What is a trust and when should you get one?

A trust gives you a way to specify who should take over for you if you are incapacitated and cannot manage your affairs. If you have minor children, this also can specify who will take care of them and manage their money. (And they don’t have to be the same people.) You can also spell out how you want your assets to be distributed in the event of your passing. By age 18, you may want to set up a trust because our current medical and financial privacy laws do not allow a family member to take over advocacy on your behalf unless you have a legal document. Important legalities like this are discussed in every book in the Financial Independence series.