Welcome back!
There are many issues before us as we move into what the authors call the best half of our life. There are wills to write, plans to make as we consider what we will want or need if we become incapacitated, choices to consider as we age and possibly need to move into nursing homes or assisted-living facilities, or we go through an unexpected lifestyle change through divorce or the death of a spouse.
Welcome news to those of us who are concerned about our future or the future of our loved ones is the book, Next Steps: A Practical Guide to Planning for the Best Half of Your Life.
The key to a successful future
Next Steps points out that the key to a successful transition into our later years is proper planning. Unfortunately, many of us do not think about planning for retirement or planning for our senior years when we are young. Far too many of us find ourselves in our fifties and sixties still with no concept of how we plan to live out the rest of our life.
Authors Jan Warner and Jan Collins have provided us with a detailed guide to help us take the necessary steps to secure our future and avoid the costly mistakes that could derail our peace and happiness in our later years.
As we as a population are living well into our 70s, 80s, 9os, and beyond, we have a greater need to have plans in place than did our ancestors who rarely lived beyond their 40s or 50s. Too many people are outliving their pensions or living with long-term illnesses that leave spouses and family members destitute. The high cost of health care and the aging population mandate that we get our affairs in order as early in our lives as possible.
The goal is to have a clearly and concisely written plan for our life in case we become unable to make our own decisions so that there can be an orderly transfer of authority to people we trust who will ensure that we and our loved ones are properly care for.
The importance of a team approach
In order to facilitate that plan, the authors suggest choosing a team of knowledgeable professionals who can help us plan not only our financial or estate planning, but long-term care planning, death planning, and burial planning. They even include planning for what will happen to one’s beloved pets if that is of concern. Given the tough economic times, planning is more important now than it has even been in the past.
Next Steps covers not only using a team approach, but preparing the necessary documents, implementing the plan in case you or your spouse becomes chronically ill or incapacitated. Chapters discussing health care planning, long-term care issues, the basics of Medicaid, and patients’ rights in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities provide invaluable information.
They also cover divorce considerations, second and third marriages (or beyond), and cohabitation and domestic partnership issues. Finally, end of life decisions must be made, including burial issues and organ donation.
Although Next Steps covers many topics, it is obvious there is not enough space to cover each topic in minute detail. For that, we need to speak with our team including lawyers, estate planners, and so forth, who can walk us through the finer details and draw up appropriate papers for our signature.
Plan for your future before it is too late
What this book does do is encourage us to get our act together for our future before it is too late. It provides a road map for us to follow so that we know who to call and what we need to do to get that plan together.
Next Steps encourages us to have a management team in place, and teaches us how to go about the process of gathering such a team. The authors include a glossary of terms, numerous web and print resources, and an index that not only will help us find approriate information in the book, but gives us a ready list of topics when we need to do further research for ourselves or our loved ones.
I highly recommend Next Steps because it is a wonderful gathering of information in one place to help us prepare for our future. I would like to thank Linden Publishing, Inc. for prividing a free copy for me to read and review. This is not a paid review, but my honest assessment of a book that will help anyone through the process of planning for their future. If you would like to purchase Next Steps, the book is available on Amazon.com, or at better bookstores, other online stores or through Quill Driver Books (www.QuillDriverBooks.com) .
