Estate Planning Basics in the wake of Covid-19
I feel like I blinked, and all the optimism of New Year 2020 disappeared in a tidal wave of scary headlines about a new virus spreading over the world, running rampant over all in its path, particularly affecting the most vulnerable in our populations. A massive, painful wake up call for many of us, just trying to get from one day to the next: finishing that project at the office, feeding our families, putting something aside for retirement, reading a few pages from the next great novel or planning a long-awaited family vacation.
Enter: Covid-19.
It sounds straight out of Star Wars, Star Trek or Firefly. Surely the name for some fantastic AI, or a distant planet about to attack.
Well, the attack part turned out to be correct. So, what can this abrupt, unapologetic viral attack teach us? What can we take from this painfully disruptive experience to renew our sense of peace and control?
The most obvious lesson: an attack can come from anywhere at any time. We need to already have a plan in place, with the best knowledge and resources available to us, at that time. And when things change, have a plan for that, too!
So, where do we start? How do we find peace of mind, again?
Let’s start with a clear-eyed look at what we currently have in place, and use this time of enforced quarantine and resulting introspection to learn what we need to have in place, and devise a plan for the future. Because, I hate to tell you, there will be another one.
Let me repeat: there WILL be another one. Another massive disruption.
It may be global, or “just” your family, your job, your life. Either way, the one thing we know is true: there will be another one. And they never originate in the same place. The last global one originated in our financial systems, and the one before that in the tech space. Around all of these, personal circumstances evolve all the time. Change is constant.
A good starting point is a basic estate plan. It sounds fancy, and like it might only apply to people with family names like: Gates, Winfrey or Jonas. That is where you would be wrong. Ask yourself a couple of questions:
Who can act on your behalf if you are in the hospital for an extended period, say intubated, on a ventilator? Can someone pay your bills? Make medical decisions for you? Make sure your kids are fed? Make sure your pets have water?
Are you comfortable with the state or federal government deciding what happens to your kids? your stuff? your money?
If you don’t have ready answers to these questions, or you don’t like the answers currently in place, we need to talk. I encourage you to join the next Estate Planning focused session of Let’s Get Financially Fearless! or our new Knowledge, Mastery Achievement track of prepared materials and pre-recorded sessions, coming in 2023. There will also be a basic estate planning guided topic area, exploring a number of subjects germane to the estate planning process.
