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For most people, their largest asset is the equity in their principal residence. This is generally considered a lifestyle asset, not an income producing asset. If you are at least age 55 (Canada) or age 62 (USA) and want to continue to live in your own home, a reverse mortgage can create income for your retirement by giving you a way to access part of the equity in your home without having to sell or move.

Baby boomers have the freedom and the resources to travel but they are also of an age when they face the very real possibility of incurring medical costs in a foreign country. So how do you indulge your passion for travel while providing for unexpected medical emergencies at the same time?

The old saying goes that the only sure things in life are death and taxes. While almost everyone files their taxes every year, over half of North Americans have not addressed that other certainty, and continue to put off making a Will.

In planning for business and economic challenges, succession, retirement, sale of a business, or the withdrawal of equity from a business, the entrepreneur should properly consider the question of how to extract or protect his/her equity in the business. This planning process begins by a careful examination of the issues faced by the entrepreneur, then consideration of the options available, and then the formulating of a step by step process of documentation and action.

No one expects the unexpected. Each day of our lives, we run the risk of being struck down by disease, illness or accident. Any one of us could find ourselves in a hospital bed, unable to speak and unaware of our surroundings, clinging to life but facing imminent death.

Yes, I know that's a really depressing way to jump into an article, but I'm trying to make a point. Being prepared is a good thing. We don't like to think about these things, but they do happen. If you were in a serious car accident and were given little chance of survival, your family would be devastated. Would you not want to spare them some pain and stress if you could? Of course you would. That's why you should make an Advance Medical Directive.

An advance medical directive (also called a health care power of attorney, personal directive, or living will) is a document which accomplishes two things: (1) It lets you name someone you trust (such as your spouse, partner, sibling, or good friend) as your agent, surrogate or proxy (basically an attorney-in-fact), who is authorized to make medical decisions for you when you are unable to do so. (2) It also allows you to set out your wishes about the extent of medical care you want to receive if you are in a persistent vegetative state (coma) or if you are likely to die from an irreversible condition.

The underlying principle of an advance directive is to allow you to exercise your right to decide whether or not you want your life to be prolonged by artificial means, and to instruct your caregivers how much or how little treatment you want them to administer. Because these instructions are written down at a time when you were still able to communicate them, they can inform your loved ones and physicians of your wishes and help guide their decisions.

You should discuss your wishes with the person you name as your agent so that he or she knows the circumstances in which you would not want to be resuscitated or kept on life support, whether you would want pain relief or other medications to be administered, and even whether you wish to receive fluids or nutrition intravenously.

An advance directive only becomes effective when you are no longer able to make your own decisions. If your medical condition is temporary, the directive will cease to be effective as soon as you regain mental capacity. Many states, provinces and countries now recognize the patient's right to refuse life-sustaining treatments and to die with dignity, although some jurisdictions have restrictions on certain decisions that a surrogate can make. For instance, in general your agent cannot make decisions involving abortion or sterilization. Your spouse, your agent and your doctor should all have a copy of your advance directive. And if you decide to change or revoke your directive, make sure they each have a copy of the changes or the revocation as well.

Image by klbz from Pixabay

"Net worth" is the amount by which the total value of your assets exceeds the total amount of your liabilities. Do you know what your net worth is? Data collected by National Longitudinal Surveys over the past 12 years indicates that 70% of people think that they are worth less than they really are, while 25% believe they're worth more.

Your financial needs change throughout your life as well. What was important to you at 25 may not matter at all by the time you hit 50. The priorities of middle age wouldn't even have entered your mind back then. And your personal and estate planning strategies should change right along with those life stages.

Those of us who are members of the Baby Boomer generation who are still lucky enough to have one or both parents living are now facing some tough decisions when it comes to caring for our parents. It’s important to help them retain their independence and personal dignity for as long as possible, but if they are reaching a point where they cannot manage everything (whether due to physical or mental deterioration, or a combination of both), it becomes necessary to appoint someone close to them to take over those actions and decisions that they are no longer able to handle.

The prospect of developing Alzheimer's disease is not a pleasant thing to think about. If you have reason to believe that you or someone else in your family may be showing early warning signs of the onset of Alzheimer's, you should plan ahead. Advance planning makes it possible to deal with business, personal, legal and medical issues at a time when the patient still retains his/her memories and mental acuity.