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Financial Planning Retired Investor

Key End-of-Life Planning Tasks to Complete

With estate documents and inventory lists in place, you can focus on the more important nonfinancial questions.

by Michael Falk | March 2020


In the end, nobody wishes they would have worked more. So, get to work now and don’t leave it to later.

If you are near the end of your life, then my wish for you is that your planning has already been completed. Since most of us don’t know when we will be near the end, now is a good time to complete it.

For those who know they’re near their end, planning can be more difficult due to your emotionality or loss of faculties. Do you realize that the prevalence of cognitive impairment or dementia is roughly 20% for those aged 70+? This is one reason why having a durable power of attorney and trusted advocates is so important for the handling of finances. In fact, you may wish to write letter(s) to your future self that help you determine when to let others begin to take over key decisions.

Nonfinancial steps—the most important planning—are the topic of this article.

Let’s Begin With After the End

After the end means that you have already passed away. Are your loved ones able to easily take their next steps with all the finance and related to-dos that need to be done? Did you create, maintain and leave behind the following?

  1. A written inventory of all your accounts, the basic information and the contact details on your assets. These assets include any pension and financial details. They also include others that we don’t necessarily think of as assets, such as mileage accounts and frequent diner points.
     
  2. A written list of all your bills for things like a mortgage, a car, the cable bill, your phone and specifically insurance policies, with the same account details as in number one.

The complexities of tidying up an estate without having all the key details can be a challenge for anyone, let alone someone who has just lost a loved one. Help them.

Of course, this help includes all your estate planning documents being provided to them upon your death, if they did not already have access. These documents include your will and trust papers, if any. The documents that your loved ones may have already been seen, if your passing was not sudden, are your durable power and health care power of attorney papers.

The above referenced documents and inventory lists will help ensure the easiest path forward for your beneficiaries and that your wishes will be followed. Please consider having all these inventories and documents starting from the age when you first live independently as an adult (yes, that early) as well as updating them no less than every five years or upon any big life change, such as marriage or having kids. As a retiree, you did all this, right? For all your younger friends and loved ones, nobody knows when, so consider sharing this article.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of your wishes. Since we are now discussing your wishes—and you’re reading this—you must still be alive. So, let’s discuss your real end-of-life planning because you’re not dead yet. Why are you here? What do you wish to accomplish? Real end-of-life planning includes your life-well-lived plan. Note that well-lived is rarely defined by wealth.

At the End

This topic is centered on your health care power of attorney in terms of your wishes contrasting the quality of your life with the length of your life. Are you aware of the benefits to you and your loved ones with planned hospice and palliative endings? Whatever your wishes, express them so that they can be executed on your behalf. To this point, do you wish to always carry a DNR (do not resuscitate) card with you? Here are the other straightforward questions to answer for the end:

  1. Do you desire a burial or to be cremated?
  2. Do you desire a family/friends service, a celebration or both?
  3. Would you like to write your own eulogy or leave it to others?
  4. Would you like to write individual letters of goodbye to any specific people?

Before the End—LIVE!

Okay, now that your end is cared for, let’s get back to living and your life well-lived. The two key questions for you to answer: Why are you here? What do you wish to accomplish? Notice that both questions don’t care whether you are wealthy, retired or not, and are beyond the scope of this article. Please just know that if you have had a life well-lived (and took care of your end-of-life planning too), your end can be more about grace and appreciation versus fear and regret.

It’s Personal

I have been in the financial services industry for three decades. I earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, the certified retirement counselor (CRC) designation and taught certified financial planner (CFP) certificate courses for over a decade. I have practiced all that I have preached in this article, and it has become personal. In September 2019, I was diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). Know that I have no anger, no fear—just appreciation for my ability, my opportunity, to live into my why. ?

