Category: ARM Trustees

5 actions that will get you promoted at work

Feranmi has consistently met and exceeded her KPI at work and even though it felt good to outperform, she was unhappy because, for three years, she’s yet to get noticed for promotion.

She reached out to a career coach to find out what she could be doing wrong. He told her that she had spent years building her skills but not building relationships.

Here are the tips he gave to help her strengthen her relationships throughout her career and get on the path to promotion and continued success.

1. Share your gifts with others

To be considered for promotion, senior management needs to see that you’re able to work well with others since companies succeed through collective leadership. What’s that special thing about you or the way you go about your work? Share with your teammates to help them become better. Seeing you demonstrating this capability now makes it easier for management to think of you in a role with additional responsibility.

2. Shift your perspective from “me” to “we”

How do your team-mates or people you often collaborate with see you? Do you like to tackle tasks alone and take the glory? That is not a team spirit. Start involving your team in strategy planning, listen more, talk less, and focus on leveraging the skills of your team to achieve goals collectively. In short, become a team player.

3. Mentor others to develop your leadership skills

Even if you’re not managing a team yet, find opportunities to lead or teach others – it could be through volunteering. We learn best when we are teaching others.

4. Collaborate better with clashing personalities

Identify the specific personality characteristics that are challenging for you and develop strategies for working effectively with them. When you find ways to get along with coworkers of all types, you eliminate friction, become more productive, and make it easier for management to promote you.

5. Set healthy boundaries in your work relationships

To advance and take on more responsibility, you should learn how and what to say “No” to. Some tasks may not add value to you, your team, or organization or could be a complete waste of your valuable time. Be judicious and diplomatic and learn to delegate where necessary.

Here’s to getting the promotion you deserve and moving to a PFA that appreciates you! Click here to move to ARM Pensions.

Tips from HBR

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Unexpected riches…

Dele sat in the sitting room where his father had taught him almost everything he knew about life. Only that this time, his father was not seated in his favourite chair opposite the TV, his pile of newspapers had gathered dust from lack of touch and his glasses case lay there dusty and unbothered.

His father was gone, three months now and he still couldn’t believe it. But the truth settled in as his eyes darted around the room.

He saw his siblings- all home for the burial, his mother-completely draped in black yet managing to look stunning. There were also uncles, three of them and the one aunt nobody really liked. Everyone sat there quietly, listening to ‘baba agba’- the family head.

Baba agba managed to avoid everyone’s gaze, intent on his task of dividing Chief Akinlabi’s property among the members of the family since the deceased had not left a Will. After about fifteen minutes of decrying the lack of cooperation demonstrated by Dele’s mother in providing documents to her late husband’s properties, he proceeded to reel out names and their bequest.

The concerned people struggled not to smile. You cannot display your happiness at getting a three-story building in Ketu when your younger brother just died.

Dele was beginning to imagine he had been forgotten when baba agba called his name, allocating the rundown plastic factory at Sagamu to him. No one could control the laughter that filled the room.

Dele’s siblings could also not hide their anger at the shoddy distribution of assets. However, the look on their mother’s face seemed assured, she had a plan.

Two hours later, the meeting had dispersed leaving just Dele and his siblings, patiently awaiting their mother. She soon emerged from the room holding a folder. Admonishing them to disregard the selfish actions of baba-agba and his people, she encouraged them to maximize the little they had gotten. Lastly, she informed them of their father’s Mutual funds investment which had run into about 20 million Naira.

Dele being the first child was given the task of accessing the funds on everyone’s behalf. The plan was that Dele would access the money and mother and children would divide it among themselves.

As Dele considered this latest development, he wondered what would have happened to him, his siblings, and his mum had their dad not been an avid investor in mutual funds. An email notification jolts him back to reality. It was an email from his investment managers reminding him to keep growing his investment.

He would have ignored this email like he typically did, but recent events have revealed why he should revive his investment habit. Without thinking twice, Dele opens his Wealth Planner and opts for the direct debit option which would ensure that he never forgets to top up his investment again.

Even in death, his dad had reiterated the need for everyone to have a financial cushion especially when one has a family or dreams to achieve. With a grateful sigh, Dele picked up the phone to call his dad’s fund managers regarding his 20 million naira investment.

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10 reasons you should have an Estate Plan

Your loved ones are typically the No. 1 priority in your life, and that isn’t going to change. The best way to make sure they are taken care of after you pass is to establish an estate plan while you are still of sound mind. Here are the top 10 advantages of creating an estate plan:

It provides for your immediate family.

