PLANNING DISCUSSIONS: ROLE REVERSAL

Parents are used to caring for their children when they are young and then subsequently providing them with advice and guidance when they grow up. Along the way your parents may have found it to be inappropriate and unnecessary to share the details of their financial situation with you.

You may have a general idea about their earnings and make certain assumptions. However, you have no way of knowing if your assumptions are in fact in the ballpark unless your parents communicate with you about financial matters.

As your parents get older a role reversal may be on the way. 70% of us will need long-term-care someday. 45% of people who are at least 85 suffer from Alzheimer’s disease.

If you have parents who are in nursing homes you are obviously going to play a significant role in their lives. If they were to become incapacitated someone is going to have to make decisions on their behalf.

When it comes to estate planning someone is going to have to administer the estate.

There are some very important, practical matters that should logically be discussed. If you get the impression that your parents are never going to broach the subject with you perhaps it is up to you to break the ice.

Is this a comfortable conversation to have with your parents? For some it could be perfectly comfortable. For others it may be quite challenging.

However, somehow you must find a way to discuss the eventualities of aging as a family so that everyone is on the same page as your parents pass through their twilight years.