Retirement

How to Prepare Financially and Emotionally For Your Death

The following post is written by Mike Pleming.

Let’s talk about death.

More explicitly, let’s talk about the economic shockwaves your passing inflicts on loved ones if your finances are messier than two monkeys having a food fight in the Lehman Brothers’ cafeteria.

While it’s natural to avoid facing up to your own mortality, it’s far from natural to inflict additional suffering on your immediate family after bereavement by failing to plan ahead.Indeed, research has found that less than a third of us will talk to our families about what we want to happen when we die – and only 37 per cent of us have bothered to write a will.

With the costs of funerals rising year on year – latest studies have shown that costs have risen 80 per cent since 2004 – it’s clear that depending on the benevolence of your family is far from a good plan.

To avoid a situation where you don’t get the send off you deserve and your nearest and dearest are whacked by financial and emotional buckshot’s, it’s vital to get your house in order now.

But how?

Sort Out Your Will

The last thing you would want after your death is for your family to squabble over your estate. After all, an emotionally raw time is hardly conducive to a civilised discussion about who gets what and why. Consequently, it’s important to have a will drawn up to set out how you want your finances divvied up among loved ones once you’re gone. Get in touch with a reputed and reliable trust and estate attorney who can help you analyze, plan, and form a legal estate plan including your will which removes all confusion regarding property division once you’re gone.

Purchase a Funeral Plan

Fancy organising your send off right down to the songs played at the service? Well, you’re in luck, as funeral plans allow your wishes to be honoured, right down to the tiniest detail, ensuring you receive a fitting farewell. Crucially, by securing a pre-paid plan, it means the cost of your funeral is frozen at today’s prices, as opposed to inflated rates years down the line.

Think About Organ Donation

Far from being a ghoulish thought, organ donation is one of the best ways you can help your fellow man after your death. Indeed, you can help up to eight people by donating your organs, while tissue, bone, corneas and tendons can help many more. One thing to take away from this? More than 400 people die waiting for an organ transplant in the UK each year.

Consider Your Legacy

While your financial legacy is evidently important, you should also consider the memories you would like to leave behind for your family after your passing. One of the best ways to cement your legacy is through a memory box, which can contain photographs and other personal effects designed to offer comfort to those you’ve left behind.