As you move through life, from our innocent early years until a time when you’re enjoying the company of grandchildren in their only years, your responsibilities experience profound change. While the peak of these responsibilities is encountered in early parenthood, with children to raise and jobs to hold down, once your children are old enough to care for themselves, a new set of responsibilities emerges. In your old age, it’s important to be cognizant of your responsibilities, even if they feel far less heavy than those you experienced when you were younger. This guide looks at the three main responsibilities for waging individuals, and how you can seize them today.
Living Arrangements
For most elderly people, living independently and in a dignified manner is an important issue. Nursing and care homes and assisted living can appear unsavory to those who’ve enjoyed full lives of freedom, health, and happiness. Taking the path into one of these institutions can feel like a relinquishing of freedoms once enjoyed.
This attitude, unfortunately, can lead to accidents at home. The simple and unavoidable fact that human bodies tend to deteriorate slightly as they age means that you’re more likely to have a damaging fall or another accident inside your home from which you’re unable to recover with ease. As such, a crucial responsibility in old age is to do what’s best for your health – even if that means overcoming denial and considering alternative living arrangements.
Life Insurance
In your silver years, you’re quietly and comfortably aware that you’re heading towards the end of a life well lived. In this knowledge, it’s important to begin planning for the event of your death – even if you feel decades away from the event. Naturally, one of the key aspects of life insurance is to secure a policy as early as possible so that you and your family are prepared for the worst.
When you select a policy, you’ll have to decide the identity of your life insurance beneficiary – whether that’s your offspring, your partner, or someone close and trusted from outside your family. You may also wish to choose secondary beneficiaries or to split your life insurance beneficiaries between two or more people. Discuss these options with your provider to deal with this pressing responsibility.
Will and Funeral Arrangements
To continue on the morbid but necessary theme, it’s likewise imperative that as you enter old age, you have a will and funeral wishes written and saved in a safe space to be opened in the event of your death. Some choose to keep these with their solicitor – others prefer to keep them in the family.
Your will should, of course, detail the passing of your assets from yourself to those you care about the most. You can rewrite your will as many times as you like as you pass through life – but it’s important to get a first list of your desired recipients on paper as soon as possible. The same goes for funeral arrangements, should you wish for a special ceremony.
While old age sees you liberated from many of the responsibilities of early adulthood, the three responsibilities above are still paramount in securing your legacy and doing well by the descendants beneath you.