Peace of Mind for Your Aging Parents

Explains the most effective ways to discuss the legal and financial responsibilities that come with the end of life and tools for managing them-such as wills, trusts, estate planning, and cash management-in the context of financial psychology. Dying is complicated. It presents myriad challenges at a time when people are least prepared to deal with complexity. Typically, aging people turn to their adult children and grandchildren, their caregivers, and their professional advisors to guide them in their final years. This book is aimed directly at the children and grandchildren of aging parents to prepare them for meaningful conversations with their parents and among themselves. It gives them the tools they need to communicate knowledgeably with caregivers and professional advisors and to make important decisions with, or on behalf of, those who depend on them. The authors provide legal and financial tools and techniques, including wills and trusts, cash management, and investment planning, approaching each from both a financial and a psychological perspective. They recognize that some of the challenges that people face during their last few years of life cannot be controlled and describe not only what these tools and techniques can do but also what they can't. Those that cannot be controlled, however, can still be managed, and the authors explain with clarity and compassion how to deal with them through psychological and spiritual engagement.

Kenneth O. Doyle is a professor of mass communication at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, a licensed psychologist, and a retired financial planner.
Larry K. Houk is a retired attorney who practiced law in Minnesota for four decades. For most of his career, his focus was estate planning and elder law.

Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1 Introduction
Part One Worries You Can Control
SECTION 1 LEGAL MATTERS
Chapter 2 Legal Worries
Chapter 3 Legal Tools
Chapter 4 Legal Techniques
Chapter 5 Advanced Legal Techniques
SECTION 2 FINANCIAL MATTERS
Chapter 6 Financial Worries
Chapter 7 Financial Tools
Chapter 8 Financial Techniques
Chapter 9 Advanced Financial Techniques
SECTION 3 COMPLICATED ASSETS
Chapter 10 Real Estate
Chapter 11 Retirement Plans
Chapter 12 Life Insurance
Chapter 13 Business Interests
Chapter 14 Special Assets
Chapter 15 Scams
SECTION 4 SENSITIVE DECISIONS
Chapter 16 Housing
Chapter 17 Healthcare
Chapter 18 Prolonging Life versus Hastening Death
Chapter 19 Remains
Chapter 20 Disagreements with Parents
Part Two Worries You Can't Control
SECTION 5 FINDING PEACE AND HAPPINESS
Chapter 21 Peace through Psychology
Chapter 22 Peace through Religion and Spirituality
Chapter 23 Happiness, Even Joy
Appendix 1 A Primer on Financial Products
Appendix 2 Recommended Changes in Laws, Regulations, and Covenants
Further Reading
Index