My friend Holly loved reading, having dinner and a few drinks with friends, enjoying conversation and laughs with friends and family, and watching sports on TV, especially baseball. Her successful career was at its peak—she was a vice president at her company. She was a good daughter, sister, and friend. I admired her intelligence, humor, and her independence. I'm writing in past tense, but Holly is still alive.
I didn't say she's living, but she is alive. Holly had a major stroke five years ago.
Holly can't talk or walk or care for herself. She lives with a longtime friend who is her guardian. When she had her stroke at the age of 57, she had no provisions in place for medical or financial decisions. Her sisters, both older than Holly, lived in distant states. Friends, lawyers at her company, had to scramble and pull together documents to allow others to manage her finances and her future. Holly's house sat empty for months because it couldn't legally be sold. Holly couldn't participate in any of the decisions because of brain damage from her stroke.
You probably know of someone like her. You even may be like Holly—going on about your life as if ... as if nothing will change. Well, the May Challenge is here to give you a bump in the backside. The primary challenge this month is to do all we can to help our survivors--after we're incapacitated or gone--by taking responsibility now. That means make a will and set up advance directives for a time when we may be unable to declare our own intentions.
The articles linked here cover these and other connected topics. Please read the articles, talk to the people you'll ask to be your personal representatives, then make appointments with the professionals who can help you set up the essential documents. You'll sleep better knowing that you took care of your loved ones in the future by addressing these significant details in the present. And remember to check off your accomplishments on the Challenge checklist.
One basic maintenance task this month: Get your free Experian credit report and check it for accuracy. You'll recall that we began in January by getting a free report from Equifax; we'll move on to TransUnion in September. The idea is to stretch out your free annual requests, asking for one every four months, so you can monitor your credit record and any potential malarkey from identity thieves.
We have a shorthand way to check your credit quotient. The result isn't as definitive as checking your credit record, but it's an interesting way to analyze your credit habits and remind yourself what it takes to improve those habits.
ST
Susan Tiffany, CCUFC
askem@cuna.coop
Home & Family Finance® Resource Center
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