Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is the issues you need to keep in mind when helping your aging parents with their finances and estate plans. James describes the five main categories of issues that need to be considered: cash flow and living arrangements, estate planning, insurance, tax planning, and asset and debt.
No one is really ever prepared to walk through these categories with their aging parents, but with the help of this podcast and the downloadable checklist James has provided on www.readyforretirement.co, hopefully you will feel more adequately prepared for this process.
At its core, this process is an investigative one during which you are working with your parents to locate all of their cash flow, estate planning, insurance, and asset/debt documentation. It is important to review the policies and benefits, making note of any requirements and adjusting beneficiaries or other details as needed.
It would be helpful to you and your siblings or the others involved in your parents’ estate plans to have access to the contact information for any attorneys, financial planners, doctors, etc. that are key stakeholders as well as the passwords for any digital assets that your parents maintain before you have a need for them.
Key Points:
- Cash flow and living arrangement issues
- Managing bills
- Income sources
- Long-term care plans
- Estate planning issues
- Compiling relevant contact information
- Organizing important documents
- Determining estate plans
- Reviewing account beneficiaries and POD registrations
- Managing digital assets
- Insurance issues
- Life insurance
- Health insurance
- Homeowners insurance
- Long term care insurance
- Tax planning issues
- Deducting qualified medical expenses
- Roth IRA conversions
- Capital gain harvesting
- Capital loss carry-forwards
- Unrealized losses
- Asset and debt issues
- Credit card points
- Safety deposit boxes
- Unclaimed properties
- Annuities and other illiquid assets
- Insurance policies and benefits
- Account consolidation
Timestamps:
0:08 – The topic of this episode: What issues to consider for my aging parents
0:49 – 5 specific categories – download the worksheet on the website
1:48 – Cash flow and living arrangement issues
4:01 – Estate planning issues
10:52 – Insurance issues
12:18 – Tax planning issues
16:40 – Asset and debt issues
19:58 – Wrap-up and episode summary
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