate planning tool — or it may be an outdated policy that no longer serves its original purpose.

Pre-retirement is the right time to ask:

                  •               Is the death benefit still appropriate for my estate needs?

                  •               Are the beneficiaries current?

                  •               Is this policy inside or outside of my taxable estate?

                  •               Could this policy be exchanged for a more efficient product through a 1035 exchange?

For those without life insurance, a final expense or survivorship (second-to-die) policy may be worth exploring depending on your goals.

8. Long-Term Care Planning

Long-term care costs are one of the largest financial threats to an otherwise well-structured estate plan. The average cost of a private room in a nursing home in Indiana exceeds $7,000 per month — and that figure continues to rise.

Without a plan, those costs come out of your estate — potentially depleting what you intended to leave your heirs or surviving spouse.

Options to consider:

                  •               Traditional long-term care insurance

                  •               Hybrid life insurance/LTC or annuity/LTC products

                  •               Asset-based LTC strategies using existing lump-sum assets

This topic was covered in depth in a recent presentation we delivered at senior centers throughout Northwest Indiana, and it is one of the most urgent planning conversations pre-retirees should have.

9. Work With an Estate Planning Attorney — and Coordinate With Your Financial Advisor

Estate planning documents need to be drafted and executed properly to be legally enforceable. That means working with a licensed estate planning attorney in Indiana.

Just as importantly, your financial advisor should be involved in coordinating your estate plan with your broader retirement income strategy. The two cannot be treated in isolation. A beneficiary designation that looks fine on paper may create a significant tax problem if it isn’t aligned with your overall plan.

At Patten Financial Group, we work alongside estate planning attorneys on behalf of our clients to ensure your documents, account titling, and beneficiary designations all work together — not against each other.

Is Your Estate Plan Ready for Retirement?

If you haven’t reviewed your estate plan in the last three to five years — or if you’ve never had one created at all — now is the time to act. The years leading up to retirement are the most important window you have to get this right.

We offer a complimentary Retirement Income Review that includes a comprehensive look at your estate planning gaps alongside your income, tax, and investment strategy. There’s no cost and no obligation.

To schedule your review, contact Patten Financial Group at (219) 312-4128 or visit pattenfinancial.com.

[This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal or financial advice. Estate planning involves legal documents that should be prepared by a licensed attorney.]

Investment advisory services offered through Redhawk Wealth Advisors, Inc., an SEC

Registered Investment Advisor. SEC Registration does not imply any level of skill or

understanding. Redhawk Wealth Advisors and Patten Financial Group are unaffiliated and

separate legal entities.