Are You Ready for Longevity? 4 Steps to Take Now

The longer you live, the more likely it is that you will live longer – though no one is immortal. There are several ways in which a person can make longevity more pleasant and satisfying, as well as tackling the issue of one’s own mortality, such as considering long-term care, planning for incapacity, avoiding probate, and minimizing taxes.

Traditional long-term care policies can be expensive and difficult to obtain, but there are hybrid policies that combine long-term care benefits with life insurance. If a person does not use the long-term care benefits, a spouse or beneficiary may receive the life insurance proceeds upon their death. Also, spouses do not always automatically have the ability to make decisions for their loved one in the case of them becoming incapacitated. Medical advance directives allow you to name another person to make medical decisions on your behalf, and a power of attorney is used for the same purpose but for financial and legal decisions.

Instead of going through the expensive and time exhaustive process of probate, one should consider transferring solely or jointly owned assets to a revocable trust during their lifetime. An attorney is quite helpful when setting up a trust, as the directives and guidelines can be complex. A will should always be included in an estate plan, just in case there are any assets that are missed or forgotten to be placed in a trust.

See Tracy Craig, Are You Ready for Longevity? 4 Steps to Take Now, Kilpinger, August 13, 2018.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.) for bringing this article to my attention.