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Thank you to all the followers and visitors of The Common Executor for making 2017 a successful year. Because of your interest, the goals for this blog have been exceeded. Therefore, I will continue to post for a third year beginning on January 15, 2018 with new goals to achieve. 

Plans for Next Year

Initially, the goal of this blog was to share my experience as executor. In 2017, the goal is complete. All the knowledge I have to share is out there in over 100 articles. Therefore, after the first few articles in 2018, I will no longer post an article every week. Instead, I plan to write articles based on visitor engagement. After all, this is a blog, not an online magazine. So, if there are questions and comments in the comment area, I will write articles to provide information to my followers. In short, let me know what you want to understand concerning estate administration and estate planning and I will respond.

Additionally, the blog articles will always remain free. However, I am hoping to monetize the blog to pay for the increased hosting costs. Since there are numerous articles, there may be some confusion on how to decipher the information. So, I plan to write at least two booklets summarizing the important points of estate planning and summarizing how to avoid common mistakes in your estate plan, at a small cost. Again, the goal for next year is to raise money to pay for this blog and to boost visitor engagement. Hopefully, I can get these booklets on the blog by June of 2018.

The Year in Review

The traffic this year more than doubled from the previous year. Although nowhere near Amazon.com, the traffic was much more than I expected considering the topic is about death and taxes. So, I am encouraged that there continues to be a niche for the topic of estate administration and planning. However, the poll posted on The Common Executor for 2017 tells me that there is still severe apathy towards estate planning. The poll asked the following question: Have you Completed your Estate Plan? The results were as follows:

  • 75% currently working on it
  • 25% not a priority

Additionally, for the entire year, only four visitors took the poll. The encouraging news is that at least three people are taking their estates seriously. Unfortunately, the bleak news is that apathy still rules. 

Top Posts in 2017

In 2017, I found that other countries have similar laws as the U.S. about beneficiaries in estates. So, global interest for the articles on beneficiaries drove the growth in traffic. The top 5 posts for 2017:

  1. How to Handle a Belligerent Beneficiary.
  2. Good Record Keeping: Crucial for an Executor.
  3. Communicating with the Beneficiaries is Essential for the Executor.
  4. When is the Right Time to Confront a Belligerent Beneficiary.
  5. Inherited Traditional IRA | Distribution Rules for Estate as Beneficiary.

Enjoy the Holidays everyone!!!