End of Life Planning

Planning for the end of life stage is important if we want our wishes to matter to friends and family. Whether this involves asset planning, funeral planning, or something else, it's worth discussing and pondering.

2 weeks ago

Falling Apart vs Drifting Apart When It Comes to Estate Planning

I read a recent headline: Marriages don’t fall apart, they drift apart. I am not a marriage counselor but I serve as a money counselor so my brain immediately went to the fact that the same can be said of our money life. Our finances rarely fall apart…

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2 weeks ago

Confronting the Elephant in the Room: The Importance of Your Estate, Legacy and End-of-Life Planning

If you’re anything like me, there are times when you’d rather put off solving a problem than deal with it immediately. But the problem may become even more difficult if that elephant in the room is avoided…

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4 weeks ago

Whatever Happened to Grandma’s Hats?

I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like I see women wearing hats much anymore. As a child, we once lived with my grandmother for about six months while our house was being built and my favorite thing to do was play in her hat closet…

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3 months ago

No Funeral for the Funeral Director? That Can’t Be Right!

Last month, on a cold February morning, I attended the funeral Mass of a colleague. As I sat in a pew, listening to the priest’s homily, in which he referenced the deceased’s work for the community, my thoughts turned to another colleague…

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3 months ago

Will You Inherit an IRA?

Do you expect to be the beneficiary of an IRA or retirement plan? Maybe you are in the process of a review of your IRA or retirement plan beneficiaries and want to make good decisions based on current legislation. The rules changed with both the 2019 SECURE Act…

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3 months ago

Age 80? Or 90? Terminal Illness? It’s not the End of Joy

Every once in a while, I think I’d like to go on a trip. An adventure. Maybe a return to the southern coast of Oaxaca, Mexico to a small beach town called San Agustinillo. And it would be really cool to visit the wildlife refuge near there at La Ventanilla…

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4 months ago

Pay Now, Die Later: Is Funeral Insurance Worth It?

Marisa, a client, contacted me with an urgent tone in her voice. “Should I get funeral insurance? I really want to sort my funeral out, but this is a big stumbling block for me…

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5 months ago

3 Pointers on How to Cope with Planning for a Good Death

This is a photo I took of my parents’ joint funeral. Unbelievably, they both died in the same week, in their sleep, aged 86 and 84. My dad had had a stroke a year previously and hadn’t been doing too well, so it wasn’t entirely unexpected…

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5 months ago

No Matter How Healthy You Are, Preparing for Your Death Is Wise

I bet you couldn’t wait to read this article! This site has so many fun and interesting articles about living life to the fullest – and we should – but we should also make sure we have taken care of the business of our death…

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7 months ago

3 Tips for Removing the Mental Blocks to Getting Things Done

“I know I should be doing it, I know it’s a good idea, but I just keep putting it off!” Ever heard that cry coming out of your own mouth, or from someone you know?

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