Virtually every week, I receive questions relating to long term care insurance.

Unfortunately, all too often, individuals and couples are beginning the conversation at “Point Five” when they really need to take a GIANT step back to “Point One”.

One of the reasons why they begin at Point Five is because an insurance agent has rushed right into the bells and whistles of a policy before even diagnosing why you should even be thinking about any of this in the first place.

Or, if you even need to.

Not to pick on insurance agents, but they have an axe to grind. They don’t get compensated until you buy a policy and pay the premium, so there’s some urgency on their part to move the process along at a faster pace than what may be in your best interest.

However, this is too important to rush through, so let’s take step back for a moment and talk about John and Mary.

• John and Mary are 65 year old,

• They’re now both retired, so they receive no income from work,

• They’ve done their homework and created a comprehensive Retirement Blueprint™ which illustrates the following:
  • They receive $3,000 per month from social security, and $2,000 per month from pensions for a total income of $5,000 per month
  • On the spending side, they’ve done their homework and calculated that they need $10,000 per month to live exactly the way they want, including paying income taxes, taking vacations, and buying loads of presents for their grandkids
  • So, they need an additional $5,000 every month, or $60,000 per year, from somewhere else,
  • They’ve done a nice job saving, and their Retirement Bucket™, which includes all of their liquid savings and investments they’ve accumulated over the years, including IRAs, 401(k)s, and non-IRA accounts amounts to $2 million (a nice round number to work with)
  • Their Retirement Resource Forecasters™ illustrate that John and Mary have enough money in their Retirement Bucket to provide them with that $60,000 per year including increases to keep pace with inflation (The “Silent Killer”).
  • They can achieve this without having to hit home runs with their investments. In other words, they can accomplish this without taking on loads of investment volatility and risk.
    

Now, the scenario I’ve just described to you with John and Mary is precisely where I recommend you begin to have the long term care conversation!

If you don’t know these exact numbers that I just revealed in your own unique situation then you can’t even begin to properly evaluate the financial risk of you getting sick.

Too many times, individuals and couples are confronting critical issues that affect them for the rest of their lives without any understanding of how the issues affect them personally.

They just use some “rule of thumb” that they read in a magazine, or they’re “sold” on one thought or another by a commissioned financial advisor.

It all has to start with you knowing your own personal numbers first.

Once you’ve done that, then you can make educated decisions that you can feel confident with.

So, my most important recommendation so far when confronting your long term health care actually has nothing to do with health care or insurance.

It has to do with getting a crystal clear understanding of your personal financial risk.

Next week, we’re going to take a critical look at the second piece of information you must work through before talking about long term care insurance.

Stay tuned!

Committed To Your Relaxing Retirement,

Jack Phelps, ChFC
The Retirement Coach

P.S.WHO do you know who could benefit from receiving my Retirement Coach “Strategy of the Week”? Please simply provide their name and email address to us at info@TheRetirementCoach.com. Or they can subscribe at www.TheRetirementCoach.com.I appreciate the trust you place in me. Thank you!

Insurance agents are doing a great job out there stirring the pot!

Virtually every week, I receive questions relating to long term care insurance.

Unfortunately, all too often, individuals and couples are beginning the conversation at “Point Five” when they really need to take a GIANT step back to “Point One”.

One of the reasons why they begin at Point Five is because an insurance agent has rushed right into the bells and whistles of a policy before even diagnosing why you should even be thinking about any of this in the first place.

Or, if you even need to.

Not to pick on insurance agents, but they have an axe to grind. They don’t get compensated until you buy a policy and pay the premium, so there’s some urgency on their part to move the process along at a faster pace than what may be in your best interest.

However, this is too important to rush through, so let’s take step back for a moment and talk about John and Mary.

• John and Mary are 65 year old,

• They’re now both retired, so they receive no income from work,

• They’ve done their homework and created a comprehensive Retirement Blueprint™ which illustrates the following:
  • They receive $3,000 per month from social security, and $2,000 per month from pensions for a total income of $5,000 per month
  • On the spending side, they’ve done their homework and calculated that they need $10,000 per month to live exactly the way they want, including paying income taxes, taking vacations, and buying loads of presents for their grandkids
  • So, they need an additional $5,000 every month, or $60,000 per year, from somewhere else,
  • They’ve done a nice job saving, and their Retirement Bucket™, which includes all of their liquid savings and investments they’ve accumulated over the years, including IRAs, 401(k)s, and non-IRA accounts amounts to $2 million (a nice round number to work with)
  • Their Retirement Resource Forecasters™ illustrate that John and Mary have enough money in their Retirement Bucket to provide them with that $60,000 per year including increases to keep pace with inflation (The “Silent Killer”).
  • They can achieve this without having to hit home runs with their investments. In other words, they can accomplish this without taking on loads of investment volatility and risk.
    

