Beth Preston, Safe Money Counselor

08/25/2026

Enjoyed an early birthday weekend for these 3 PLUS meeting our newest for the first time.
Family is everything!

01/06/2026

Key Reasons to Get Term Life Insurance
Affordability: Lower premiums than permanent life insurance, offering more coverage for your money.
Temporary Needs: Aligns with financial milestones like paying off a mortgage, funding college, or raising children.
Simplicity: Pure protection with no complex cash value or investment features.
Income Replacement: Replaces lost income, ensuring family stability.
Debt Coverage: Pays off debts (mortgage, loans) so beneficiaries don't inherit them.
Business Protection: Funds buy-sell agreements or covers key-person risk for business owners.
Flexibility: Some policies offer conversion options to permanent insurance later.
Who It's For
Young Families: Protecting dependents during their most vulnerable years.
Budget-Conscious Individuals: Seeking high coverage without high costs.
Those with Specific Goals: Covering a 30-year mortgage or children's education.
Young Adults: Locking in low rates for future needs.
How It Works
You pay premiums for a set term (e.g., 20 years).
If you die within that term, beneficiaries get a tax-free, lump-sum death benefit.
If you outlive the term, the policy ends (unless renewed or converted)

01/05/2026

Why an Insurance Portfolio Review Is Essential

Life Changes: Significant events such as marriage, the birth of a child, purchasing a new home, or starting a business directly impact your coverage needs.

Adequate Coverage: The review ensures you are neither over-insured nor under-insured. Being under-insured only reveals itself at the time of a claim, which is often too late.

Cost-Effectiveness: It helps determine if you are getting the best value for your premiums and if you are eligible for any new discounts.

Policy Updates: Insurance companies periodically update their offerings. A review helps you stay informed about new, potentially more suitable or cost-effective products in the market.

Performance Check: For certain policies like life insurance with a cash value component, a review tracks how the policy is performing relative to its original objectives and helps prevent an unexpected lapse in coverage

01/05/2026

LIMITED SEATS AVALABLE RSVP Direct Message [email protected] NEW DATE JAN 8 at 6 PM

Protect Your Home & Family, With a Complimentary Estate Planning Workshop.
Are you a Texas Resident concerned about your home and your assets?
Join Beth Smithey, a Licensed Estate Planner and Insurance Broker, for an educational workshop. This is designed to simplify your life.

What you will learn:
Wills VS Trusts
Avoiding Probate
Asset Protection
Event January 6 at 6pm on Zoom.
There are limited spots available. Please feel free to RSVP.
[email protected]
2147075078 also bethsmithey.com

01/04/2026

Its 2026 New Year
I do complementary policy reviews
Most insurance owner do not understand there coverage Let me educate you. In most cases save you money.
[email protected] DM me on direct messenger

01/04/2026

Limited Spots Available

Protect Your Home & Family, With a Complimentary Estate Planning Workshop.
Are you a Texas Resident concerned about your home and your assets?
Join Beth Smithey, a Licensed Estate Planner and Insurance Broker, for an educational workshop. This is designed to simplify your life.

What you will learn:
Wills VS Trusts
Avoiding Probate
Asset Protection
Event January 6 at 6pm on Zoom.
There are limited spots available. Please feel free to RSVP.
[email protected]
2147075078 also bethsmithey.com

01/02/2026

Now that you have a living trust
The crucial next steps are to fund it by retitling assets (real estate, bank accounts, investments) into the trust's name, inform key people, update related documents (like beneficiary forms and your will), and schedule periodic reviews with your attorney to keep it current with life changes. The most common mistake is signing the trust but never actually moving assets into it, making it useless.

1. Fund Your Trust (The Most Important Step)
Real Estate: Execute new deeds to transfer property from your name to your name as trustee of the trust, recording the change with the county.
Bank Accounts & Investments: Contact your financial institutions to retitle accounts (e.g., "John Doe, Trustee of the John Doe Living Trust") using your trust document and a Certification of Trust.
Personal Property: Use an assignment document to transfer items like jewelry and furniture into the trust.

2. Inform Key People & Update Documents
Successor Trustee: Make sure your named successor trustee knows their role and where the trust documents are stored.
Financial Advisor/Accountant: Inform them about the trust.
Other Documents: Update your will (it should complement your trust), life insurance, and retirement account beneficiary forms.
3. Store & Maintain
Storage: Keep the original trust in a safe, accessible place (like a safe deposit box or fireproof safe) and give copies to your successor trustee.
Review: Meet with your attorney every few years, especially after major life events (marriage, divorce, new property, children) to update the trust.
What You Don't Need to Do
Register the trust with the IRS or county recorder (unless instructed by your attorney).
Retitle your car in the trust's name (it's often not worth the hassle)

01/02/2026

Common Types of Trusts
Revocable (Living) Trust: Can be changed or canceled at any time while the grantor is alive. It is primarily used to avoid probate and manage assets during incapacity.

Irrevocable Trust: Cannot be easily changed once created. These are often used for tax planning and long-term asset protection.
Special Needs Trust: Designed to provide for a person with disabilities without disqualifying them from government benefits like Medicaid or SSI.

Charitable Trust: Established to benefit a specific charity, often providing tax breaks for the grantor while supporting a cause.

01/02/2026

PROBATE IN TEXAS WITH OUT A WILL (dying intestate) means Texas law determines your heirs (spouse, kids, parents, siblings) using statutory rules, not your wishes, often requiring a court-supervised "Application to Determine Heirship" to establish who inherits, potentially taking months or years, especially with disagreements, involving court-appointed attorneys for unknowns and court decisions on asset distribution.