Lise Allin Insurance and Estate Planning Service financial advisors pay special attention to surviving partner’s, children’s and elderly dependents’ needs. We are estate planning as well as divorce professionals and will help you consider the best options for you to choose to protect yourselves and your loved ones.

Once a person or couple moves into retirement, in some cases in our industry, unfortunately, the retirement plan goes on auto-pilot and is not regularly reviewed.

Even if the current investments, funding for projects and travel, and home renovations and maintenance are regularly discussed and planned for, later retirement needs risk being deferred until they are upon us. There is a better way to plan for later retirement and estate planning needs.

This better way begins with a frank discussion of what you would like to have happen in the event of four possible scenarios. These are:

1. What happens if you live happily ever after and pass away gently at the end of a long life?

   
   Do you want to keep living in your same home? Downsize? Eventually move closer to adult children, adult siblings, or other family members or friends?

2. What happens if one of you (in a couple) passes away early?

   
   What would the remaining income for the surviving spouse or partner look like? Reduced or sustained? How can we plan for it to be enough to provide a secure retirement for the surviving spouse or partner? What would the desired housing for the surviving spouse or partner ideally be like? If you plan for this event together, and it happens, it is much less stressful for the partner left behind. If you are single, these scenarios of where you want to live in your later senior life also need to be a part of your retirement plan. 

3. What happens if one or both of you become disabled or frail, mentally or physically?

   
   Do you prefer to continue living at home with support, or would you prefer a supported retirement in extended care or a hospice environment with professional staff? It is important to plan for choices that work for everyone.

4. Finally, what if you decide to leave Canada (quit the country) and live elsewhere for part or all of the year?

   
   What are your options for the best management of your funds and life insurance portfolios, as well as your medical and travel insurance needs? Do we need to put the portfolio into “caretaker mode” for a non-resident? Do we need an opinion from your lawyer, CPA or accountant?

Our retirement and estate planning process will discuss all of these scenarios and will get the conversation started. It is essential to know your options before any of the above mentioned events occur and to make intelligent, informed decisions about them.

Finally, at the conclusion (of an ideally happy and secure retirement) what do you want to have happen to your investments and other assets when you are finished with them? A properly crafted estate and life insurance program, along with up-to-date Wills and Powers of Attorney will ensure that your wishes are followed, and that your hard earned and carefully conserved assets go to the beneficiaries that you have chosen…without undue delays, extra expenses, or controversy.