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What
are Common Later Life Financial Goals?
Marlene
S. Stum, Ph.D. Family Social Science
Knowing
what it is you are trying to accomplish makes
planning and decision making easier. Decisions
about long term care are no exception. It is extremely
helpful for elders and their family members to
have identified their later life financial goals,
determined which goals are most important, and
shared where they agree and/or disagree. Knowing
your goals can then help guide which long term
care financing options make the most sense for
your situation. Too often families are operating
on "automatic pilot" without having
defined their goals.
Do
you know what financial goals are common in later
life families? There are six financial goals family
members commonly identify as potentially important
in later life:
- Self-sufficiency
- Spouse's
financial security
- Control
- Leaving
an inheritance
- Qualifying
for public assistance
- Privacy
Keep
in mind that different perceptions of goals are
normal and to be expected among family members
and across the generations. The meaning of goals
as well as which are most important are likely
to differ among family members (between spouses,
adult children and parents, and adult siblings).
It is important for each family member to identify
their own financial goals and then determine where
they agree or disagree with others involved in
making financial decisions.
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