Now, the scenario I’ve just described to you with John and Mary is precisely where I recommend you begin to have the long term care conversation!

If you don’t know these exact numbers that I just revealed in your own unique situation then you can’t even begin to properly evaluate the financial risk of you getting sick.

Too many times, individuals and couples are confronting critical issues that affect them for the rest of their lives without any understanding of how the issues affect them personally.

They just use some “rule of thumb” that they read in a magazine, or they’re “sold” on one thought or another by a commissioned financial advisor.

It all has to start with you knowing your own personal numbers first.

Once you’ve done that, then you can make educated decisions that you can feel confident with.

So, my most important recommendation so far when confronting your long term health care actually has nothing to do with health care or insurance.

It has to do with getting a crystal clear understanding of your personal financial risk.

Next week, we’re going to take a critical look at the second piece of information you must work through before talking about long term care insurance.

Stay tuned!

Committed To Your Relaxing Retirement,

Jack Phelps, ChFC
The Retirement Coach

P.S.WHO do you know who could benefit from receiving my Retirement Coach “Strategy of the Week”? Please simply provide their name and email address to us at info@TheRetirementCoach.com. Or they can subscribe at www.TheRetirementCoach.com.I appreciate the trust you place in me. Thank you!

As you enter your neighborhood, your cell phone rings and you reach down to pick it up.  It’s one of your friends who will be at your home tonight.

The radio is a little loud and you can’t quite hear your friend very well, so, while talking and driving, you reach down to turn off your radio.

At that very same instant, some neighborhood children are playing soccer in their yard.  As your car approaches, the ball rolls out into the middle of the street where you’re driving and one of the kids chases after it forgetting to look both ways to see if a car is coming.

In the corner of your eye, you see him run out from behind that parked car, so you instinctively jam on your brakes.

But, it’s too late.  You hear the sound you prayed you’d never hear, and he’s now lying on the ground motionless in front of your car.

As the paramedics arrive, the good news is the boy is still breathing.

The bad news is that he’s not moving as they struggle to keep his body still and place him on the stretcher.

After what seems like an eternity, he’s taken in the ambulance to the hospital and you are left there to talk with the police about what just happened.

Two detectives are snapping pictures of the car and measuring your skid marks in the street.

One Month Later…

A month has now passed.  The shock of what happened has not gone away, but it has come into perspective.

The boy is still in the hospital, but will be coming home soon.  Several bones in his body were broken, and after 3 separate surgeries, the doctors are confident that he’ll be able to walk just fine after a good 6 months of physical therapy.

However, the permanent damage done to his right leg will probably prevent him from playing competitive sports for the rest of his life.

What Does This Mean For You?

As if dealing with the emotional torment of accidentally hurting a young boy wasn’t enough, now comes the worst part.  The police reports come back concluding that you were driving 36 miles an hour in a 30 mile an hour zone.  And, because of that, you’re considered to be 100% at fault for negligence.

You didn’t mean to hit the child.  You’re a careful driver.  You’ve never had an accident in your life.  Your driving record proves it.

But, all of that doesn’t matter right now because unfortunately, you’re going to be at the wrong end of a very expensive lawsuit.  You can expect that within a few weeks, you will be summoned by an aggressive attorney requesting, among other things, a listing of all your income and assets.

And, the only form of compensation the attorney will get from the case will be from receiving a percentage of the damages collected from you.

And, it probably won’t be a small number.

Where Will This Money Come From?

The question for you is where will this money come from to pay for you to hire an attorney and to pay the eventual damages that will be brought against you?

It’s taken 40 years to build up enough money for you to be able to retire.  You’ve given up so much in order to save for your future.

And, now, you’re finally reaping the rewards of your lifetime of hard work and disciplined savings.  You’re retired and enjoying life like never before.

But now, everything you’ve worked your entire lifetime to save could be taken from you in an instant.

The “Strategy”

This is a horrible story that I hope never happens to you.  But, as you can see, it can happen to anybody, so I’m telling it to you to motivate you to protect yourself.

