Event Planning
Are you - and your family - addressing all the planning opportunities as you age?
Happy Wednesday,
Let’s start with a quote:
Aging is just another word for living. - Cindy Joseph
And as we age and encounter different choices and decisions, it’s an opportunity to address the corresponding age-related financial planning opportunities along the way.
See the image above to get an idea what I’m talking about…
You may be close to or well into retirement, but there are still some age-related planning opportunities that may lie ahead for you such as Qualified Charitable Distributions and/or Required Minimum Distributions.
But what if you’re younger and your parents still have some of these milestones to look forward to - and plan for?
What about your children?
Or grandchildren?
For example, once someone turns 14, they’re eligible to apply for “working papers” and in turn can start making contributions to a Roth IRA with part of their paycheck.
And once they reach age of majority and become an adult, they absolutely need to have an advanced healthcare directive (living will) and power of attorney in place.
Because if they’re in an accident or not capable of making their own decisions, even as their parent, you most likely won’t have access to their medical information, nor will you be able to make decisions on their behalf.
At least not without these important documents in place for them.
An easy and affordable solution for the above is Five Wishes, which I discuss in episode 16 of my podcast.
Again, referring to the image above, you can see there are 15 age-related financial planning opportunities, among many other possibilities.
Here’s another perspective on age-based planning milestones:
Maybe you agree with me that there are some opportunities to be addressed as you - or your family & friends - age through different phases of life.
This is admittedly an oversimplification, but I often think of the above examples as “planned transitions” versus “unplanned transitions.”
And while there will certainly be events in our lives that we won’t see coming, that doesn’t mean it’s not worthwhile to plan for and around the things we do expect.
As far as unplanned or perhaps semi-planned transitions in our lives, they include these “life events”:
Birth of a child (or grandchild)
Buying a home (or 2nd home)
Getting divorced
Getting married (or remarried)
Moving to a new state
Heading off to college
Receiving a windfall
Selling a home
Among others…
I mention all this because a client (thanks once again, Mike!) called me a couple of months back and shared some thoughtful and practical suggestions for my business and how I might consider better serving clients and their families in the future.
One of his suggestions included proactive advice and education around certain “triggers” or life events. He gave several examples during our conversation which I appreciated, and I’ve taken his advice and have begun implementing it…
Note: Whether you’re a client or just a reader, if you ever have any suggestions or input on how I can improve ANYTHING I’m doing or working on, I welcome whatever you’re willing to share.
With the help of some technology and other resources, I now have the ability to proactively reach out to you when the age-based events like the ones above occur in your life.
And if you let me know about the “life events” you or your family are experiencing, I can also provide resources to help you consider the financial planning opportunities such life transitions may bring.
If you’re a client, you’re already in this system.
And for clients that would like me to include your children or grandchildren - or others - in this proactive planning service, here’s what I need for each of them:
The person’s first and last name
Their date of birth
Their email address
Their state of residence
That’s it.
I’m not going to contact or solicit anyone with this information. It will only be used to send timely and relevant financial information for their consideration.
Note: I may already have this information for your children and even your grandchildren, but please let me know if you’d like me to include them - or others - in this system as I’d hate to overlook anyone by accident.
And for the non-age-based life events, don’t ever hesitate to let me know if you or someone you care about is dealing with having a child or buying a home or another “life event” in the list above, and I’ll be glad to send the relevant information to them as well. Or I can send it to you and you can forward it to them.
If you’re a client, we’re already discussing most or all of the above through our normal conversations and progress meetings, but by systematizing many of these age- and life-based events, we can reduce the potential for things to be missed along the way.
Any questions, comments, or thoughts?
Simply reply and let me know.
Links & things
New Blog Post
Wanted to share a new blog post that I published last week on the elements that go into choosing the right health insurance plan for your situation:
Podcast Appearance
I recently was invited to be a guest on the Top Advisor Podcast, hosted by friend and colleague, Bill Cates. While Bill is a consultant to financial advisors and this conversation is geared more toward other professionals in the financial advice industry, I wanted to share it with you as we talk about my “why” for focusing on serving women:
Closing Thought
Time is an often underappreciated element of financial planning…
Whether it’s how long you’ll live, when you’ll retire, or when you’ll start Social Security, time is an important and ever-present factor in our financial decisions.
And our lives.
On top of this, our time is increasingly at a premium.
Life is crazy and getting crazier every day it seems.
For those that feel like there are never enough hours in the day, consider this:
You don’t have a time problem, you have a priority problem.
And further, with more time you can make more money. With more money, you can’t make more time.
I’ll let you think on that and draw your own conclusions, but this is a BIG part of why it’s important to plan for tomorrow AND live your best life today and each day along your life’s journey.
They’re not mutually exclusive…
Thank You!
I’m grateful to have you as a reader.
If you have any questions or an idea for a future newsletter, blog post, or YouTube video, I'd love your input.
Just hit reply - I read (and truly appreciate) every email you send.
Until next Wednesday,
Russ