Taking
Charge Of Your Aging
When
financial planners talk about the importance of “envisioning” one’s
retirement, most people think of the fun stuff they want to do:
travel, tennis or golf, moving to a vacation spot, visiting grandchildren
and friends, gardening, reading, doing volunteer work, or even taking
on part-time paid work they’ve always wanted to do.
But
what about when we grow older in retirement and become less independent?
What happens when travel becomes more difficult, or impossible?
When our hearing or our knees weaken? When we forget to take medications
or pay bills? When we can no longer garden or play golf, or clean
the house?
This
is not fun stuff to think about. Most of us don’t want to admit
to ourselves or to those around us that we can no longer do some
of the things we’ve always done for ourselves. We don’t want to
narrow our life by giving up driving or traveling.
Thus,
most people wait until they’re compelled to make changes, or a friend
or family member intervenes. But waiting until the last moment often
causes emotional stress for everyone, and it can have significant
financial consequences because some options may be lost because
of the delay.
That’s
why “envisioning” this stage of your life is as important as planning
for the joyous things we want to do during retirement. A California
CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner has even prepared a “Lifestyle
and Circumstances Audit” for his clients to help them assess and
prepare for the inevitable changes in their lives.
You
can do your own assessment by first listing the activities that
enrich your current or planned retired life and what physical and
mental skills you require to carry out those activities. Do you
travel a lot or go to cultural events? If so, do you drive, or depend
primarily on public transportation? Do you exercise or play sports
such as tennis? Do you spend a lot of time on the phone or in front
of your computer sending e-mails to friends and family? Do you prepare
most of your meals or eat out?
As
we physically and sometimes mentally decline, we will likely lose
some of the skills required to do these activities. These declining
skills won’t necessarily force us into assisted living or a nursing
home, but they will restrict us. If our eyesight or our health falters,
for example, driving ourselves to the symphony or 500 miles to see
family may become impossible.
Of
course, eventually we may not be able to carry out one or more of
the classic six activities of daily living used to gauge whether
someone should hire professional help or move into assisted living
or a nursing home: dressing, bathing, eating, moving from one place
to another, toileting, and staying continent. Or we may suffer from
cognitive impairment such as Alzheimer’s.
By
contemplating these possibilities, you can make contingency plans.
Take your living circumstances, for example. Say you currently live
in a two-story home with your bedroom upstairs and the laundry room
in the basement. What happens if climbing the stairs becomes difficult
or impossible? Will you put in an automated chair lift? Or would
you prefer to move to a single-story home? If you live miles from
the nearest town, would you consider moving to the city where you’re
closer to medical assistance or perhaps family? Is an option a retirement
community or even an apartment in a continuing care community where
you can progress into assisted living or a nursing home should that
need arise? What will be the financial impact of these options?
Advance
preparation and thought helps us better recognize detrimental physical
and mental changes as they occur, and thus give us more time to
make arrangements. How severe should a problem become before triggering
a planned change in circumstances? For example, should you move
from that two-story home before a problem actually surfaces, move
at the first inkling of it, or wait until you no longer have a choice?
Discuss
these activities, potential physical triggers, and options for change
with your spouse or your children well before problems might arise.
It will help them be better prepared to help you should changes
be required.
For
more information visit: The
Financial Planning Association
