Nobody wants to think about growing older and eventually passing away. After all, you’ve spent your entire life working towards different goals, starting and raising a family, and so much more. To see it all disappear can be an uncomfortable thing to think about.
Even so, it is important to figure out how you’ll leave your legacy to your family members and loved ones, and getting sick may make these conversations even more important to start thinking about. If you’re nearing your life and are considering different ways to get financial help for your family, here are just a few things to think about.
Understand the value of saving
Your savings accounts and investments are an important part of any sound financial strategy since they become a large portion of the basis of your assets when you pass away. As a result, it’s crucial that you begin saving money and investing in your future as soon as possible.
Similarly, it’s a good idea to instill these principles in your children as well, so that they, too, understand how to make money work for them in the stock market. If everyone is investing and saving at a healthy rate, they are much less likely to be in dire straits when a financial emergency rears its head.
Look into viatical settlements
While it’s all well and good to encourage people to save and invest their money, for some families that sort of money just might not exist in abundance. To make matters even more complicated, there could be a time when you or a loved one contracts a serious illness that requires a lot of expensive medical treatments. Even with the benefit of savings, you could quickly run out of money trying to keep yourself well at the end of your life. This is where a viatical settlement can come in particularly handy.
Viatical settlements offer you the ability to exchange your life insurance policy for a cash payment delivered as a lump sum. You are then free to use this money on end of life expenses that you might not have otherwise been able to cashflow, making viatical settlements an incredibly helpful financial tool for those that qualify for a settlement.
Don’t rule out legal action if something seems amiss
One other way that you may be able to come into some extra money at the end of your life is by taking legal recourse. Of course, this sort of thing won’t apply to everybody, since situations can vary from family to family, but if you think that a botched surgery or incorrect diagnosis may have played a role in your current illness, you could have a medical malpractice suit on your hands.
Consulting with medical malpractice attorneys will give you the information you need to find out whether or not you may qualify for money because of medical malpractice damages. While it may seem farfetched, if something doesn’t quite add up it’s at least worth scheduling a free consultation to see whether or not it’s worth pursuing your case further.
As you can see, there are actually a variety of things you can do to better prepare your family for any financial hardships they may face as you reach the end of your life. Particularly if you’re the primary breadwinner in the family, getting your ducks in a row ahead of time can make things much smoother after you do pass away. Keep in mind that saving and investing your money to build a nest egg can also go towards your family thanks to a will, and don’t underestimate the value of a viatical settlement if you or your family is really in a medical bind.
It can be difficult to think about, but spending the time and energy planning for your future now can ultimately make things much easier on everyone, from an emotional and financial standpoint.
