Don’t Fear the Reaper

Everybody dies; it’s as inevitable as taxes. Instead of fearing it, look at it as an opportunity to get your financial house in order.

• Pre-planning and pre-funding your funeral, and final resting place allow you to shield your family from exorbitant funeral-related bills.
• Creating a will is an easy step toward sparing your family the legal costs associated with dying intestate (without a will).
• Creating a cyber will with instructions for obtaining your passwords — and whether or not you want your social media profiles to live on after you — will ensure your wishes are followed.
• The beginning of the year is an excellent time to review your life insurance, long-term care, and disability insurance policies.
• Reviewing the beneficiaries of your bank and brokerage accounts helps you keep up with family changes.

Of course, being practical about the inevitable is about more than just the monetary benefits. Advocates believe that by breaking the taboos about death, the whole experience can be less traumatic for both the dying and the people they leave behind. The movement seems to be based on logic and compassion, and I look forward to learning more about what it means — but I’ve got a few college graduations to attend before then!