Calling all members of the sandwich generation!
If you’re in your 30’s or 40’s, have children, and your parents are considered senior, old or elderly, then you my friend are the roast beef between two slices of bread!
As your parents age, there are a number of possible scenarios that may lie ahead. Will they need in-home medical care? Do they need to move into a nursing home? What happens when they pass away?
No one likes to talk about the inevitable, but having a conversation with them about their plans and wishes for the future is the best way to ensure everyone, and everything is taken care of.
For some, this conversation is a tough one, but it is important to remember that your parents will be feeling just as uncomfortable. But the fact is, these conversations are important to make sure all of their affairs are in order should their physical, or mental health decline.
Some questions you might consider asking yourself, and your parents are:
- When is a good time to step in and offer help?
- Is it a good idea to get a third party to help manage their bills?
- How can you help your parents minimize estate taxes?
- Has any planning been done with a wealth manager or estate planner?
- Do you have a plan in place in case they get ill, imobile or uncommunicative?
- What are their options should they no longer be able to take care of themselves independently in their home?
These questions are all things that need to be answered when you sit down with your parents.
Be sure to document everything, maybe even record the call on your mobile so you can reference it later.
Create a list of all their contacts, like healthcare providers including their family doctor and pharmacist, their financial planner and bank institution, and neighbors/friends. You also need to know who they have appointed as their executor, and if there are any beneficiaries.
If they do not have a will, that is something you need to get done right away! I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a will, and an updated one at that! To learn more about the areas of focus for your discussion, and to hear real-life stories about families that encountered issues because they didn’t have proper documentation from their loved ones, please listen to Time to Have Those Tough Conversations with Your Parents (Ep.117) on the Life Unlimited podcast.
