Planning for the future tips from FCA workshop

Posted on October 24th, 2007 by Beth Seidelhuber

I attended a workshop called “Planning Today for Tomorrow” sponsored by Family Caregiver Alliance and the Contra Costa Jewish Community Center. FCA provides a wide range of support and educational programs for caregivers

The main focus of the workshop was planning ahead financially. The first speaker provided some very useful advice in recommending we each document now the location of important documents, our wishes, and anything else helpful for a family or friend to know should you become incapacitated or die suddenly. She’s actually created a booklet to capture all of this information (www.caringisnotenough.net). Once this is done – store it the documentation in a safe place and be sure to tell someone where that place is. She also recommended making use of digital cameras to capture your belongings for use as evidence later in an insurance claim.

The second speaker was an eldercare attorney who went over many of the misconceptions about estate planning. An estate plan is essential in avoiding the headaches and costs of probate (the process for when the state administers what should be done with a deceased person’s assets) and making things easier on your survivors. Here were her biggest tips:

Verify the beneficiaries listed on your life insurance and retirement accounts (401k, IRA, etc.) to make sure the right people are listed.
Set up a Tender on Death Account for any brokerage accounts. This puts a beneficiary on the account so the assets do not need to go through probate.
Consider a living trust to protect assets from probate. If you have a trust already, make sure the assets funding the trust are up to date. This requires retitling any bank or brokerage accounts in the name of the trust.
Sign a grant of authorization at your health care provider’s office. It allows your provider to give out information about you to a loved one should you be incapacitated.
Look into long term care insurance but make sure you can fund your retirement first.
Consider charitable giving in establishing your estate plan. Make use of lifetime gifts as well.
To protect your loved one from financial abuse, make sure his/her number is listed on the www.donotcall.gov list. Opt out of pre-approved credit offers using www.optoutprescreen.com.
Once a loved one dies, be sure you ask for many copies of the death certificate. You will need these for closing accounts and other financial matters that come up.
Keep a binder with one month worth of bills, statements and copies of certificates (birth, marriage). This can be very helpful for a loved one should you become incapacitated or die suddenly.