As parents, we all worry about our parents. Not only do we have the present to worry about, but we have the future to think about, as well. No one likes to think about their mortality all that much, but a lot of us have been thinking a little more of it, especially lately.
Without letting the anxiety of the potential future scare you, however, you can rest easy to at least make sure that whenever your time does come, you’re able to help your kids get through and beyond it without the financial stress it can so often cause. Here are just some of the steps that you can take to make sure that you’re doing what you can.
Start thinking about your family’s long term financial future
The sooner that you are able to start budgeting aside money, the easier it can be for you to achieve financial freedom earlier in your life. Financial freedom, meaning you have enough savings to afford the lifestyle that you want and investments that can fund your future, will ensure that you’re not struggling with the costs of daily life to the point that you can actually afford to think about what happens years or even decades from now.
Start planning with your family
If your kids are a little too young for conversations about that far in the future, you needn’t involve them. However, starting to talk about your financial future with your family, be it a partner, siblings, or otherwise, can help ensure that your wishes are clear and can help you get some good advice from those who might be making the same plans. That way, even if all of your wishes aren’t formally recorded, you at least have people who know what those wishes are and can take steps to enact them.
Start planning your estate
Talking about your plans with the members of your family who are likely to help can start making your options more apparent. However, you should still make sure that the plans you have in place are legally binding. As such, you might want to talk to an estate attorney such as the Levin Law Group to start looking at plans like putting your will together, making sure that your kids get the inheritance that you want them to and that your assets are treated according to your wishes. Legal advice can be vital when writing a will, even if you think you can do it alone, to make sure it cannot be contested easily.
Put some financial protections in place
Aside from making sure that your own assets are used in the way that you want, you can also make sure that your kids don’t have to struggle with funeral costs and the other expenses that can pile up at the end of life. It’s not as expensive as many think, either, with options like Colonial Penn life insurance from $9.95 per month. The sooner that you get started, the easier it is to put those protections in place.
See that there’s something left for them later
You might also want to talk to a lawyer about products such as a trust or any other fund that you can start putting money into. You can set money aside that can only be accessed when all of your children are grown for instance, or money that is designed for specific purposes, such as helping to fund their education or put a downpayment down on a house. That way, you can make sure that your money is being used to secure a future, not just to provide a payout.
Teaching better habits while you can
It’s widely agreed that good financial habits are not taught across all households as much as they should be. Ensuring that your kids know what to do with money when they start to earn it can make sure that they don’t fall into the financial hardships that many of us have seen. As such, there are sites like In Charge that can break down concepts such as borrowing, credit, saving, and delayed gratification to make sure that they’re better prepared to handle their own finances.
With the tips above, you can at least make sure that you’re doing your part to ensure that your children don’t have to deal with all of the financial burdens that can come with losing a parent. It may be a long way away yet, but it’s still a good idea to prepare.
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