contributed by Nathan Gehring
I attended a wonderful session at a financial planning conference this weekend discussing the importance of holding end-of-life discussions with family sooner rather than later. The speaker, Tim Prosch, referred to these discussions as “The Other Talk”, a clear call back to “The Talk” all parents have with their children about the bird and the bees.
For our planning tip this month, we take up the challenge of this speaker:
Monthly planning tip: Have “The Other Talk” about end-of-life issues with children and family now instead of waiting until it becomes urgent.
Prosch’s argument for holding those talks now was simple: have these talks before there are problems when it’s much easier to make decisions without the pressure and anxiety of illness or injury or impaired mental capacity. Prosch’s most striking quote was put this way, “You didn’t wait until your daughter was pregnant to have The Talk. Why would you wait until you’re in crisis to talk about end-of-life issues?”
Simply put, waiting until it’s urgent is too late.