An estate plan will provide enough money for your surviving spouse to continue to care for the family. If both you and your spouse pass, an estate plan will name appointed guardians to care for your children.

It will ensure your property goes to the right beneficiaries.

Your estate plan will outline exactly where your assets are to go in the event of your death. This leaves no questions to be resolved by the courts or cause for family discord.

It minimizes expenses and taxes.

When you take care to create an estate plan, you should be able to keep the cost of transferring any property to your named beneficiaries. You can use your estate plan to set up a special trust for your children and grandchildren

It eases the burden on your family.

It can be difficult to plan the funeral of a loved one when grieving. When working on your estate plan, you can outline your wishes for funeral arrangements and even set aside funds for them. This takes some of the burdens off your family during this difficult time.

To support a favourite cause.

If you are passionate about a local cause or charitable organization, an estate plan can allow you to support them after your passing.

It can be used to plan for any incapacity.

Life is unpredictable. If you should ever become mentally or physically incapacitated, an estate plan will outline your wishes regarding life and who will make medical decisions on your behalf.

It reduces taxes that take place on your estate.

By crafting an estate plan, you should be able to minimize the amount of taxes collected on your estate, which results in your beneficiaries keeping more of the money you set aside for them.

It establishes trustees over your estate.

You’ll need someone to serve as the executor of your estate to make sure everything is handled properly. Your estate plan will name this person, which will save money and simplify the administration process.

It provides for those who many need help.

Do you have a child who has a disability? Or perhaps you have grandchildren who will be attending college in the future. Through your estate plan, you can set up a special trust to provide funds to support them.

Ensure a business continues with a succession plan.

If you own your own business, you’ll want to establish some kind of plan to keep it going after you pass. An estate plan will name your successor and outline what happens to your interest in the business.

As you can see, there is a lot that goes into estate planning, and none of these areas should be left up in the air. By working with professional estate planning attorneys, you can be sure you have thought of everything.

Without a will, your property may not go to who you want. Much of it can be tied up in probate for years, which means your family won’t get the assets they want and potentially need until it’s all settled. You can’t make assumptions that everything is going to go the way you want. Legal documentation is the only way to ensure your wishes are met.

WHY NOT TALK TO A TRUST ADVISOR TODAY?

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Most of your wealth may not make it to the next generation- Henry Hollingdrake.

At a round table discussion with our team, Henry Hollingdrake: representing; ARM Trustees Limited, stated that the chances of wealth being efficiently transferred successfully to the next generation without incurring liabilities and unnecessary risk combined with the ability to further invest free from any restraints and excessive taxation are more complicated now than ever before.

He buttressed that this is ironic given today’s world offers a lot more accessible tools for transfer and preservation of wealth. Tools like estate planning, wills and relevant estate planning vehicles such as Trusts and Foundations for example.

In breaking down this claim, he further explained that in today’s world, owning valuable assets does not always guarantee the value of the assets will be preserved when transferred to the next generation. In worse cases where there is intestate succession, i.e. no Will or mechanism in place to pass on wealth, this function is left to the state to decide.

Even if there is an estate plan in place, it would at least need to provide for adequate asset protection and future growth. One also needs guard against excessive professional fees charged against an Estate that is fraught with complications on death.

Engaging him further, we asked, if your claims are indeedvalid, how does one ensure that wealth is transferred and enjoyed by one’s next generation?

In his response, he stated that first, we must be willing to leverage estate planning tools like Wills, Guardianship documentation, Trusts and Foundations as well as the utilisation of relevant co-ordinated structure for larger and more complex estates. He explained that an Estate Plan be it local or international includes having strategies in place to manage: the effect of inheritance tax, ease of wealth transfer and business succession relating to investments, real-estate, your pension fund, and other assets, which could form a significant portion of your wealth.

An estate plan will help individuals and families with both local and international assets, investments and business operations give careful consideration and properly document their holdings to ensure the assets are protected and passed on to future generations. This is effective, legally robust, practical and efficient. Estate planning offers you protection without borders, especially considering potential shifts in Residency and Citizenship, which may impact one’s wealth. The protection of effective management and ownership of a business operation can also be safeguarded by setting up a Succession plan.

Mr. Hollingdrake concluded the round table discussion by stating that familieswho seek to get started on understanding what is required for an estate plan or indeed would like to set one up, can reach out to ARM Trustees Limited, an independent award-winning firm with over 20 years’ experience in this field and now also offering international solutions.’

