This week, I’m talking about estate planning essentials. 

If you think a will is all you need, think again. In practice, I find that many people either don’t have a will, or they haven’t updated in 30 years, which was also 4 marriages and 8 stepchildren ago. Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating here a little bit, but you get the point. So this week, I’m helping you kick it into gear and take the essential steps necessary to just get the basics done with your estate plan. That usually starts with a will, so today, I’m focusing on a few other vital estate plan documents you’ll want to have completed and updated. 

#1 - Durable Power of Attorney - this helps ensure that someone is in place to act on your behalf, if you are no longer able to. I see examples of this all the time with older clients who develop dementia or Altzheimer’s, so it’s critical that you get this in place, especially as you get older. Otherwise things can get messy when it comes to decisions about your affairs and finances. 

#2 - Advance Healthcare Directives - also known as a living will - what you will use to provide details about what actions should be taken for your health if you are no longer able to make decisions for yourself because of illness or incapacity. When my husband and I had these drawn up a number of years ago, we discovered that we are polar opposites in this regard. He is like “keep me alive at all costs! I want to be a burden, even if there is no hope!” And I’m like, “oh it’s a paper cut...pull the plug!” It’s possible you’ve even dealt with the pain and guilt of having to guess at what someone’s wishes were when they didn’t have in place, and if not, you probably know someone who had to make difficult decisions for someone who was incapacitated, possibly taking their loved one off life support without the direction of the healthcare directive. It’s very sad. Please don’t put your loved ones in a situation where they will have to play a guessing game with life and death situations. 

That’s all I have time for today. I’m going to devote an entire day this week to beneficiary designations, and of course, if you have young kids or a special needs child, you will want to have a few other documents in place as well. 

That’s it for today. One last point here, I am not an estate planning attorney and I don’t play one on this podcast. This is not intended to be legal advice, but rather just some useful information to get you moving in the right direction toward putting these things in place. 

Before you go, please take a minute to leave a review for the One Minute Retirement Tip in Amazon or iTunes. If you find these tips valuable, or if you have feedback for me or topic suggestions, it’s a great way to share the love and share your ideas with me! And thanks to you if you who have already left a review. 

Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

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