The strategy and solution in most circumstances is to have the highest liability limits on your auto insurance possible.  But, even more importantly, because potential damages could easily exceed the limits on your auto insurance, is to have a separate Personal Catastrophe Insurance Policy, otherwise known as an “Umbrella” Policy.

In most cases, if you have a quality policy with a quality insurance company, the combination of these 2 policies can protect you from the financial devastation of this horrible occurrence.

It won’t help in dealing with the emotional toll of injuring someone, but it can save you from the financial fallout, and preserve what you’ve taken your entire lifetime to accumulate.

And, the good news is that it’s inexpensive.  Each million dollars of umbrella liability coverage costs only about $200 per year.

That’s a small price to pay for the peace of mind it can provide for you in case this ever happened to you.

Visit with your property and casualty insurance agent today and coordinate your homeowners, auto, and umbrella liability insurance.  Discuss precisely what each policy covers and what it doesn’t.

This may take only 30 minutes but it could turn out to be the most important 30 minutes you’ve ever spent on your finances.

One of the responsibilities that we tackle for all of our members in The Relaxing Retirement Coaching Program™ is managing risk.

You can’t avoid all risks completely, so I view it as evaluating and then “managing” them.

When you were younger and raising a family, the financial risk your family faced if you were no longer here was much more real for you.

If your paycheck wasn’t there for your family, what would they do?

However, now that your family is grown and out of the house, do you still need to pay those premiums and keep that old life insurance policy?

That’s a very important question that, for most people, is more emotional than rational.

What I’ve found to be so interesting over the years is trying to demonstrate to someone who has had life insurance for years that they no longer need to keep it.

It’s hard to let it go after paying for it for so long.

Keeping an existing life insurance policy or not is really just a math question. And, it requires the same 3 questions we asked last week about a completely different risk:

1. “What’s the financial loss if I don’t have this insurance?”

2. “What’s the probability that I’ll suffer this loss?”

3. “Am I willing to risk absorbing this entire loss myself, or should I pass on some or all of the risk to an insurance company by paying a premium?”
   

In this case, what is life insurance?

It’s money. Money that is delivered to your heirs upon your death.

So, the question is, does your spouse and family still need that additional amount of money when you die (over and above everything you’ve saved and accumulated) to support and continue their lifestyle?

Let’s assume for a minute that you’ve gone through the all-important process of identifying precisely what it costs you and your spouse to live exactly the way you want.

You’ve prioritized what you want to have happen while you’re living and when you pass away.

You’ve tallied up all of your income sources like social security, pensions, and rental real estate (if you have any). And, you have a crystal clear handle on where all of your money is.

You’ve run your Retirement Resource Forecasters™ into the future and the results are that you have more than enough money to support you and your spouse for as long as you live.

In other words, you no longer need to work to support yourself. You have enough money saved up and you can afford to “retire”, i.e., you no longer need a paycheck from work!

Going back to Question #1 above then, what is the financial loss if you don’t have this insurance?

Take a moment to really think about this.

If you have enough money saved up to support both of you while you’re both living, shouldn’t there also be enough money to support only one of you if something happens to you?

If the answer is yes then you don’t need to pay for life insurance anymore!

Your spouse and family don’t need more “money” when you pass away (i.e. life insurance) because you already have enough.

There are two exceptions to this where you may still want to carry life insurance:

1. If you have a monthly pension which ends when you pass away because you’ve chosen the Single Life pension option.

2. If you’re purchasing the life insurance inside of an irrevocable life insurance trust to help provide liquidity and pay your inevitable estate taxes or income taxes due if you have large IRA holdings.
   

The key point in all of this is ‘knowing your numbers’.

If you’ve done your homework and you know exactly where you stand financially as we discussed above, then it becomes a rational decision based on fact, not emotion.

Take the time to know your numbers, and objectively evaluate them so you don’t pay for something you don’t need anymore.

It’s highly unlikely that an insurance agent is going to tell you this because they continue to receive commissions as long as you keep the insurance, so you have to do a little homework to keep yourself honest.

The bottom line is that if the risk of “financial” loss is no longer there, you don’t need to pay life insurance premiums any more. You are far better off spending those premium dollars to cover a more pressing financial risk like long term care or personal liability from a lawsuit.

