Who will care for pets when you are gone?
It’s important to have a plan in place for your pets in case something happens to you. Your pet will likely be distressed without you and would benefit from staying with someone familiar, if they can’t go to a permanent home right away. Each animal has individual needs, and you know your pet best. You should consider who would be the best caregiver for your pet, both temporarily and permanently, if those arrangements are different. Hiring a pet sitter could be a good interim solution if the permanent caregiver isn’t immediately available. You may need to account for...
Read MoreAre you thinking about downsizing?
Our plans to downsize or “right size” can reflect how well we deal with aging. Older adults often realize they require less space than when their children lived at home. Living in a smaller area, such as moving from a detached house to a condominium or townhouse, can free up time for new activities. While strata fees may seem like an added expense, it’s essential to consider the cost savings of home maintenance. It’s also wise to think ahead and consider mobility issues before they become problematic. Reducing living space can be challenging, especially when fitting...
Read MorePut your paperwork in order; leave a legacy – not a mess!
There are many financial aspects to getting your affairs in order. In addition to documenting your real and personal property, you may have business interests, outstanding debts and liabilities, monthly donations and subscriptions, and bill payments to consider. A significant risk for an executor generally comes from mishandled income tax matters. Therefore, it is also important to document all tax-related instructions for your executor. When loans to family or friends are not documented, or there was an expectation for repayment that did not occur, bad feelings and even conflict may arise...
Read MoreMaking Sense of Life and Death
Making sense of life and death is the foundation for all pragmatic end-of-life planning. This learning helps people explore the reality of their mortality, refine end-of-life planning priorities, name core values and articulate hopes and fears for their inevitable death, dying and after-death care. Your end-of-life planning is an expression of who you are. This can and should reflect your essence. To help ensure that your planning choices are based on what’s important to you, take the time to discover and refine the values that shape your life and explore what they mean for your living and...
Read MoreDo I need life insurance?
Life insurance can help your loved ones deal with the financial impact of your death. The death benefit paid from a life insurance policy is a tax-free, lump-sum amount that can replace your income so your family can maintain their standard of living or provide for your children or dependents. It can also be designated to pay off expenses such as funeral costs. You may have forgotten about a life insurance policy that was paid off long ago. Sometimes a policy was purchased from a company that no longer exists. Some employer life insurance policy Agreements have payouts available even after a...
Read MoreWhat is the difference between real and personal property, and why is it important for estate planning?
In estate planning, there are two types of property: real and personal. Real property includes items such as real estate, land, and buildings.Personal property includes bank accounts, investments, heirlooms, and valuables. If your net worth is significant, carefully consider, with the advice of your financial and legal representative, the power to be granted to your executor with all your real and personal properties. Personal property held jointly with another person, such as bank accounts and homes, will not be considered part of an estate. They will pass automatically to the joint...
Read MoreWhy is advance care planning for end-of-life health care so inportant
There are so many things to consider when we plan ahead for a time we can no longer speak for ourselves, otherwise known as Advance Care Planning. One that we often don’t think about is, where would you want to die? Given the option, most people would prefer to die at home. Yet, most people currently die in hospital or hospice. Knowing our options well before we need to make decisions may remove a lot of stress for ourselves, our loved ones as well as the health care system. Advance care planning (ACP) is a universal term used to describe the process of making your future health care...
Read MoreDOES PLANNING FOR YOUR FUNERAL MEAN YOU ARE GOING TO DIE?
There are many people who are afraid that just thinking about death will shorten their life. On the contrary, talking openly about the end of our lives helps us to accept the realities of aging which can in turn, help us to live with less fear. What do I mean by this? Talking openly about the end of our lives helps us to focus on the important things; it can help us to clarify our lives. We are all going to die one day. It is the one thing we all have in common. Going through the process of pre-arranging our own funeral helps us to deal with our mortality and can help us to live out our...
Read MoreWhat’s stopping you from getting your affairs in order?
As mentioned in my last article, we typically associate getting our affairs in order with the end of life. As a result, it is considered an undesirable task. It is also known to be overwhelming. Where do we start? How do we know when we are finished getting our affairs in order? Getting our affairs in order is simply about getting our life organized, whether that be details regarding our future health care planning, financial and legal matters, or information regarding our vital statistics like identification documents and family history. Documentation regarding pets, pre-planned funeral...
Read MoreGetting your affairs in order
Having our affairs in order is NOT just for those who are dying! When we start talking about getting our affairs in order, we get this uneasy feeling in our gut. Am I am going to die soon? If I think it, therefore I am? In our society we have come to accept this expression as preparing for end of life, when, we could all benefit from having our affairs in order in any season of life! We can spend countless hours looking for personal information that has been stashed in different corners of our home. We keep meaning to get it organized one day – but each day gets consumed with other...
Read More