In addition to income taxes on your taxable income, the federal government imposes wealth transfer taxes on gifts made while you are alive and on bequests from your estate. Unlike the income tax which is imposed on your income, these wealth transfer taxes are imposed on your capital. Many states in search of tax revenues impose their own inheritance or death taxes on the capital in your estate. The more powerful of these two, fear, sometimes manifests in some subtle, not so obvious ways. Some people avoid asking for things they want because they fear being refused, i.e. rejected, so they put off asking.
Procrastination is one such manifestation of fear.
Paradoxically, it is probably the greatest threat to your wealth and your family's financial security. Everyday all around us we see the various threats detailed above. We procrastinate, we let our excuses and our rationalizations become our reasons for not taking action, hoping such awful things will never happen to us. Take death, for example. We all know that someday we are going to die, but we won't plan for this event because for at least some of us death is too painful a subject to contemplate or talk about or plan for.