Or, if you’ve already taken care of that, take another vacation every year, or go out to dinner one more time every month to a restaurant you wouldn’t have gone to otherwise

Committed To Your Relaxing Retirement,

Jack Phelps, ChFC
The Retirement Coach

P.S.WHO do you know who could benefit from receiving my Retirement Coach “Strategy of the Week”? Please simply provide their name and email address to us at info@TheRetirementCoach.com. Or they can subscribe at www.TheRetirementCoach.com.I appreciate the trust you place in me. Thank you!

One of the responsibilities that we tackle for all of our members in The Relaxing Retirement Coaching Program™ is managing risk.

You can’t avoid all risks completely, so I view it as evaluating and then “managing” them.

When you were younger and raising a family, the financial risk your family faced if you were no longer here was much more real for you.

If your paycheck wasn’t there for your family, what would they do?

However, now that your family is grown and out of the house, do you still need to pay those premiums and keep that old life insurance policy?

That’s a very important question that, for most people, is more emotional than rational.

What I’ve found to be so interesting over the years is trying to demonstrate to someone who has had life insurance for years that they no longer need to keep it.

It’s hard to let it go after paying for it for so long.

Keeping an existing life insurance policy or not is really just a math question. And, it requires the same 3 questions we asked last week about a completely different risk:

1. “What’s the financial loss if I don’t have this insurance?”

2. “What’s the probability that I’ll suffer this loss?”

3. “Am I willing to risk absorbing this entire loss myself, or should I pass on some or all of the risk to an insurance company by paying a premium?”
   

In this case, what is life insurance?

It’s money. Money that is delivered to your heirs upon your death.

So, the question is, does your spouse and family still need that additional amount of money when you die (over and above everything you’ve saved and accumulated) to support and continue their lifestyle?

Let’s assume for a minute that you’ve gone through the all-important process of identifying precisely what it costs you and your spouse to live exactly the way you want.

You’ve prioritized what you want to have happen while you’re living and when you pass away.

You’ve tallied up all of your income sources like social security, pensions, and rental real estate (if you have any). And, you have a crystal clear handle on where all of your money is.

You’ve run your Retirement Resource Forecasters™ into the future and the results are that you have more than enough money to support you and your spouse for as long as you live.

In other words, you no longer need to work to support yourself. You have enough money saved up and you can afford to “retire”, i.e., you no longer need a paycheck from work!

Going back to Question #1 above then, what is the financial loss if you don’t have this insurance?

Take a moment to really think about this.

If you have enough money saved up to support both of you while you’re both living, shouldn’t there also be enough money to support only one of you if something happens to you?

If the answer is yes then you don’t need to pay for life insurance anymore!

Your spouse and family don’t need more “money” when you pass away (i.e. life insurance) because you already have enough.

There are two exceptions to this where you may still want to carry life insurance:

1. If you have a monthly pension which ends when you pass away because you’ve chosen the Single Life pension option.

2. If you’re purchasing the life insurance inside of an irrevocable life insurance trust to help provide liquidity and pay your inevitable estate taxes or income taxes due if you have large IRA holdings.
   

The key point in all of this is ‘knowing your numbers’.

If you’ve done your homework and you know exactly where you stand financially as we discussed above, then it becomes a rational decision based on fact, not emotion.

Take the time to know your numbers, and objectively evaluate them so you don’t pay for something you don’t need anymore.

It’s highly unlikely that an insurance agent is going to tell you this because they continue to receive commissions as long as you keep the insurance, so you have to do a little homework to keep yourself honest.

The bottom line is that if the risk of “financial” loss is no longer there, you don’t need to pay life insurance premiums any more. You are far better off spending those premium dollars to cover a more pressing financial risk like long term care or personal liability from a lawsuit.

Or, if you’ve already taken care of that, take another vacation every year, or go out to dinner one more time every month to a restaurant you wouldn’t have gone to otherwise

Committed To Your Relaxing Retirement,

Jack Phelps, ChFC
The Retirement Coach

P.S.WHO do you know who could benefit from receiving my Retirement Coach “Strategy of the Week”? Please simply provide their name and email address to us at info@TheRetirementCoach.com. Or they can subscribe at www.TheRetirementCoach.com.I appreciate the trust you place in me. Thank you!

The answer may seem obvious to you, but I recommend giving it some serious thought to make sure that it is “insurance” you’re buying. After all, the one I just reviewed carried a price tag of $192 per month!