Discussion

capt.Bill Ludwick from Florida / Ohio posted over 6 years ago:

Michael Falk - EXCELLANT presentation. I turn 80 before next month arrives - in good health according to a couple Dr's but nobody knows what tomorrow brings... I've been working the last couple years on just what you preach, I'm calling it a road map to my life & endings... I'm copying this blog & will put a copy in the family trust papers along with a much more personal letter, wishing the kids well with figuring out what I have cobbled together over the last 80 years - Thanks for your input & giving me the confidence that I'm doing good with what I have accomplished so far - There isn't a thing you highlight that's been left out right down to a monthly financial recap complete with copies of monthly statements and a list of contacts with phone numbers names & addresses for each institution. By the way - don't forger computer passwords & sign in names - make a list since these days everything we do is on the PC somewhere. Bill - Õ¿Õ¬


Arnie Lamb from California posted over 6 years ago:

I have to agree with Capt.Bill. I'm 82 and have all the concerns the article covers. I attempted to do this when I turned 80, but my effort pales compared to the completeness Michael Falk describes.


Brenda from Texas posted over 6 years ago:

My husband passed away 2 years ago, so I am speaking from experience when I say that anything you do will be helpful to your loved ones. Here are a few things I would like to share: Things you can do to help prepare your loved ones for your death: This one is critical: make sure your spouse/family can get into your phone, e-mails, and computer. They will need access to your e-mail account to unlock passwords. They will need to get into your phone to get authorization codes. You would be amazed at how often access to these things is needed. They should be able to get onto your computer so that it can be used/inherited by someone else. Make sure you can get into your family’s phone, e-mails, and computer too. Write down codes to all safes, including knob pattern. Someone needs to know where keys are to any locking cabinets or boxes. Create a “death” folder to keep copies of wills, lists of accounts and passwords, life insurance policies, funeral plans, etc., all in one place. Tell your family that this folder exists. Show your spouse how to do anything that you take care of, like family finances and vehicle and yard maintenance. My husband unexpectedly died at age 54. Imagine your spouse vanishing suddenly and forever; that is what happened, and I am still figuring things out that would have been very easy to take over with a little instruction. Get your will notarized, even if it is not required by your state. In Texas, it is not required, but I had to bring two witnesses to the courthouse to testify to my husband’s signature because his will was not notarized. Don’t store your will in a safe deposit box because your executor will have no way to prove he is the executor to gain access to it. IRA’s are easier to roll over than 401K’s, so do your loved ones a favor and roll all old 401K’s into IRA’s while you are alive. (For 401K’s, you must contact your loved one’s former employer during business hours and track down a specific HR person. IRA companies are usually big financial companies with 1-800 numbers and evening/weekend hours.) Get a credit card where you are the primary account holder and another one where your spouse is the primary account holder, even if all your accounts are joint. Upon the death of the primary cardholder, the account must be closed, and you won’t want your only credit card account(s) to be closed. Some other things to be aware of: Life Gift (one of the organ donor organizations in Texas) or whoever is in your area may call the next-of-kin within hours of your loved one’s death to see if you will authorize a tissue or organ donation. This is a great thing to do; it is just shock on top of shock, so good to be aware of. Don’t forget to notify one of the credit bureaus of your loved one’s death. Whichever you notify will inform the other two. For bank accounts, it is not necessary to remove the deceased’s name, and you may need it on the account to deposit funds. I got a copy of my husband’s medical records from his doctor in case my sons want to know their father’s medical history in the future. I went shopping with all my husband’s frequent flyer/stayer points because it would have been a hassle to transfer them to myself (You must provide a death certificate and letter of authority.). All I needed was his logins and passwords. You may not want to notify your auto insurance company. I was hoping for a little refund, but I got a bill for $216 because I lost my married and multi-driver discounts!


JAMES M from MT posted over 1 year ago:

My 93 year old mom taught me something recently. Certain daily activities like writing a check to pay a bill are an important part of her sense of self. She made me realize that I should be careful about relieving her of the little tasks that she’s done all her life. Losing the physical ability to do some tasks means that the ones she can do are even more important.


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