Family and Life Situations

Family and Life Situations

Presented by Jared Daniel of Wealth Guardian Group

What is it?

Throughout your life, you will face certain life-changing events. Some of these situations are unexpected and demand immediate action. For instance, you may have to plan the funeral of a loved one or decide how to care for an aging parent who suddenly needs a lot of help. Other situations arise less dramatically, with more time to plan. If you are engaged, for instance, you may have several months to deal with the financial implications of marriage. Whether the situation is expected or unexpected, you'll need to consider how your needs have changed now that your life is changing. You'll need to deal with money, legal, insurance, and estate planning issues and/or find quality care and support for your family members.

Family and life situations you may confront

Marriage

Because married couples frequently argue about money, it's important for all couples who are marrying to discuss money issues. In particular, couples should talk about how they handle money, whether they should keep their finances separate, whether they should own property together, and how they will budget their money once they're married. In addition, if you are getting married, you and your future spouse should determine whether you will need more or less insurance after marriage and figure out how you can best combine benefits you receive from your employers. You'll also need to plan for the transfer of your assets, decide whether you need a prenuptial agreement, and plan for retirement together.

Living together as an unmarried couple

If you are planning on living together with another person as an unmarried couple, you'll face most of the planning concerns that married couples face. However, unmarried couples also have special needs and concerns, particularly money and property ownership issues, that married couples don't have to face. Since laws that affect couples are usually written with married couples in mind, they may not adequately protect the interests of unmarried couples.

Divorce

If you and your spouse are divorcing, you'll need to alleviate some of the inevitable financial trauma that accompanies divorce. In particular, you'll need advice about many issues, including child custody and child support, alimony, property settlements, tax planning and other financial and legal issues.

Birth or adoption of child with or without special needs

Families who have a child born to them or who adopt a child find quickly that the arrival of a child is a life-changing event. Life becomes more joyful and more complex as parents adjust their daily schedules, finances, and future plans to ensure that their child is well taken care of. If you are anticipating the arrival of a child, you'll need to review your finances and budget, update your will, name a guardian for your child, and make sure that you have adequate health, life, and disability insurance.

If you want to adopt a child, you'll need information on these topics and more. In particular, prospective adoptive parents need to know the ins and outs of the adoption process, and they need to consider the legal and financial issues surrounding adoption. If your child has special needs, you'll need to find quality medical care or child care for your son or daughter; find resources and support groups throughout the community; and consider certain family and social issues that arise when a child with special needs is adopted or born.

Finding child care

If you decide to work or go back to work after your child is born, you must determine what kind of child care would be best for your child, find quality child care, and figure out how you will pay for child care. These issues are time-consuming for most parents, but parents of children with special needs may spend even more time researching child care due to more limited child-care options.

Caring for your aging parents

Because many adults today are becoming first-time parents in their thirties and others are remarrying and rearing second families, increasing numbers of adults are finding themselves in the "sandwich generation." You may face having to pay expenses of growing children (including college expenses), plan for your own retirement, and support your aging parents financially. Even if your parents don't need financial help, they will likely need help in other areas.

One of the first concerns that you will face when caring for your aging parents is getting the information you need to help your parents plan for the future. It means locating important documents and records and evaluating your parents' need for housing, legal assistance, financial assistance, and medical assistance. You may need to rely heavily on resources and support available in their community, particularly when you live far away from your parents.

Planning a funeral

You may need to plan the funeral of a loved one or a family member or you may decide to plan your own funeral to lessen the burden on your family when you die. Although planning a funeral isn't difficult, it's often stressful, particularly when you must plan a funeral when you're grieving. There's no right or wrong way to plan a funeral but you or your family members will have to consider your own preferences, tastes, and traditions. In addition, funerals can be expensive, and for many people, figuring out how to pay for a funeral is important. If you're planning your own funeral, you'll have time to put your wishes in writing and investigate options, with or without the help of a funeral director.

Jared Daniel may be reached at www.WealthGuardianGroup.com or our Facebook page.

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURESBroadridge Investor Communication Solutions, Inc. does not provide investment, tax, or legal advice. The information presented here is not specific to any individual's personal circumstances.To the extent that this material concerns tax matters, it is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, by a taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed by law.  Each taxpayer should seek independent advice from a tax professional based on his or her individual circumstances.These materials are provided for general information and educational purposes based upon publicly available information from sources believed to be reliable—we cannot assure the accuracy or completeness of these materials.  The information in these materials may change at any time and without notice.