If you’ve worked for a large company for some time and you’re used to having dental coverage at little or no cost to you, you’ve become accustomed to having it. It’s usually cost effective under those circumstances and a nice fringe benefit.

However, when you have to foot the entire monthly premium by yourself in retirement, you have to really step back and take a good look at what you’re getting.

When evaluating any form of insurance, you have to ask yourself three questions:

1. “What’s my financial loss if I don’t have this insurance?”

2. “What’s the probability that I’ll suffer this loss?”

3. “Am I willing to risk absorbing this entire loss myself, or should I pass on some or all of the risk to an insurance company by paying a premium?”
   

As an example, when evaluating homeowner’s insurance, the obvious answer is, “I’ll lose my entire house in a fire and have to pay a large chunk of money out of my pocket to rebuild it!” Now that’s a financial loss worth insuring (at the right cost).

However, if the cost to rebuild your home in the event of a total loss is $250,000, but the homeowner’s insurance premium to insure against that loss is $250,000 per year, you wouldn’t be running out to buy that policy!

There’s no insurance going on there. The insurance company has not absorbed any of the financial risk from you. All they’re doing is holding your $250,000 to give back to you in the event of a loss.

In many instances, this is what’s going on with dental insurance. The typical policy pays for a couple of cleanings and a diagnostic exam each year (x-rays, etc.), and possibly a filling.

After that, the policy usually only pays about 50% of your cost for a comprehensive procedure such as a crown or a bridge.

If you stop and evaluate it, the financial loss of having to pay for cleanings, exams, and even a filling every year is minimal. That is typically not a financial risk worth insuring because all you’re doing is getting back the premium you’ve paid.

The real financial risk is the cost of the comprehensive procedure. This is where you have to evaluate and speak with your dentist about not only the probability of your requiring a procedure like this, but what your dentist’s price would be to perform it.

Once you know those numbers, you can evaluate your downside financial risk and whether dental insurance makes sense for you.

The key, as with any form of insurance, is to insure against the “big loss”. In other words, insure against your house burning to the ground, not a broken window.

If you follow those parameters with all of your insurances, and increase your deductibles, you can save a good amount of money in premiums every year and free up money for things you’d rather spend it on, like going out to dinner!

Committed To Your Relaxing Retirement,

Jack Phelps, ChFC
The Retirement Coach

P.S.WHO do you know who could benefit from receiving my Retirement Coach “Strategy of the Week”? Please simply provide their name and email address to us at info@TheRetirementCoach.com. Or they can subscribe at www.TheRetirementCoach.com.I appreciate the trust you place in me. Thank you!

In addition to the obvious question about the best health insurance option to choose, one of the questions that comes up while helping a new Relaxing Retirement member transition to retirement is “should we continue our dental insurance from work?”

The answer may seem obvious to you, but I recommend giving it some serious thought to make sure that it is “insurance” you’re buying. After all, the one I just reviewed carried a price tag of $192 per month!

If you’ve worked for a large company for some time and you’re used to having dental coverage at little or no cost to you, you’ve become accustomed to having it. It’s usually cost effective under those circumstances and a nice fringe benefit.

However, when you have to foot the entire monthly premium by yourself in retirement, you have to really step back and take a good look at what you’re getting.

When evaluating any form of insurance, you have to ask yourself three questions:

1. “What’s my financial loss if I don’t have this insurance?”

2. “What’s the probability that I’ll suffer this loss?”

3. “Am I willing to risk absorbing this entire loss myself, or should I pass on some or all of the risk to an insurance company by paying a premium?”
   

As an example, when evaluating homeowner’s insurance, the obvious answer is, “I’ll lose my entire house in a fire and have to pay a large chunk of money out of my pocket to rebuild it!” Now that’s a financial loss worth insuring (at the right cost).

However, if the cost to rebuild your home in the event of a total loss is $250,000, but the homeowner’s insurance premium to insure against that loss is $250,000 per year, you wouldn’t be running out to buy that policy!

There’s no insurance going on there. The insurance company has not absorbed any of the financial risk from you. All they’re doing is holding your $250,000 to give back to you in the event of a loss.

In many instances, this is what’s going on with dental insurance. The typical policy pays for a couple of cleanings and a diagnostic exam each year (x-rays, etc.), and possibly a filling.

After that, the policy usually only pays about 50% of your cost for a comprehensive procedure such as a crown or a bridge.

