Voice of the Expert: Getting your financial house in order

This week’s Voice of the Expert guest blog comes from financial planner Lee Baker. While we do not want to think about our own demise, when it comes to leaving our financial house in order, it is important to do so. Part of a good financial plan is ensuring our loved ones are not additionally burdened by uncertainty about our wishes. Baker, who serves on the National Board of Directors of the Financial Planning Association, provides some personal insight on the subject, and lends advice on steps we need to take now.

Here’s his story:

I went to Kroger for a weekly trip to the grocery store.  Batteries, spaghetti and other items were adorned in pink.  I watched baseball games and saw pink bats and gloves.  Even as I sat and watched my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers, there it was again –  big rough and tumble football players wearing pink cleats, wristbands, gloves.

Even the coaches on the sideline wore the traditional black and gold caps except now the bills were bright pink.  As you are probably aware, October was Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Based on all of the pink ribbons and symbols around it seems as though the level of awareness is definitely being increased.  When I see all of these things I am quite often haunted by one thought.  I never knew my mother-in-law. She died at the age of 33 when my wife was just another little girl in our neighborhood in Florida.

Perhaps you’re starting to wonder what does any of this have to do with financial planning.  Well, the financial havoc that can be wreaked on a family’s finances can be tremendous.  In the case of my wife’s family, her father suddenly found himself the single parent of four children ages 4, 6, 8 and 13.

None of us really like to think about the death of a loved one but we have to.  We never know when an insidious disease like breast cancer is lurking around the corner.  Take the time to properly assess you personal family situation and make smart decisions about protecting your family in the event of early death.

• Do you have the right amount of life insurance?
• Have you accounted for the myriad of expenses that results at death?
• Have you thought about who the guardian of you children would be in the event of an untimely demise?
• Have you properly executed healthcare directives or a living will done?

My wife’s dad needed help with kids, so in addition to the normal expenses related to burial and medical bills there was the added expense of finding someone to help with the children.  Even in the 1970s, housekeepers and nannies weren’t cheap. My wife’s mother worked as a bookkeeper, so her income needed to be replaced.

No matter how much money you have, there are some basic steps we should all take to insure that our loved ones avoid unnecessary conflict and hardship when we are gone.  Maybe someday there will be a month dedicated to raising the awareness of planning that is just as successful as Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Have a story idea or a topic you’d like to learn about from an expert guest blogger? Are you interested in providing a guest blog? Please email rcash@ajc.com

Follow me on Twitter @atlbargains