Estate Planning to Maximize Your Retirement and Minimize Your Gifts

Has anyone ever told you, “I’m going spend all my money so my kids get nothing and I leave my credit cards maxed out!”?  I have heard it.  When I tell the story, some of my clients laugh and some cringe.  The point of this story today is that we should all save our hard-earned money because we might be next.  Next what?  You or I might be the next person to live to be as old as Jiroemon Kimura.  Mr. Kimura lives in Kyoto, Japan and just celebrated his 115th birthday today.

Medical technology and easy access to information have given us the tools to increase our lifespans.  Now, we are working on solutions to make our lives comfortable while we live for longer periods of time with disability and incapacity.  Living longer with greater disability requires more money to pay higher costs of care.

What is your 115 year savings plan?  Will I have enough money to pay for medical care, assisted living, and nursing home?  If I live to be 115 years old, what kind of legacy will I leave?  If Medicaid pays for my long-term care or institutional care, we Medicaid Estate Recovery Program (MERP) take my house so that my kids are left with nothing?

0 Responses to Estate Planning to Maximize Your Retirement and Minimize Your Gifts

  • You’ve heard the joke…
    “Retirement: No clock, no deadlines, no stress, no money.”

    Don’t let the last part happen to you! Todd gives us a good reminder to be realistic about what it takes financially to support our longer lives. I don’t want to stress out about money at 100; I want to be living it up!

    –dh

  • Great information! I have been searching records from my father’s family, and I have found one example of exactly what you are talking about. My father’s third cousin, Alma C Samuels, 02 Feb 1888 – 22 Dec 1990, lived 102 years. Amazing! Back in the old days, aging parents lived with their children, but that is not the “norm” today. Oh, I do know there are many older Americans that do live with their children, but mostly it’s assisted living and then the nursing home. Our children in today’s world are working and raising their own family and very busy and I must conclude rightly so. For me, I choose the nursing home, and I can only pray my family abides by my wishes.

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