If you stop and evaluate it, the financial loss of having to pay for cleanings, exams, and even a filling every year is minimal. That is typically not a financial risk worth insuring because all you’re doing is getting back the premium you’ve paid.

The real financial risk is the cost of the comprehensive procedure. This is where you have to evaluate and speak with your dentist about not only the probability of your requiring a procedure like this, but what your dentist’s price would be to perform it.

Once you know those numbers, you can evaluate your downside financial risk and whether dental insurance makes sense for you.

The key, as with any form of insurance, is to insure against the “big loss”. In other words, insure against your house burning to the ground, not a broken window.

If you follow those parameters with all of your insurances, and increase your deductibles, you can save a good amount of money in premiums every year and free up money for things you’d rather spend it on, like going out to dinner!

Committed To Your Relaxing Retirement,

Jack Phelps, ChFC
The Retirement Coach

P.S.WHO do you know who could benefit from receiving my Retirement Coach “Strategy of the Week”? Please simply provide their name and email address to us at info@TheRetirementCoach.com. Or they can subscribe at www.TheRetirementCoach.com.I appreciate the trust you place in me. Thank you!

Today marks the one year anniversary of our introduction of The What To Do When You’re No Longer Here Program™ so I thought it was a great opportunity to check in and see how your progress is coming along.

It’s just too important not to address.

You may recall that we received a very sad phone call from Susan, a young woman who was calling on behalf of her mom, Jane. Jane, age 64, was referred to us by her best friend (a Relaxing Retirement member).

The reason for the call was Jane’s husband Charlie had recently passed away after suffering a massive heart attack at the young age of 66.

Jane’s daughter Susan shared with me how difficult and overwhelming all of this was for her mom after suddenly losing her husband of 45 years.

In addition to dealing with the emotional trauma, Jane and her three grown children quickly discovered that they now had a host of problems that they had to deal with immediately.

And, they had no idea where to start.

The reason for the urgency was the fact that Charlie was classic “old school” and kept all of his information and plans tight to the vest. The kids knew absolutely nothing about their parents’ affairs, and unfortunately, Jane wasn’t in the loop on much either.

Jane’s son Kevin, and her two daughters, Susan and Laura, brought her to our office. Jane put up a strong front, but we could all see how devastated she was.

What we learned was that Kevin is married, has 2 children, and lives in Atlanta. Laura is married with three children and lives in Chicago. And, Susan is married with one daughter and another on the way. Susan’s lives locally so she organized everything.

As they all explained, Charlie was a real rugged individualist, a do-it-yourselfer, and a pack rat. Charlie paid all the bills, did all the banking, prepared and filed their income taxes each year, handled all of their investments, created their wills on-line, and purchased their insurances.

Because of this, Jane and her children had no clue where to begin. They didn’t know:

1. Who to contact
   1. Doctors?
   2. Friends?
   3. Professionals?

      1. Attorney, financial advisor, insurance agent, or CPA?

2. What funeral arrangements had been made
   
3. What Charlie wanted in his obituary
   
4. If they had a will or trust (Jane knew that Charlie had done something, but it was so long ago that she couldn’t remember any details),
   
5. If Charlie had life insurance (Jane remembered him purchasing insurance, but had no idea if it was still in effect, and with what company)
   
6. The password to their fireproof safe
   
7. The keys to their safe deposit box at the bank
   
8. Passwords to files on Charlie’s computer
   
9. What bills to pay to stay current and maintain good credit
   
10. Which insurance bills to pay and which to stop paying
    
11. What vendors to contact
    
12. How to handle their income taxes because Charlie prepared them himself each year
    
13. Where Jane’s income will now come from
    1. Veteran’s services (since Charlie was a veteran)
    2. Social Security
    3. Charlie’s pension:

       1. Was there a joint and survivor benefit? How much?

14. What investments they owned:
    
    
    
    1. 3 brokerage accounts: Merrill Lynch, Fidelity, and Scotttrade
       
    2. IRAs
       1. There were no Inherited IRA instructions

    3. Roth IRA
       
    4. Charlie’s 401(k) which was still being held at his former employer
       
    5. Limited partnerships
       

In short, it was a complete mess because Charlie left no instructions for anything, and hadn’t included Jane in any of his planning.

Jane felt helpless (and, unfortunately, foolish), and Kevin, Laura, and Susan felt terrible because they didn’t know how to help their mom.

