When we think about financial planning, we usually think about saving money, paying off debt, buying a home or investing for the future.

But there's another part of financial planning that many of us would rather not talk about — what happens to everything we've built when we're no longer here?

New research from Sanlam Legacy has found that only 28% of South Africans surveyed have a valid will that is signed, witnessed and safely stored, while 65% don't have a will at all.

And what's particularly interesting is that this isn't necessarily because people don't understand the importance of a will.

77% say they feel at least somewhat confident about their knowledge of wills and estate administration.

So what's stopping us?

Is it that we think we don't own enough? Are we putting it off because we don't want to think about death? Or do we simply not know where to start?

And perhaps most importantly — if something happened to you tomorrow, would your family know exactly what to do?