It was certainly a banner year for research and publishing on retirement and aging. Click here for the link to a Wall Street Journal article and several podcasts and books:

• Christine Benz, a long-time industry presence, podcast host (link here), and researcher with Morningstar, published a book based on her research AND her ongoing, personal experience as she eases into retirement. We know and have interviewed Christine on How Did We Get Here and find her insightful and delightful
• We have not read Laura Watt’s book. We do know, from our experience, that aging and estate planning conversations are HARD.  Avoiding them makes them even more difficult.  From Shane Parrish, Farnam Street
• The podcast “This is Growing Old” is highly regarded and informative. It covers a diverse set of topics including dementia (the scourge of “living too long”), the joys of being a grandparent, and being your own healthcare advocate.

Most people avoid estate planning. For many people it requires some thinking and decision-making that feel unpleasant, much of which is related to aging and retirement topics.  To do this properly, you make some decisions which can be challenging like selecting a guardian for minor children, selecting an executor, and deciding who should be your health care power of attorney.  Here’s the thing, and the above quote applies here, too:  Avoiding these decisions can leave behind a massive mess.  Now, you being dead and all, perhaps you don’t care – most of us do though.  Please don’t neglect this aspect of your planning.  And if you’re our client, we will cover it at least every 3 years.  The Legal Tea podcast (link here) addresses many estate planning topics and provides some, at times entertaining, stories about many public personas and the success or failure of their estate plans.  Note: this is not an endorsement of Jenny Rozelle or her firm.