I speak to people daily about developing a plan for their retirement that has built-in flexibility. I share my experiences of caring for both my parents and now my in-laws. I talk about how quickly life changes. My husband Lee suffered a stroke at age 51; our lives changed drastically that day. I know well the emotional and financial toll of health challenges and caring for aging parents.
If you had to care for your aging parents and your spouse had health challenges, could you endure the financial hit? Do you have a plan in place with built-in flexibility? Having no plan is a plan; it is a plan to possibly lose what you have worked hard for. It is a plan to be financially wiped out and need others or the government to provide for you. Could you pay your bills if your only income was Social Security disability? Is that the position you desire?
Even with all the stress and hard work, I’m thankful I could care for my mother in her last years. I am thankful that I could care for my husband and witness his miraculous recovery. I am thankful that my in-laws now live with us and that we can help care for them. I am thankful my father-in-law planned financially for his retirement years.
Remember that it’s never too late to start planning until it is too late.
Kathy Rogers is the vice president of Marston Rogers Group, a life planner, and a business consultant. Reach her at (228) 206-5902 or Kathy@mrg.life.
