Kelley Long (Forbes.com) published an article entitled, "The Most Important Estate Planning Issue Boomers Need to Address" (May 08, 2016). Provided below is a brief summary of the article from Forbes.com:
The Most Important Estate Planning Issue Boomers Need to Address
By the year 2050, it is estimated that 1 out of every 5 Americans will be over the age of 65, with people aged 85 and up this is the fastest growing demographic in the nation.
While the good news means that more people are living longer even with chronic diseases, the challenge is that this requires different planning than the traditional practice of simply having a power of attorney in place to help in case of incapacity and making sure the will is up-to-date to include the intended heirs.
As this demographic continues to grow, so will instances of fraud and financial abuse of seniors. As approximately 3.5 million Baby Boomers enter retirement each year, the time to make sure your estate planning documents protect you or your parents from fraud and abuse is now. In fact, experts recommend making the bulk of these major financial decisions by age 50.
So how do you make sure that you, your parents or other aging loved ones have the right plans in place BEFORE they're needed?
We tend to focus on extremes when we do our plans, but there's a strong chance that the power of attorney will be needed before complete incapacity strikes.
The agent may need to step in just to help sign checks or set up auto-bill paying for someone who can still make their own financial decisions, but just needs help carrying them out.
Just be sure before you sit down with that attorney that you've thought through some of the less obvious reasons you may need a power of attorney and have those conversations far in advance of when they may be needed.
No one wants to think about the day that they or their loved ones need added assistance with life, but the day will come and when it does, everyone will be glad that proper plans were made in advance.
For tips on what you should consider putting on your estate planning documents, continue reading the article “The Most Important Estate Planning Issue Boomers Need To Address” by Kelley Long from Forbes.com.