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5 Benefits of Having An Education Trust Fund for Your Children

A trust fund is a legal entity established for the purpose of holding assets for the benefit of specific people, or even for an organization. Children are frequent beneficiaries of trust funds because trust funds can safeguard your assets and make sure they are used for your children’s stewardship. How can a trust fund accomplish this?

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Setting up a trust fund for your children is not necessarily just for wealthy families.
Children are often beneficiaries of trust funds by parents or grandparents who want to pass along their assets.
A will can be challenged by third-parties making it a risker option for dispensing your assets. A trust will ensure your money reaches the intended recipient.
You can set the trust up to be dispersed when the child reaches a certain age, and you can set up a payment schedule or disperse it in one lump sum.

Guaranteeing Funds Are Available for Your Children

One of the primary benefits of having a trust is that the assets held within it are protected from legal claims. With the possible exception of retirement savings, any assets that you have are subject to seizure by courts and creditors. However, assets held in trust are legally protected.

This will be important if, after setting up targeted savings or investment accounts for your children, you are forced to file bankruptcy, or you experience business failure. Still another possibility is facing a lawsuit as a result of civil liability.

Irrevocable Trust vs. Revocable Trust

There is an important distinction in regard to trusts, however. In order for assets to be protected, they have to be held in an irrevocable trust. This is a type of trust in which the terms of the trust are created at the outset, and then become permanent. You cannot change them, even if you are funding the trust. This means that you will give up a certain amount of control over the trust. But if you want the assets completely protected, that will be absolutely necessary.

The other type of trust is referred to as a revocable trust or living trust. You can retain control over the trust, but for that reason, it will remain subject to seizure by creditors and other parties.

Safeguarding the Money

A trust gives you the ability to name specific beneficiaries, and once you do, your intentions cannot be changed after the fact. This means that you will be able to specifically name your children as beneficiaries of the trust–and even exclude certain children if that is your choice–and your wishes will be carried out.

This is not true with regular investment accounts, and not necessarily true in the case of a will. Since a will disperses your general assets, any part of it can be challenged by unintended third parties. A trust will ensure that the money goes to the people listed in the trust, and no one else.

Ensuring Funds Are Available for the Long-Term

One of the biggest advantages of a trust is that you have control over how the money in the trust is dispersed to the beneficiaries. You can have it done in a lump sum, or you can have it parceled out over a period of several years. You can even set it up as an annuity to make payments to the beneficiary on any basis that you choose–monthly, quarterly, semiannually, or annually.

You can think of this as a kind of “spendthrift provision.” It will make sure that the money isn’t dispersed from the trust and then blown quickly by the beneficiary. This can be especially important with young children, when there may have to be a guardian appointed, or even for young adult children, whom you may not entirely trust in handling the money early in life.

You can set the trust up to be dispersed when the child reaches a certain age, say 25, 30, or even 50 years old. That will allow you to delay turning the assets of the trust over to your child until they reach an age at which you believe they will be financially responsible. You can even choose to make monthly or annual payments up to a certain age, upon which the remaining balance of the trust will be issued to the individual in a lump sum.

Ensuring the Money Is Used for Intended Purpose

A trust can be set up in such a way that you can even determine what the specific purposes of the distributions will be for. For example, you can include wording in the trust that requires that the money is disbursed only for major expenses, such as a college education, buying a home, starting a business, or even caring for a child or grandchild with a disability.

Though we may not like to think about it this way, if you have a child who has a substance abuse problem, a gambling disorder, or whose spending habits you do not condone, putting restrictions on the reasons for which it will be dispersed can be the perfect way to guarantee that the money will be available only for expenditures that will help to improve your child’s life.

Making Sure Money Is There After You’re Gone

While it’s true that you can use a will to bequeath your estate to your children, a trust will accomplish that goal much more efficiently and completely.

This will be especially important in the event that you die before your children reach adulthood. A trust will guarantee that funds will be available during your children’s time of dependency, as well as when they are adults. In this way, you can create a method by which money will be available for their care, for their college educations, and to help them enter the adult world when they’re older.

You may not be there to provide the funds for all of those essential needs, but the trust fund will help take care of them in your absence. An independent trustee can be appointed who will handle the disbursement of assets upon your death based on the terms you spelled out in the trust. This will guarantee that those disbursements will happen in an orderly fashion, and at the intervals that you consider to be appropriate.

The Bottom Line
You can use conventional investment accounts, or even a will, to distribute assets to your children. But a trust fund will do it safely, and in exactly the way you want it to occur.

You can take that bold step to ensure your children or wards have a future you desire for them now. Open an ARM Education Trust Account Here

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