Throughout the years, we are constantly taught, admonished, reminded that we must invest. We must invest in our education by focusing on our studies or by taking student loans to complete our degree so that we can increase our earning potential and job satisfaction. We are taught that we must invest in our retirement by saving a portion of our earnings in an IRA or 401(k). We eventually, for those of us who have them, invest in our children by saving for their own education and by making sure to catch their baseball or field hockey games even if it means going back to the job or office and pulling a late night as soon as the game ends.

Looking back, as teenagers we start our flight from the nest and comforting wing of our parents or guardians with our desire to establish independence. An important part of our passage into adulthood is separating ourselves from those who invested in us so that we can invest in ourselves. And, before we know it, our parents have aged into retirement. To your eyes, are they enjoying themselves? Do they travel? Do they engage in hobbies? Are they experiencing what you grew up hearing them say they would hope to experience in retirement? Do they get to spend time with you or with the grandchildren? Are they getting to relish in the satisfaction of seeing you thrive on their investment and sacrifice in you?

Eventually, the caregiver becomes the cared for. It is worth talking to your parent or guardian about long term care insurance or whether they saved enough for retirement to self-insure for anticipated lifetime medical and long term care expenses. It can affect your ability to invest in your own children or in your own retirement if you have to take time away from work or your young family to become a caregiver or untangle a legal morass where your parents did not properly plan.

Help your parents plan for themselves. You are a major part of your parents’ life story and their future. We spend such a large part of our lives doing the things we do not want to do – chores, commuting, planning, even sleeping – that we should truly enjoy the small moments. And one way to ensure you and those who invested in you will get to do just that is to talk about estate planning and investing for the years to come.

Barrett R. King, Esq.
King|Hall LLC
410.696.2405
5300 Dorsey Hall Drive
Suite 107
Ellicott City, Maryland 21042
barrett@kh.legal