Planning Ahead
The Baby Boom Generation is retiring. The Silver Tsunami is here. Every day as many as 10,000 of us turn 65. That’s every day — 10,000.
Surveys show that the main thing most of us want to do is make sure we have a comfortable retirement. We’ve worked hard. We want to make sure that our assets are secure, that we maintain our independence for as long as possible, and that we don’t end up being a burden to our families. With the right guidance and advice from a knowledgeable professional, our goals can be reached and our independence secured.
Despite the specter of “death panels,” we all need to have a conversation with our doctors and families about end of life. Most of us want to leave life in as dignified and pain-free way as possible. Planning ahead is critical to this goal. Things to consider in making our plans include:
Power of Attorney: A power of attorney is a document that authorizes the person you name to act on your behalf if you are unable to act for yourself. When you name someone in your power of attorney, you are basically handing them your checkbook, your investment account and your keys. A power of attorney can be durable, which means that your attorney-in-fact can act for you if you become incapacitated.
Guardianships: The longer we live, the better chance we have of developing dementia. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that up to 5.5 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, and that by age 85 between 25 and 50 percent of us will develop the disease. If we don’t plan ahead and sign a power of attorney, when we can no longer handle our health care and financial affairs, our loved ones will need to get a guardianship over us. This requires going to court. The court system is designed to protect a person’s rights. Taking rights away and giving them to someone else, which is what the guardianship process entails, can be long, complicated, difficult and expensive.
Health Care Directives: We deeply appreciate the wonders of modern medicine and the dedicated care of our doctors. A doctor’s duty legally and ethically is to support life for as long as possible, but sometimes prolonging the inevitable can be agonizing — physically, emotionally and financially. Most people don’t want to put their family or themselves through that. A properly written health care directive, together with a power of attorney for health care, can leave the important aspects of our final days in our hands.
