Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 8464 GoodLifeFamilyMag.com SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2016 goodADVICE DOUBLE DUTY THE TALK NO ONE WANTS TO HAVE AS THE PARENT OR THE KID by Colin Smith | Contributor After your estate plan is complete, talk to your parents about theirs. You just bought yourself the perfect opener:“We just had our estate plan done and feel so much better. But I just have to ask…did you all ever do something like that?” Many of us in the Sandwich Generation – those of us sandwiched between raising our kids and navigating life with our aging parents, are now taking on responsibilities on both sides of the ‘bun.’ Our priority is to protect our kids, but who is protecting us as the kids? Regardless of whether we are the parent or the child, estate planning and finances tend to be extremely uncomfortable topics. Modern twists make the discussions more difficult and downright painful. We ask ourselves, “Why not just bury my head in the sand – after all, none of this is going to matter until I die, right?” Wrong. I hear certain comments over and over in my conference room: “That will never happen in our family.” “My kids would never do anything like that.” “We get along great.” Maybe you do get along great - today. Somebody might marry into the family at any generation and change the dynamic completely. What if someone becomes an alcoholic or a drug addict? A gambling problem? A jealousy problem? A single spark can go a long way. When we plan our estate as parents, we are forced to make difficult choices, such as who will take care of our minor children. Most people would rather have a root canal than think about such things; so we procrastinate. In some cases, making the decisions and signing the documents are both easier than telling your children what the plan is. It’s never easy for a child to broach the topic with a parent either. Someone has to get this conversation started before it is too late. Before broaching the topic, adult children should know what information they are seeking. After all, you need to know much more than whether or not a Will exists. Are there powers of attorney or advanced heath care directives? Who cangetMomorDad’smedicalrecords? How does it all work together? What does their health insurance cover? Do they have life insurance? Have they made a list of every account they owe or collect money from? Bringing trusted people into the continued on Page 76