At the beginning of April, we held a pre-retirement webinar for those anticipating retiring in the next 5-10 years. For those who missed the event, we wanted to share the five main points Barry touched on during the webinar. This week, we visit the question, “Who will take care of me when I can’t take care of myself?” If you missed episodes one, two, and three, we encourage you to go back and watch those at www.mccallandassociates.com/blog-posts. We hope you enjoy the video and find value in its contents.
Read the full transcript below.
“The fourth really important question is who’s going to make decisions for you when you can’t? But what I’m speaking to here is that there are two really important documents that you need.”
Transcript
Austin: Welcome back to our pre-retirement video series. The last three weeks, Barry has walked through questions such as what am I going to do with my time during retirement? How much money do I need for retirement? And what happens if you get sick? This week, he talks through who will take care of me when I can’t. We hope this is a valuable resource for you, and you enjoy the video.
Barry: The fourth really important question is who's going to make decisions for you when you can't? But what I'm speaking to here is that there are two really important documents that you need. One is called a durable power of attorney. Many of you probably already have this established, but a durable power of attorney that allows you to name someone else to have legal responsibility and make decisions on your behalf when you can't.
Durable is very important because it is still in effect when you become incapacitated. A traditional power of attorney does not have that power or effect, so make sure it's a durable power of attorney. When you get a durable power of attorney, are you going to be updating it? A recent trend that we've seen in the financial industry is that language needs to be specific to reference retirement accounts for companies to honor those power of attorneys when people are trying to access retirement accounts. If you're updating, or if you haven't done it, and you're going to do it, just make sure that you specifically reference retirement accounts in the language.
Another issue that we see oftentimes with a durable power of attorney is when to name a successor. I know for example, for my wife, Melissa and I, she's my attorney in fact, and I am hers. That's great while we're still relatively young, but there's going to be a point in time where the chances of me not being able to make decisions on her behalf, or vice versa, are very real. So we named one of our children as a successor.
If you're sick, your situation is similar. I would so encourage you to do that ahead of time, so that issue is addressed, and it doesn't become an issue for you down the road.
The other critical document that is really important to get is your advanced medical directives. Again, many of you have done this, but those would fall into three different types. One would be your living will, and that's just simply a document stating this is what I want to have happen to me, from a healthcare standpoint, when I get to the end of my life. I want these things done or I don't want these things done.
Another document that you can get is called a durable power of attorney for healthcare specifically. We're a healthcare proxy. Again, it's saying I want, in my case, Melissa, or my successor, to be able to make decisions legally on my behalf, when I can't. When I get to the end of life, they're going to make those decisions for me.
The third thing is simply a do not resuscitate order. It's important to have that. If that's your wish, be sure to put that in writing ahead of time.
So who will make decisions for you when you can't? Look at a durable power of attorney and your advanced medical directives.
The foregoing information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but we do not guarantee that it is accurate or complete, it is not a statement of all available data necessary for making an investment decision, and it does not constitute a recommendation. Any opinions are those of Barry McCall and not necessarily those of Raymond James.
Past performance may not be indicative of future results. All investments are subject to risk. There is no assurance that any investment strategy will be successful. While we are familiar with the tax provisions of the issues presented herin, as Financial Advisors of RJFS, we are not qualified to render advice on tax or legal matters. You should discuss tax or legal matters with the appropriate professional.