yakers
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Recentlu transfered half my portfolio to Schwab as I think they will be of some use helping DW if I depart first. May put everything there.
Doing the essentially the same.I have our retirement fund with a paid advisor and the rest my own. The difference in return is basically their fees this year. I consider that acceptable as an alternative when I am gone.
Oldest son is an alternative but lives 2000 miles away!
Excellent topic.I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately, watching friends and family try to figure this out.
Some people seem willing, but are not capable. Other people are capable, but not willing.
I ask this question especially in the context of having a spouse who has no real desire or interest in financial self management.
If there is a thread related to this topic, please let me know.
Thanks !
I am with you but we all need to be aware that dementia and other mental capacity type disease can hit any of us. I do hope if it happens, that I recognize early signs of mental decline and be able to "hand off" financial matters to my son or a financial institution/brokerage/trustee to manage.I'm not sure I'll ever NOT be able to manage my finances while I'm still alive. Warren Buffett probably still manages his and Charlie Munger likely did also, until his demise.
So I'll focus instead on what happens after I'm gone...
Good question for a new thread topic!At what age do you think you will start going downhill cognitively?
I started a poll on this.Good question for a new thread topic!
Great!I started a poll on this.
My mother was a highly intelligent woman and still quite capable of handling finances. But when she got to her 90s, she just lost interest in it and handed it all over to me. She could easily have done it all, but simply didn't want to any more.I'm not sure I'll ever NOT be able to manage my finances while I'm still alive.
Barb, your last paragraph (putting together a team) is a good one. I have no answer but it sounds like you are on the right track so far. Generally, when your time to leave is near, all you want is the pain to stop.I’ve been thinking for a while about how to put together a “geezer team.” I am solo, have no kids and no heirs. [Thus prime picking for con artists so very few people have that information; I say my family is scattered…]. My MPoA is with my closest friend who alas is 10 years older than I. DPOA is with a trust company that my (now retired) lawyer in my previous state works with. I manage all of my finances, investments and do my taxes.
Thinking about what I did for my parents (DD had >95% of his marbles when he died at 92, but mom had Alzheimer’s and died at 87) : I worked with my dad on their finances for three years (he was an astute investor) and then managed all their finances/lives for two years including managing all healthcare, mom’s nursing home care, long term care insurance claims, and was executor of both estates.
There is a LOT involved in aging and dying. It is eye-opening. I had no idea.
I have moved states so will need to update all of my estate documents. When I need help managing my day-to-day money — or someone has to do that for me — I need to set up a way that two people have to approve expenditures and no one can clean out my accounts. I will need someone to do my taxes, who might also be the second sign-off on expenditure….a CPA who is closely associated with my new estate lawyer? As a solo with a family history of dementia will I also need an eldercare lawyer onboard in case my non -estate interests need to be protected?
I have just moved half my investments from VG to Schwab and set up a relationship with a VP-level customer service person, who has a FA on her team. I still manage all of my investments but will begin conversations with them next year about taking a more active role, though my portfolios are couch-potato. SS begins in 3 years and RMDs two years after that.
So how do you put together a team-for-hire with enough checks and balances that no-one can clear out your assets, or get themselves declared your (predatory) guardian? And who —maybe — even tries to do the right things for you personally and financially?
Maybe she has noticed something and realized she needs to get up to speed handling everything...Excellent topic.
I am nearly 80 and DW is about 4 years behind. I am the main financial cog in our successful retirement plan (not to brag). DW has taken little interest in our financial situation until a few years ago. She has recently taken more and more interest in filing income tax, understands how RMD works and how to make sure that it gets done, and has begun to take more interest in our annual review of how to manage our stash.
If I become unable to attend to our financial needs she understands that the burden will fall with her. So there's that...