Proper Estate Planning

WHAT IF YOU DON’T DIE?

Many seniors assume they will die before they reach a “certain age.” I understand why.  From the time we are young, we have been told we will work until 65, retire and then plan for our “final years”.  Now, look around you.  How are old are you?  Did you think you were going to be this old and feel this good?  My parents, age 89, recently drove themselves from Central New York to Connecticut to visit my brother.  How about you?

Many seniors today are extremely active.  They go to the gym, they stay actively engaged socially and intellectually.  What we believed to be true based on what we have been told since we were young is not quite turning out the way we thought.  But have you planned for it?  That’s really the key to estate planning.  Most people think estate planning is about dying.  The truth is, estate planning is more about living.

The best estate plans begin with you!  Did you ever go on an airplane and after the flight attendant tells you how to put the seatbelts on they then say, “If we lose cabin pressure a mask will drop down, please secure your own mask before assisting the person next to you”.  Nothing could be truer in estate planning.  Estate planning is one area where you must protect yourself first.  Why?  Well, just like on the airplane, if you can’t breath, you won’t be effective at helping the person next to you.  In estate planning, if you’re not financially secure or personally able to take care of yourself, then you will not be able to financially or personally help those you love.

Proper estate planning will keep you in control of yourself and your assets, and ensure you won’t become a burden to your loved ones. Estate planning is simple if you do it while you are healthy and become informed on the options you have to accomplish your personal goals.

When properly done, estate planning assures all you have worked for is available for you without being at risk of being lost to unforeseen creditors and predators.  Proper estate planning becomes your “voice” when you are unable to speak for yourself. And, when the time finally comes that you do pass, your stuff will get to the people you love in the manner you want without unnecessary costs or delay.  If you have not done your estate planning in this regard, you really must reconsider, because hey, you really might not die when you thought you were going to.