Proactive Aging -- 5 Basic Administrative Tasks to Get in Order

I never thought so hard about the end of life until the last few years.

My grandparents passed during the COVID-19 years (not because of the virus but because of their old age). COVID-19 posed a possibility of infection and death for the elderly. I'm seeing my parents age a lot faster right in front of my eyes.

These situations sparked new experiences and thoughts. I looked at how my grandparents lived til 80-90+ and I was suddenly struck by the fact that I might have half a life time more to go. Just getting COVID-19 and having to isolate myself was terrible. I was given the task to go through my parents' insurance policies, and found myself having to look at the realities of end of life /retirement.

What I did over the last few years, was tunnelling through a rabbit trail of end of life planning. It felt like "adulting", it felt like a lot to digest, it felt peaceful also. I've been discussing and sharing with my friends and thought to myself, why not share this to more people so that all of us can be more prepared, and have more peace.

Here're my end-of-life planning tasks

(This is written in the context of Singapore, you can look at the principles and find the equivalent (if any), in your own country)

In order of ease of administration (to me),

1. Nominate who will get your CPF money, Insurance Policies

2. Appoint your Lasting Power of Attorney

3. Sign an Advanced Medical Directive 

4. Get a Will done (which includes your schedule of assets)

5. Articulate your long term care options via Advance Care Planning

To get to the administration of the above, it might feel onerous, stressful and even scary. A few things that I found helpful are:

1. Figure out what I want and why I want it -- who do I care about, what I want my money to do for me in case of illness, what kind of legacy do I want to live (especially beyond my immediate family)

2. Find out what the good practices are, what common mistakes can I avoid?

3. Keeping an open mind and process -- iterating as I go / making adjustments as life changes

What motivated me to look at the above for myself and my family, was

• Having clarity so decisions can be made with more certainty

• Thinking about the time and effort that can be saved and channelled to more constructive areas

• Being able to optimise my current resources, so more can be generated and shared with others

I can't shake off this story from my lawyer: "Please go get your LPA and AMD done. I've had a client, male in his 40's, all healthy and suddenly got a stroke while he was swimming. His condition deteriorated. As he didn't have any legal documents done, nobody wanted to/ dared to make a decision. His parents, his wife were at a standstill. As a result, the family resources kept dwindling at the expense of his wife and children."

Administration is one of my least favourite things to do in life, but I motivate myself to do it, for the benefit and sanity of others.