Reflections on Death and Planning

A few days ago, I learned of the unexpected passing of an aunt.  We weren't particularly close, she always lived out-of-state and visits home to see loved ones were rare. Still, the loss of a family member is cause for at least some reflection.  In the case of my aunt, I've been turning over two thoughts these last few days.

First, as a financial planner, the personal story my aunt leaves to share is almost too apropos.  All too often new clients come to my office having not written an estate plan.  I dutifully suggest they write one and, so often, they then drag their feet on the task.  In my aunt's case, she never married and never shared an estate plan with anyone that we've been told about.  My family is now faced with the very real likelihood that no will exists, no executor is named, and no instructions are provided.  If this is true, state intestate laws will apply.  Might things work out fine?  They might.  Yet, already, her siblings are having to wait extra time to hear basic information about her passing because they can provide no proof they are qualified to even be given the information by the local authorities.  And so, while they grieve their loss, they're left with the second, completely unnecessary, and enormously frustrating task of working through the judicial system to prove they are qualified to gain access to things like her home, bank accounts, insurance policies, medical records, etc.  Indeed, if a "Told you so!" moment for why you should write an estate plan and share it with your loved ones ever existed, it is because of stories like this.  

On other hand, I also find her passing to be an illustration of the fact that sometimes a complete lack of planning may turn out just fine.  For years, our family was aware that despite my aunt being a captain in the Air Force and working decades as a nurse, she had (to our current knowledge) very little retirement savings.  "What will become of her," siblings wondered?  "You need to be saving more," she was told.  I guess she didn't.  With her passing at age 68, she never actually retired and thus, had no need for any retirement savings.  It's because of stories like these that I sometimes shrug my shoulders when I hear of people not saving money towards retirement.  Nobody knows the number of their days and while this isn't an encouragement to not save, it is an admission of the uncertainty that any of it is truly necessary.  

Ultimately, the story will play out and life, for everyone remaining, will go on, though not without some extra difficulty.  Each of us will need to decide for themselves if they are someone who values preparedness and planning or uncertainty?  And how much they care about how their choices, or lack thereof, will impact those around them.  To each their own.