So . . . 2020, huh? What a DOOZY!
I often think about what I would have done differently back in January and February had I known that the carpet was about to be ripped out from underneath all of us--that our “normal” was about to be gone.
Maybe I would have not canceled that lunch date I kept postponing, or maybe I would have scheduled that girls’ weekend, or maybe I would have visited my grandma a few more times. Every single one of my regrets have to do with people. With relationships. With friends and family.
Some of my friends have expressed regrets about not having a financial safety net for when the economy bottomed out--along with their jobs. Some have regrets about not tackling a major to-do before the world-as-we-knew-it came to a screeching halt, whether that was scheduling a long-needed medical checkup, getting the car serviced, or meeting with a financial advisor.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t like regrets. They feel yucky (that’s a technical term, of course). They cause feelings of guilt and shame and I’m-not-good-enough, no matter what type of regret it is.
But I was determined to not have regrets with regards to taking care of my family if something should happen. As a mom with two young kiddos, I’m always tearing out my hair … um, I mean, I’m always thinking ahead. What happens to them if I’m sick? Injured? Or worse?
I’ll be honest, while I’ve always had these thoughts (fears? worries?), the coronavirus pandemic has brought them front of mind. Like many of you reading this, I’ve watched as almost 260,000 Americans have died. Two hundred sixty thousand. That number is staggering. We’ve learned of people of all ages and backgrounds that have lost their lives to this disease.
Almost everyone knows of a family who’s been impacted, whether they’ve lost someone or whether a loved one has had to deal with the long-term health or economic fallout from a Covid diagnosis. My heart goes out to anyone dealing with the ramifications of this disease on our families and communities.
And while we’re doing everything we can to minimize risk and exposure, the truth is that nothing is 100%. And any return to “normal” is probably a long way off.
One of those wise ol’ sayings tells us to “control what you can control” or something like that. We cannot control the coronavirus. We cannot control our neighbors, our family and friends, our government, and so on. But what can we control?
Whether we have a plan.
Covid-19 is impacting our daily lives in new and changing ways all the time (anyone else sick of the phrase “unprecedented times” like me?). For many of us, 2020 (and likely 2021 if we’re being honest) does provide a bit of the kick-in-the-pants that many of us needed to get our affairs in order. We’re reminded of the fact that life can change in an instant, and there’s a new urgency to estate planning. It can feel overwhelming, or scary. But it doesn’t have to.
So what’s a good place to start?
Whether you are concerned about end-of-life planning, your children, your house and other assets, or all three, having a solid, up-to-date estate plan prevents any more regret and gives you comfort and reassurance should the worst happen.
In this three-part series about estate planning in the age of Covid-19, I’ll chat about what many families are prioritizing right now. . . and why. Stay tuned to learn more about incapacity planning and guardianship planning--two of the most important things to consider for pandemic planning.
I’m here to help--whether that is by providing information and resources, listening to your situation and providing advice, reviewing existing estate plans, or by drafting your very first estate planning documents. I’ll help you every step of the way.
Ready to get started? Schedule a free, 15-minute virtual consultation to chat through your concerns. I’ll help you prepare for the unexpected, so you can end 2020 with a giant sigh of relief. Take that, murder hornets.
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Wanna check out the other parts in the Planning During the Pandemic series? Find them here:
Part 1: No Regrets (This Post)