“What-if” End-of-Life Planning Blog
How Everything Began...
Everyone’s got a story about how they arrived to where they’re at. Here’s mine…
One night in June 2015, I returned home late from a work trip to Orlando due to weather delays. When the plane finally touched down in Portland after midnight, I turned my phone on hoping to hear about my daughters’ experiences at an Imagine Dragons concert from that night. Instead, I found this text from my wife…
Spring Time Renewal all Around
While we appreciate how the rain and snow in Oregon sustains a diverse wildlife while keeping the grass green, the lakes and rivers filled, and the flowers blooming, we’re looking forward to this year’s spring and its symbolism of rebirth and renewal.
I Came. I Saw. I Conquered
This week we look at how we can apply one of Julius Caeser’s most famous quotes to end-of-life planning, “Veni. Vidi. Vici.” I came. I saw. I conquered.
“St. Patty’s Luck of the Irish”
While we celebrate the “luck of the Irish” on St. Patrick’s Day, luck is practically non-existent when it comes to getting your affairs in order.
Social Media Accounts
In this week’s tip, we discuss how different social media platforms deal with the accounts of those who have died and what you can do now to make it easier for you and your family to navigate that process when needed.
Top Nine End-of-Life Planning Mistakes
Mistakes are a part of life. Unfortunately, when it comes to end-of-life planning, we don’t get do-overs. We examine the top nine mistakes we and others in our support group made and how you can avoid them in your planning.
Advance Directives are Important
In this week’s tip we address some of the detailed questions and considerations required to create a meaningful advance directive.
Planning for Post-Death Healing Expenses
In this week’s tip, we’ll examine some of the additional post-death expenditures that you may want to factor into your end-of-life planning financial plan. These are expenses that are above and beyond what most people think of when it comes to “death expenses,” such funeral/burial/cremation, medical bills, and legal expenses to execute a will or trust.
Top Five Reasons to Get Your Affairs in Order NOW!
We often don’t get “groundhog day”, second chances in real life, especially when it comes to end-of-life planning. With that in mind, we share our top five reasons why now is the time to get your end-of-life affairs in order.
Practical Preparation for your People
This week our tip focuses on what may be the element of end-of-life planning that most people overlook – the practical preparation of your people — making sure they have the resources and skills to live and care for a household, including all of the chores and tasks that you currently carry out on a regular basis.
Mental, Emotional, & Spiritual Preparation for Your People
This week our tip focuses on what may be the hardest element of end-of-life planning, the mental/emotional/spiritual preparation of your people.
Legal Preparation for Your People
This week our tip focuses on legal preparation for your people – making and communicating the appropriate legal arrangements that will allow your people to settle your estate quickly and efficiently in a way that provides for their needs according to your wishes.
Financial Preparation for Your People
In today’s tip, we focus on financial preparation for your people -- those family, friends, and associates who in some way depend on you financially, will mourn your passing, and will need resources and comfort to move forward in life without you.
Make this the Year to Act
Now that we’re into 2023, it’s appropriate to look forward to the year ahead. Our goal at Prepare Your Affairs is help you attain the peace of mind that comes with getting your end-of-life affairs in order. In this week’s tip, we offer some suggestions about how to go about accomplishing this task.
Grief Support Groups
If you know anything about our journey following the death of Dave and Kris and our struggle to move forward in life afterwards, you know that our widow and widower grief support group played an important role. In this week’s blog, we discuss how and why this helped us and where those in mourning might be able to find a similar type of group for them.
Is Preparing Emotionally and Mentally Possible?
No matter how prepared a family may be for the death of a loved one, grief will come, and it will manifest itself in different ways for different people. It’s hard to predict how one will grieve because so much of it will depend on your relationship to the deceased, the circumstances of their death, and even your own life situation at the moment your loved one dies. So that begs the question, how can a person prepare emotionally and mentally for the death of another?
Scams Against the Grieving
One of the most upsetting challenges we have discovered since joining the widowhood world is the proliferation of scams that target individuals and families in mourning. Loss is hard enough as it is, but to be violated by someone looking to take advantage of one’s vulnerable state is a cruel twist of the proverbial knife. This week in our blog we discuss scams against those who are grieving.
Where to Buy Life Insurance
Life insurance should be a key component in the financial plan for most families preparing for the death of a loved on whom they are dependent in some way. In this week’s tip we’ll discuss the pros and cons of the different ways to acquire life insurance.
Guardianship of Children
In a 2014 Survey of Income and Program Participation by the United States Census Bureau, 0.1 percent of children under the age of 18 had lost both parents to death. That's one out of every 1000 kids. So while the odds are still in your child's favor…
Gratitude through Letters
As we approach Thanksgiving, we encourage you to consider the important people in your life and take time to write them a letter or note of appreciation and gratitude. It doesn’t have to be long and sappy. Sometimes short and simple is enough.