The Goal: Stress-Free Retirement
Perhaps with a gentle nudge from their adult children, Baby Boomers should undertake a year-end estate planning review that, says attorney Heinz Brisske, “ought to be every bit as much about planning for while you are living as it is for determining what happens when you die.
“We’re living longer,” Brisske says. “We need to think about how we want to live.”
Brisske, a partner at Huck & Brisske, LLC, a Wheaton, IL, estate planning law firm, is concerned about the decisions baby boomers and other seniors make.
“Too many Boomers – and other seniors – make what become life-critical decisions based on what they think they know, often something they overheard at a cocktail party.
But there are many considerations – how to protect our resources is an important one – that can make a big difference in the way we live as we inevitably age.”
Although the recession has altered the economic context for many people nearing or even in retirement, Brisske says Baby Boomers still can take steps to assure that their golden years are as stress-free as possible.
Planning, which Brisske says could involve an attorney-facilitated family discussion and might include a family’s financial advisor, should cover the following issues:
- Preserving assets. Educated decisions can help seniors assure that nursing home or similar expenses do not deplete their estates, so that they can maintain some semblance of dignity and so there might be something left over for heirs – children and grandchildren, for example.
- Financial issues. A customized Durable Power of Attorney for Property appoints a designated person to manage assets that could range from a simple checking account to a senior’s home – and should help avoid potential guardianship proceedings.
- Advance medical directives. A Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care with a companion HIPAA Authorization and Living Will can help assure that Mom gets the care she has determined she wants, even if she is no longer able to communicate with medical providers.
- Disability. Asset protection trusts and special needs trusts are “among the tools we use to help assure care when we perhaps cannot care for ourselves,” Brisske says. Special or supplemental needs trusts can also help provide for children with disabilities.
