Do you have a regular will? A living will? Life insurance? Does anyone have your medical power of attorney? Is anyone payable-on-death on your checking account?
If you have done all of the above, or more, what made you decide to do it?
If you have done some but not all, what is undone, and why?
If you have done none of the above, why not?
Please give your gender, marital status, parenting status, and approximate age (±10 years, say) in your answer. Or not. It’s not like I’m waiting around with a wiffle bat to punish the disobedient.
I have all my porn in a password protected file. It would not stand up to an FBI investigation but would stop my family from inadvertantly seeing what a kinky freak I am…er,…was.
We have all of the above plus disability insurance. We got life insurance shortly after marriage, then the wills and stuff done right after our first child was born. We have also talked to each other about what the surviving spouse should do if one of us dies.
Life insurance was an easy choice - it is cheap to get in your 20’s and covers the other one so we can pay off the house and have a few years of similar income. We both work so we got the same amount for each of us.
The wills seemed a must have after our son was born. For our kids’ protection and to make things as easy as possible for our families it had to be done. We discussed guardianship with the people we chose and explained what we wanted to happen and the money they would receive, etc. to make sure they were willing to take on that responsibility. Living wills also - with medical advances being what they are those kinds of scenarios are more and more common and we didn’t want to be left wondering if we had made the right choice in a difficult situation.
I am 32 female, married with 2 kids ages 5 and 2.
Now I am getting ready to have the talk with our parents about their preparations too. His mom is single and has past health issues and I want to know what she wants in case of emergency.
Life insurance and disability insurance (which you FAILED to mention). Hubby is JTROS on both checking accounts.
Trying to have things prepared so that death/disability isn’t too much of a blow to the survivors.
Need to make a living will, and a will. I’m not sure why I’d need a medical power of attorney - maybe that goes with the living will? Undone due to hubby and I both being busy (that’s not a real excuse is it).
F, married, parent of 4, grandparent of 1, guardian of 1, 50 years old.
Female, married, 38 years old, two young children (4 and 2).
I have a will and an enduring power of attorney. Having a will just makes administering an estate so much easier, and in the event of my untimely death, I wouldn’t want to unduly burden those left behind. Plus, I’ve set out my wishes for guardianship of my kids in the event that my husband and I die at the same time. Same reasoning for the power of attorney. If I were incapacitated, I wouldn’t want my husband to have to jump through hoops in order to deal with financial issues.
My husband has life insurance, I do not. He’s the income earner and I’m at home with the kids right now, so life insurance for me isn’t necessary at this time.
No living will - my husband would be making the medical decisions if I were incapacitated, he knows my wishes, and I trust him and his judgment.
I’ve done nothing to prepare, excluding the anti-matter oxygen bomb in my gall bladder. Oh, you’ll all pay!
On a serious note, I have my parents inevitable death and decline to worry about first. I’m an only child, and they are now both 63. I’m broke and career-less, so I tell them they should start the world’s first Extreme Sports Elders Division…
I’ve maxed out all my credit cards in preperation for my death. That way at least I’ll be able to say “Yeah…Well, just try to collect now”
I am a single male 46 and I have no preperations for death as I have no relatives or such so they can just toss me in the trash can. I guess it’s a pauper’s life for me, after death that is
Do you have a regular will? A living will? Life insurance? Does anyone have your medical power of attorney? Is anyone payable-on-death on your checking account?
Yes to all of the above.
If you have done all of the above, or more, what made you decide to do it?
I’ve seen the difference between deaths when this kind of thing was done and when it was not.
My husband and I also have the exact same answers to the typical questions, and have communicated our wishes to our daughters.
Same age, though not broke. Pretty much the same lack of preparation, except that my last paycheck would go to my parents. I’ve asked that they spend it on a cheap funeral and expensive booze and weed, but it’s their call, of course.
If something happens to you he will have to pay someone to keep the children. If you can afford it, you might consider getting a policy which would be enough to cover that scenario. Or at least enough to pay for your burial expenses.
I have a small policy on my ex-husband so that our children can afford to bury him.
I am a 51 year old divorced male with more life insurance than I/the kids really need, but hey. No will right now. Excellent disability insurance, such that I often joke about what a shame it is that I’m fully abled.
Me and the hubby have regular wills and medical power of attorneys. We only have the sort of life insurance you get for “free” through work and our bank.
We did it because the Terri Schiavo case scared the crap outta me. The loudest, craziest person in your family gets to say what happens to you when the worst has already happened. I never want my fundie sister-in-law making decisions about my care, thanks.
We both have life insurance, and long-term care insurance (which I figured would be particularly important, as we have no children). I have disability insurance through my job.
Female, 54, married, 3 grown kids. The youngest will be 21 this year.
My husband and I each have a will, mutual durable powers of attorney, and mutual P of A for health care. Wills leave everything to each other, then to the kids after we’re both gone. Added to that, which practically makes the wills moot, everything we own, we own jointly.
He has the life insurance that he gets from work, and I have a very small policy that my grandparents got for me when I was a baby. I only keep it for the investment return, which always makes me wish it was bigger, so we’d be getting more out of it.
No disability insurance. No living will, but the medical P of A should cover it, I think. Plus, we’ve discussed pretty thoroughly how we each feel about ‘heroic measures’, so I know what he wants and vice versa.
F/40
I got nothin. I don’t even have a checking account to hand over. I have a 20 year old daughter and a 5 year old daughter. I am not married but I live with my 5 year old’s father and have for around six years. If something happens to me alone he’ll be there. If something happens to both of us my 20 year old daughter has agreed that to see that my 5 year old is cared for, probably by arranging for her to live with my older brother. Her care is really all that matters.
I have burial insurance bought for me by my grandparents when I was born. Covers casket, the …case thingy…and the family plot. I don’t want a funeral so that expense will be spared. There will be other expenses but I can’t think of that when I am so busy worried about paying the light bill and the rent.
I have the life insurance that comes with my job. My parents are listed as the beneficiary although I don’t think I ever told them that. So if I die that should take care of the funeral expenses at least. Researching and acquiring disability insurance is on my list of things to do in the next year or 2. No living will but my parents would be legal next of kin for medical purposes and we’ve had many conversations about how all of us would hate to be kept alive for a miserable prolonged death. No will but I have essentially no assets to dispose of.
I don’t see this stuff as that urgent since I’m single with no dependants
