Throughout his sparkling career as an investor, Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett has become a leading role model for those looking to accumulate wealth. As the 94-year-old billionaire nears the end of his life, he hopes to provide guidance on how to distribute it as well.

Buffett shared new details of his estate plan in a letter published on Monday, elaborating on how he intends to transfer the vast majority of his fortune to philanthropic causes.

He will continue making contributions to certain charities while he's still alive, and plans remain in place for the remainder of his estate to go into a charitable trust overseen by his daughter and two sons. The three must decide unanimously which charitable organizations to donate to and in what quantities.

This, Buffett explained earlier this year to the Wall Street Journal, was meant to give his children the leeway to respond to the changing needs of, and regulations around, charitable organizations.

"I like to think I can think outside the box, but I'm not sure if I can think outside the box when it's six feet below the surface and do a better job than three people who are on the surface who I trust completely," Buffett said.

In his letter this week, Buffett made clear that, while his trust in his children's judgment hadn't wavered, he's realizing that, at ages 71, 69 and 66, they may not be able to distribute the entire estate during their lifetimes. So he installed three younger trustees to succeed his children, should they die before the trust runs out.

Buffett communicated the plan to his children, who he nevertheless hopes will be able to distribute all of his assets.

There's much to be learned from Buffett's active and transparent approach to estate planning, experts say — whether you have $100 million or even $100,000 to give away.

"He's really shown a lot of forethought. And he's built in flexibility from the beginning, because it's evolved," says Jose Reynoso, head of advanced estate and tax planning at Citizens Private Wealth. "Start early and build in flexibility is a good idea whatever your level of wealth is."

Why you need an estate plan now

Even if you don't think you have much to bestow upon your heirs, having an estate plan means you get to decide what happens in the event of your death or incapacitation — not someone else.

"As a general matter, if you do not have an estate plan, the state will provide one," Reynoso says. That may very well mean health care and financial decisions running contrary to your wishes.

To avoid confusion — and to keep your loved ones out of a lengthy and expensive legal process — you'd be wise to put together a basic estate plan. This might include:

1. Beneficiary designations. Certain financial instruments, such as investments, bank accounts and life insurance policies, allow you to designate a beneficiary who receives the contents of your account upon your passing. These designations typically supersede a will, so it's essential to keep them up to date, especially following major life changes, experts say.
2. Simple will. A will designates how you want your assets to be distributed in the event of your death. This is an easy one to draw up — templates can be found for free on websites such as LawDepot.com.
3. Powers of attorney and advance directives. These can go by different names in different states, but the general gist is that they lay out your wishes and allow you to designate a decision-maker for you should you become incapacitated.

The situation can get more complicated from there, and you'd be smart to consult an estate attorney to see what might work best for you. It may make sense to set up a trust, just like Buffett.

The important thing to have in common with the billionaire, however, is the process: starting early and communicating often.

"It's a well-thought-out and communicated plan among the family," Reynoso says of the publicly available information from Buffett. "That communication can help avoid issues that can come up down the line."

Indeed, Buffett's recent letter contains a suggestion for all parents, "whether they are of modest or staggering wealth": "When your children are mature, have them read your will before you sign it."

How to estate plan like Buffett

If you, like Buffett, want a significant amount of your wealth to go to charity after you pass, you can set up a charitable trust (like Buffett has) or a private foundation. However, these are costly options typically reserved for the very wealthy.

Luckily, you can achieve a plan similar to Buffett's through a charitable account called a donor-advised fund, which is an account you control whose funds are earmarked for charitable giving. You typically open a DAF with a community foundation or through the charitable arm of a brokerage firm, such as Vanguard or Schwab, and there's often no minimum deposit.

You can deposit assets, including cash, real estate and stock, into these accounts and, as the donor, choose how to invest the assets and where to donate them.

The major draw for living donors is that you can get immediate tax deductions for donating to the fund, but can decide where the money actually goes later down the road. Should you die before deciding, a named successor can take over your account.

Plus, if your fund contains appreciating assets, neither you nor the charity of your choice owes capital gains tax when you make a donation.

It's a vehicle that is perfect for someone looking to emulate Buffett's model on a smaller scale, says Nicholas Yeomans, a certified financial planner, estate planning specialist and president of Yeomans Consulting Group. Naturally, it's always a good idea to talk to an estate planner or other financial professional before setting up such an account.

"You can fund [a DAF] while you're alive, but you can also fund it at death. And what's really cool about it is that it can give indefinitely," Yeomans says.

That means you could set up multiple funds for your children to direct toward charitable causes of their choosing after you're gone, says Yeomans. Or you could make receiving other parts of an inheritance contingent upon deciding where money in the DAF goes as a family — kind of like the Buffett setup, but simpler.  

"[Your DAF] can be perpetually giving to those churches, charities, museums — the things that you care about," says Yeomans. "It doesn't have to have a separate tax ID number. It doesn't have a board of trustees. It doesn't have to have all the stuff that can take away from that money and be complicated and convoluted if you're just someone in middle America looking to make an impact."

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