7 Significant Tasks Smart People Accomplish
7 Significant Tasks Smart People Accomplish Before They Die
Future talk sparks excitement for most people. Daydreams about globetrotting, starting a business, raising beautiful children, and growing old with the person we love are what keeps us motivated. We even begin to invest money for the future as early as today. We look forward to seeing what tomorrow brings except for that one thing – our death day.
We try not to talk or even think about death
especially if it’s about the person we love who is still living. Or if it’s our own demise. In fact, the act of writing this article sends shivers down my spine. But whether you accept it or not, we’re not immortals and we’ll all perish eventually. Optimistically not soon, but eventually. The best thing you can do is to prepare early and make life easier for you and your dependents.
Planning for your death involves two things: planning for what will happen after you die, and planning for what will happen once you’re terribly ill and unable to speak for yourself.
1. Preparing their living will. The “living will” spells out requests regarding the medical care you want and don’t want.
Should you fall into a critical condition, would you want to be attached to life support machines? While it’s natural for us to seek every medical procedure known to man, some folks would rather be put to rest instead of holding onto feeding tubes. Organ donation following your death is another information that should be put into writing.
2. Appointing an agent for healthcare. The durable power of attorney for healthcare enables a patient (called “principal”) to appoint an “agent” or “proxy” to speak on his/her behalf. People may appoint their spouse, sibling, relative or close friend to handle specific health responsibilities. All these requests should be placed in a document so medical professionals will know your intentions.
3. Estate planning. Estate planning is the act of preparing for the transfer of one’s wealth and assets following his/her death. Parts of one’s estate are assets, real estate, cars, pensions, life insurance, personal belongings, and even debts.
The golden rule is the more assets you own, the longer planning it’ll take. Simple arrangements could be done using online tools. But if your arrangements are complex (naming guardians for young children, setting up trusts, and multi-generational planning, etc), you might need to hire an estate planning attorney.
Estate planning is best done before it’s actually needed. Review your estate plan when major life events occur, such as marriage, the birth of a child, or divorce. The next best estate plan is right after a serious medical diagnosis, especially in cases of deterioration in cognitive skills.
Ask yourself: Can my family continue to operate without me if I don’t wake up tomorrow? If you’re the head of the family and you hold all of the household finances, then it’s a must to sit down with a financial planner every year to review your arrangements and make updates if it deems fit.
4. Buying life plan or memorial plan. Who likes to plan their funeral? No one. But while it’s often overlooked, a life plan gives rewarding benefits to those who buy them early. The product enables the plan holder to pre-pay memorial services in the future at a lower cost today. It’s like a hedge against increasing prices of caskets and memorial services that you’ll inevitably need many ages from now.
The package often includes a memorial service in accredited mortuaries (a casket for the deceased, chapel or mortuary, embalming procedures, etc), death certificate processing, assignment or transfer of the plan, and insurance protection.
Memorial plans show that funerals are not for the dead – they are for the living. With life insurance plans, families are relieved from worry and effort in processing papers by the time they lose their beloved.
5. Pre-planning their own funeral. Do you want to rest on a pink casket? Or have your remains cremated? What do you want to be written on your tombstone? How do you want the wake to be handled? What song do you want to play at your funeral?
If you want something specific to happen on your last day, then it’s a great idea to get that in writing. It ensures you get what you want, and it also takes away the headache of planning for your family. You may also have to pre-pay for any arrangements, including the purchasing of the grave plot or the cremation services.
6. Sorting out your online accounts. Have you ever asked yourself, If I don’t wake up tomorrow morning, what would happen to my Facebook and Instagram account? How about the usernames and passwords of your electronic banking accounts that are all over the place?
The best thing to do today is to sort out these things. You can use a number of online platforms, like Everplans, which lets you store digital information to be accessed by your loved ones at the right time.
7. Saying these powerful words. Forgiveness, Gratitude, and Love – these are three powerful things a person would love to receive and give before he/she departs. Make sure to say “sorry”, “I forgive you”, “thank you”, and “I love you” to the people who matter to you.
Smart folks plan for the time grim reaper knocks on their door. They know that by the time they cease to exist, all of their sufferings including the debts they owed, won’t bother them anymore in the afterlife. The loved ones they’ll leave behind, however, will carry them. With this, they ensure they shelter their loved ones from further hardships so they, too, can rest in peace.
Author Bio: Carmina Natividad is a resident writer for Insurance Adviser, one of the largest and most credible general insurance businesses in Australia and New Zealand, providing high quality risk management advice for business owners. Being an enthusiast of pursuing financial security herself, she writes and shares self-help articles focused on finance and business
Funerals aren’t for the dead. They’re for the living. Uncomfortable as it may seem, we must talk about these things and plan for them to ensure a peaceful exit. 🙂