They didn’t know where to begin…

After going through this heartbreaking process with Jane and her children, here’s the burning question I have for you:

If something tragically happened to you tonight, and you were no longer here to guide them, would your family be able to answer all of these questions?

If you said “no”, you’re not alone.

It’s a rare circumstance where I meet a new Relaxing Retirement member who has all of this tied together tightly for their family. (That’s why we created a solution to this horrific problem: The What To Do When I’m No Longer Here Program™.)

Dedicate an hour this weekend, just one hour, to writing out your answer to these questions for your family.

Now, I fully recognize that you won’t wake up tomorrow morning and say, "Let me see, this weekend I can relax with my family, go to that party, read a book, watch the game, clean the garage, or write out a set of instructions for my heirs when I pass away! Hmmm, what do I want to do first?"

We’re all in the same boat. I understand.

At the same time, however, your family deserves better. They don’t deserve to be in the position that Jane and her children were in when Charlie suddenly passed away.

Not when you’re in complete control and can rectify it right now.

Just take a little bit of time to write it all down and share it with them.

As difficult as this may be to do given the scope and underlying purpose of this project, try to put yourself in the shoes of your heirs for a moment. Try to picture them anxiously attempting to carry out your wishes, but without your presence to guide them.

Assume they don’t know anything that you know. Because of this, I recommend being as thorough and clear as you can.

Obviously, if you’re a Relaxing Retirement member, you already have The What To Do When I’m No Longer Here Program™ in your possession which comes with a “Checklist” referencing specific pieces of information you’ll provide to your heirs.

However, even without that checklist, you can get started by simply answering the questions posted above.

Do it RIGHT NOW! Your family will never be able to thank you enough.

Committed To Your Relaxing Retirement,

Jack Phelps, ChFC
The Retirement Coach

P.S.WHO do you know who could benefit from receiving my Retirement Coach “Strategy of the Week”? Please simply provide their name and email address to us at info@TheRetirementCoach.com. Or they can subscribe at www.TheRetirementCoach.com.I appreciate the trust you place in me. Thank you!

Today marks the one year anniversary of our introduction of The What To Do When You’re No Longer Here Program™ so I thought it was a great opportunity to check in and see how your progress is coming along.

It’s just too important not to address.

You may recall that we received a very sad phone call from Susan, a young woman who was calling on behalf of her mom, Jane. Jane, age 64, was referred to us by her best friend (a Relaxing Retirement member).

The reason for the call was Jane’s husband Charlie had recently passed away after suffering a massive heart attack at the young age of 66.

Jane’s daughter Susan shared with me how difficult and overwhelming all of this was for her mom after suddenly losing her husband of 45 years.

In addition to dealing with the emotional trauma, Jane and her three grown children quickly discovered that they now had a host of problems that they had to deal with immediately.

And, they had no idea where to start.

The reason for the urgency was the fact that Charlie was classic “old school” and kept all of his information and plans tight to the vest. The kids knew absolutely nothing about their parents’ affairs, and unfortunately, Jane wasn’t in the loop on much either.

Jane’s son Kevin, and her two daughters, Susan and Laura, brought her to our office. Jane put up a strong front, but we could all see how devastated she was.

What we learned was that Kevin is married, has 2 children, and lives in Atlanta. Laura is married with three children and lives in Chicago. And, Susan is married with one daughter and another on the way. Susan’s lives locally so she organized everything.

As they all explained, Charlie was a real rugged individualist, a do-it-yourselfer, and a pack rat. Charlie paid all the bills, did all the banking, prepared and filed their income taxes each year, handled all of their investments, created their wills on-line, and purchased their insurances.

Because of this, Jane and her children had no clue where to begin. They didn’t know:

1. Who to contact
   1. Doctors?
   2. Friends?
   3. Professionals?

      1. Attorney, financial advisor, insurance agent, or CPA?

2. What funeral arrangements had been made
   
3. What Charlie wanted in his obituary
   
4. If they had a will or trust (Jane knew that Charlie had done something, but it was so long ago that she couldn’t remember any details),
   
5. If Charlie had life insurance (Jane remembered him purchasing insurance, but had no idea if it was still in effect, and with what company)
   
