From DSC:
I wish I had learned about the important financial, legal, and medical things (that are covered in the gifted article below) in high school!
How to Help Your Aging Loved Ones Plan for the Future— a gifted article from nytimes.com by Elie Levine
Learn as much as you can about setting up the financial, legal and medical components of late-in-life care — and do it earlier than you might think.
Making end-of-life plans for your loved ones can feel like a burden. It is, almost by definition, complicated, and it might require having difficult conversations and sorting through a seemingly endless stream of forms and terminology. But it’s essential to your family’s well-being — and it’s worth doing earlier than you might think.
The first thing to know: There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to planning. But think of this as a starter kit that covers how to handle your parents’ current or future health challenges, and how they’ll pay for medical care. (Knowing about their medications, current finances and living situation can also help you prepare for an emergency medical situation.) Below are some of the questions to consider and discuss with your loved ones.