Recently, a female friend asked me if there is a book she can read to learn about the things she should be doing to plan now that she is getting older. She mentioned that she has other single female friends of varying ages, who are also wondering the same thing.
The responsibility of planning for our future can be daunting, especially when you may not have close family to lean on for support, and the belief that we’ve covered all our bases is often a misjudgment.
As a society, we are not very good at thinking and planning for what may happen in the future.
I began by asking my friend what she had done around (what I consider to be) the two most important planning tools. First, I asked her if she had designated a medical power of attorney – someone her doctors could confer with if she were very sick or hospitalized and needed help in sorting out her medical options.