6. The password to their fireproof safe
   
7. The keys to their safe deposit box at the bank
   
8. Passwords to files on Charlie’s computer
   
9. What bills to pay to stay current and maintain good credit
   
10. Which insurance bills to pay and which to stop paying
    
11. What vendors to contact
    
12. How to handle their income taxes because Charlie prepared them himself each year
    
13. Where Jane’s income will now come from
    1. Veteran’s services (since Charlie was a veteran)
    2. Social Security
    3. Charlie’s pension:

       1. Was there a joint and survivor benefit? How much?

14. What investments they owned:
    
    
    
    1. 3 brokerage accounts: Merrill Lynch, Fidelity, and Scotttrade
       
    2. IRAs
       1. There were no Inherited IRA instructions

    3. Roth IRA
       
    4. Charlie’s 401(k) which was still being held at his former employer
       
    5. Limited partnerships
       

In short, it was a complete mess because Charlie left no instructions for anything, and hadn’t included Jane in any of his planning.

Jane felt helpless (and, unfortunately, foolish), and Kevin, Laura, and Susan felt terrible because they didn’t know how to help their mom.

They didn’t know where to begin…

After going through this heartbreaking process with Jane and her children, here’s the burning question I have for you:

If something tragically happened to you tonight, and you were no longer here to guide them, would your family be able to answer all of these questions?

If you said “no”, you’re not alone.

It’s a rare circumstance where I meet a new Relaxing Retirement member who has all of this tied together tightly for their family. (That’s why we created a solution to this horrific problem: The What To Do When I’m No Longer Here Program™.)

Dedicate an hour this weekend, just one hour, to writing out your answer to these questions for your family.

Now, I fully recognize that you won’t wake up tomorrow morning and say, "Let me see, this weekend I can relax with my family, go to that party, read a book, watch the game, clean the garage, or write out a set of instructions for my heirs when I pass away! Hmmm, what do I want to do first?"

We’re all in the same boat. I understand.

At the same time, however, your family deserves better. They don’t deserve to be in the position that Jane and her children were in when Charlie suddenly passed away.

Not when you’re in complete control and can rectify it right now.

Just take a little bit of time to write it all down and share it with them.

As difficult as this may be to do given the scope and underlying purpose of this project, try to put yourself in the shoes of your heirs for a moment. Try to picture them anxiously attempting to carry out your wishes, but without your presence to guide them.

Assume they don’t know anything that you know. Because of this, I recommend being as thorough and clear as you can.

Obviously, if you’re a Relaxing Retirement member, you already have The What To Do When I’m No Longer Here Program™ in your possession which comes with a “Checklist” referencing specific pieces of information you’ll provide to your heirs.

However, even without that checklist, you can get started by simply answering the questions posted above.

Do it RIGHT NOW! Your family will never be able to thank you enough.

Committed To Your Relaxing Retirement,

Jack Phelps, ChFC
The Retirement Coach

P.S.WHO do you know who could benefit from receiving my Retirement Coach “Strategy of the Week”? Please simply provide their name and email address to us at info@TheRetirementCoach.com. Or they can subscribe at www.TheRetirementCoach.com.I appreciate the trust you place in me. Thank you!

Wellesley, MA– April 29, 2013 – Jack Phelps, founder of The Relaxing Retirement Coach, a Retirement Coaching company, recently published an article on his website (http://www.theretirementcoach.com) settling, once and for all, the debate about carrying a mortgage into your retirement years.

In his article titled “Paying Off Your Existing Mortgage”, Jack Phelps provides the answer to the question he often receives about mortgages: “My answer always involves asking a lot of questions, so I thought I’d share those with you today in the hope of helping you arrive at a good answer in your unique situation.”

The Relaxing Retirement Coach, Inc. provides their members with the ‘missing structure’ they need to make a seamless and relaxing transition to their retirement years so they can confidently do everything they want to do without worrying about money.  Their Relaxing Retirement Coaching Program™ provides members with a personalized, one-on-one retirement coaching relationship with constant attention to each and every detail necessary for them to consistently enjoy a relaxing retirement experience.

The entire article can be found at http://www.theretirementcoach.com/articles/paying-off-your-existing-mortgage-3.php

To learn more about The Relaxing Retirement Coach, Inc., please visit http://www.theretirementcoach.com

About Jack Phelps

Prior to developing The Relaxing Retirement Coaching Program^™ back in 1994, Jack spent five years as a registered representative with Prudential Financial Services. In 1992, he received his Chartered Financial Consultant designation from The American College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. In 1989, Jack graduated from Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts with a B.A. in Economics.