Privacy is something we all value, especially when it comes to our finances. We don’t walk around telling our neighbors how much is in our 401k or who we plan to leave our house to. Yet, thousands of Americans every year fall into a trap that makes their entire financial life a matter of public record. This trap is called probate. When you pass away without a specific plan to bypass the courts, your assets, your debts, and your beneficiaries are listed in a file that anyone can walk into a courthouse and read. This includes predatory creditors or even disgruntled distant relatives.
Andrew Winnett founded Retirement Renegade to stop this kind of institutional overreach. He saw how the industry left seniors vulnerable to market swings and “silent” fees. But the biggest vulnerability of all is often the lack of a proper exit strategy. We want to help you avoid probate in estate planning naturally so your family can grieve in private without a judge looking over their shoulder. It shouldn’t be the government’s business how you choose to reward your children for their support over the years.
The High Cost of Doing Nothing
Many people assume that if they have a “small” estate, it won’t be a big deal. They think the court will just wave it through. That’s rarely the case. Even simple estates can get bogged down in paperwork for a year or more. During that time, the “AUM” advisors might still be taking their fees, even if the money is effectively locked up and the family can’t spend a dime of it. It’s a system that benefits the professionals, not the families. The lawyers get paid first. The executors get paid second. Your family gets whatever is left after everyone else has taken their bite.
Andrew’s “why” comes from watching his mother struggle after his father’s early death. She was a stay-at-home mom for two decades and was suddenly forced back into the workforce for minimum wage. Why? Because the “traditional” advice they received didn’t account for the real-world costs of life and death. The money was there, but it wasn’t accessible or protected from the erosion of the system. At Retirement Renegade, we don’t want you to just “hope” for the best. We want you to have a guaranteed asset protection plan that works even when the market—or life—goes sideways.
See also: Rateio Concurso — An Example of How Technology Is Changing Exam Preparation
Why Speed Matters During Grief
When a spouse passes away, the survivor often faces an immediate cash flow crisis. Bills don’t stop just because someone died. The mortgage is still due. The utility company doesn’t care about your loss. If your primary funds are tied up in a probate-bound account, your spouse might have to borrow money just to keep the lights on while waiting for a judge to sign a piece of paper. This is the “silent” cruelty of the court system. It turns a time of mourning into a time of administrative nightmare.
We believe in a “Multi-Dimensional Approach.” This means we look at how your money behaves today and how it will behave the moment you aren’t here to manage it. We use tools that ensure a “death benefit” or a transfer of wealth happens within days. No lawyers. No hearings. Just a direct transfer of the legacy you built. This isn’t about being fancy. It’s about being practical and protective of the people who matter most.
The Renegade Difference
We aren’t tied to one single insurance company or bank. We have access to over 75 institutions and 1,200 products. This means we can find the specific “hybrid” tools that allow your money to transfer to your kids instantly. These products don’t go through probate. They don’t require a lawyer to “release” the funds. They are contracts, and contracts are honored outside of the courtroom. This is how you protect your family with the Retirement Renegade mission. We aren’t here to sell you a dream. We’re here to build you a fortress.
Guarantees Over Possibilities
The financial world loves to talk about “potential.” They show you charts of what might happen if the market goes up 10% every year. But you can’t pay your bills with “potential.” You can’t avoid probate with “possibilities.” You need contractual certainties. We prioritize principal protection above all else because once you’re in retirement, you don’t have the time to “wait out” a market crash like 2008. If the market drops 30%, a retiree doesn’t just lose money. They lose time. And time is the one thing you can’t get back.
Our “Relationship Sit-Down” isn’t a sales pitch. It’s an educational session where we look at your goals. If your goal is to make sure your spouse is taken care of and your kids get their inheritance without a fight, we build the plan to match. We look for the “silent killers” like advisor fees and court costs and we cut them out of the equation. We don’t believe you should be charged a fee just for the privilege of someone watching your money disappear during a market downturn. That’s why we offer a No Advisor Fee Guarantee.
The Looming Storm and Your Legacy
With taxes likely to go up and Social Security constantly under fire, your estate plan needs to be “battle-tested.” Washington is always looking for ways to fill its coffers, and an unprotected estate is an easy target. You need to know that your money is safe from the government while you’re alive and safe from the courts when you’re gone. We call ourselves “Renegades” because we don’t follow the herd. The herd is headed for the probate court because they were told it’s “just the way it is.” We’re heading the other way, toward privacy, speed, and total protection.
Think about the work you put in. Every hour of overtime. Every vacation you skipped to save. Every smart decision you made over forty years. Do you want the final chapter of that story to be a legal battle? Or do you want it to be a smooth hand-off to the next generation? We help you look at things like Medicare, Long-Term Care, and tax planning to make sure your wealth isn’t drained by a “weatherable” event.
The Truth About Probate Fees
In many states, probate fees are based on the gross value of the estate, not the net. That means if you have a house worth $500,000 but you owe $400,000 on it, the court and lawyers might take their percentage based on the full half-million. It is an archaic system that penalizes the “underdog” while rewarding the bureaucracy. By setting up your assets to bypass this process, you are essentially giving your family a massive tax-free raise the moment they need it most.
A Mission Based on Family
Andrew Winnett didn’t get into this business to be another suit in a high-rise. He got into it because of his mom. He saw what happens when the “experts” stop caring about the person and start caring about the assets. We treat our clients like they are our own parents. We use “movie sessions” and simple language because we want you to actually understand where your money is. If you can’t explain your financial plan to an 8th grader, it’s probably too complicated and too expensive.
If you haven’t looked at your beneficiary designations or your “Safe Income Strategy” lately, you might be leaving your family’s future to chance. Don’t let a judge decide how your life’s work is distributed. Take the steps today to ensure a private, fast, and cost-effective transition for the people you love most. It’s about more than just money; it’s about the peace of mind that comes from knowing you’ve done right by your family. You worked hard for it. You should decide who keeps it.
The system isn’t going to fix itself. You have to be the one to step up and protect your legacy. We’re here to show you the way, one relationship at a time.
