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Recently, one financial planner from India handled a transmission case involving investments worth more than ₹100 crore.
₹100 crore.
It is a number most of us will never personally encounter.
But what happened next carries a lesson that applies to every investor regardless of whether their portfolio is worth ₹10 lakh or ₹100 crore.
The investments had to be transmitted to the nominees.
And one thing made the process considerably smoother:
The nominee structure was clearly defined.
Each nominee had a specified share.
There was less ambiguity.
Less room for interpretation.
A decision made much earlier while the investor was still around to make it was now helping the family navigate the process.
It made me wonder:
We spend years thinking about how to create wealth.
But how often do we think about how that wealth will reach the people we are creating it for?
Psychology gives us an interesting explanation for why we often postpone this.
We are naturally more concerned with things that feel immediate.
Our SIP for the next twenty years feels real.
Our child’s education feels real.
Our retirement feels real.
But what happens to our money after we are gone?
That feels distant.
And uncomfortable.
This is where Present Bias comes in.
We give greater importance to what needs our attention today than to something that may happen years from now.
So we tell ourselves:
“I’ll update the nomination later.”
“I’ll make a Will once everything is settled.”
“My family knows where everything is.”
“There is plenty of time.”
And because nothing immediately goes wrong, the decision keeps getting postponed.
There is also Mortality Avoidance.
Talking about wealth is comfortable.
Talking about what happens to that wealth after our death is not.
So we avoid the conversation.
But the recent case offers a powerful reminder.
Financial planning doesn’t end when wealth is created.
It also has to consider what happens to that wealth when the person who created it is no longer there to explain it.
Nomination is one important part of this process. Depending on the asset, family situation and succession arrangements, other estate-planning measures may also be necessary.
And this isn’t only a ₹100 crore problem.
A mutual fund portfolio.
A life insurance policy.
A bank account.
Shares.
A house.
Gold.
Whatever we have accumulated over the years…
Someone will eventually have to find it, understand it and receive it.
So perhaps one of the most important financial questions we can ask ourselves is:
“If my family had to manage my finances tomorrow without me, would they know what I own, where it is, and what I intended?”
We spend our working lives building wealth.
Perhaps we should spend a little time making sure that wealth can find its way home.
Because wealth creation builds the legacy.
Wealth transmission completes it.
