Tips for late life estate planning

Hey Taylor - My husband and I both turned 40 recently, and that sent us into a panic about our estate planning (or lack thereof) We’ve essentially done nothing and are wondering where to start Any advice would be greatly appreciated - Jessica

Hey Jessica - First off, you’re in good company Most people your age haven’t started estate planning, and a good chunk of them don’t even know what it is It’s definitely worth doing now - the earlier you start the better, and the more peace of mind you’ll have

Before diving all the way in, I recommend getting life insurance I think 20-year term life insurance plans work best, as they’re affordable and easy to get This plan won’t fund your inheritance, but it will provide for your dependents A term worth somewhere around $500,000 should work, but the amount is something you and your husband can discuss

After that, it’s time to think about the nitty gritty of your estate If you want to get started on a last will and testament, it’s nice to get some of those details squared away It doesn’t feel very pressing at 40, but there’s never a particularly convenient time to do a thorough inventory of your assets Wills change all the time and it’s much easier to edit this document in the future than it is to put it together the first time

The will is what most people think of when imagining estate planning, but it often isn’t the most important part Just as important, especially when you’re in good health and not

Living with children

expecting an estate tr time soon, is a durab attorney You can giv and responsibility to you and your husban ensuring that decisio made as you see fit i should happen to you unequivocally who y charge of your estate have less room to rai questions about what you would have wanted after you pass

You may also want to establish a healthcare proxy to make your medical decisions in the event that an accident or condition renders you unable to make those choices for yourself This is another way to make sure someone you trust is in charge of making decisions when you cannot

It isn’t fun to think about estate planning, but it’s a huge blessing to have the work done and remove the anxiety of not knowing Start with life insurance and then think about sitting down with an attorney to learn more about your options Wishing you and your family all the best, Jessica!

Taylor Kovar, CEO of Kovar Capital Read more about Taylor at GoFarWithKovar com

Disclaimer: Information presented is for educational purposes only and is not an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies Investments involve risk and, unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial adviser and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed herein To submit a question to be answered in this column, please send it via email to Question@GoFarWithKovar com, or via USPS to Taylor Kovar, 415 S 1st St, Suite 300, Lufkin, TX 75901

Julie Jargon is a reporter with the Wall Street Journal

Heretofore, she has written about food companies like Starbucks and McDonalds

As of April 2, however, Ms Jargon is writing a WSJ column titled “Family and Tech,” described as dealing with “the impact of technology on family life ”

In her inaugural column (April 2, 2019), which could have been written by public relations folks at Sony and the American Psychological Association, Ms Jargon strives to convince her audience that simply because a child has difficulty putting down the game controller and finding creative, productive things to do does not mean he’s a videogame addict.

Given that addiction is defined as being obsessed with and having great difficulty ceasing the use of a harmful substance or involvement in a non-productive or pathological activity, I fail to see anything but contradiction in Ms Jargon’s thesis We’re talking about kids who will not stop playing videogames unless a parent or the imminence of a bodily function forces them to stop How’s that not an addiction?

The manager of a large west coast convention hotel once told me that when his property hosted a “gamers” convention, his staff had to threaten attendees with pulling the plug on their devices to get them to drink water or eat even a cracker Many of the attendees wore adult diapers so they wouldn’t have to stop playing That, by any other name, is addiction It’s also sick It’s also where a child or teen’s obsession with videogames may lead if parents don’t pull the plug before some hotel manager has no choice - that or risk a lawsuit from a gamer who becomes dehydrated and suffers a cardiac episode

Ms Jargon seems loathe to call a spade a spade After relating two horror stories that clearly describe addiction, she refers to psychologists who advise parents to stop worrying about whether their kids are addicted and figure out instead if they’re using videogames to cope with depression, anxiety or stress She cites a study finding that teens who played videogames four or more hours a day on average showed more signs of depression than kids who played less than four

Hours A Day

Note that the psychologists in question (unidentified) posit that depression and other mental health issues cause obsession with/addiction to videogames as opposed to the other way around That’s a clever means of covering ineptitude while at the same time claiming rights to treatment (keep in mind, dear reader, I am a psychologist) Besides, it’s so much easier to tell parents their child needs a daily dose of a drug than it is to get them to do something that will cause their child to hate them and act deranged until cured, not to mention something that may cause them to never make another appointment

I once persuaded parents to “disappear” their 15-year-old son’s console while he was at school. He was so “into” videogames he would not come down to dinner or participate in any family activity and was usually up well past midnight every night. When he discovered that his supply of videopioid had been terminated, he went nuts He all-but destroyed his room, for example Two weeks of silence and self-imposed seclusion later, he admitted to his parents that he felt much, much better and was going to try and help other boysconquer their addictions

To prevent an addiction from developing, Ms Jargon passes along such hackneyed tips as creating rules around playing and following them consistently Okay, but that assumes parents who have no difficulty establishing limits that cause their kids distress The problem is that all too many of today’s parents have an abundance of said difficulty, meaning Jargon’s advice is moot out of the gate

Thankfully, there are still parents who will stand up to child-rearing challenges and face them head-on; parents who are not trying to be their kids’ friends; parents who understand that children, including most teens, know only what they want, which is precisely why they require adults in their lives who know what they need

Family psychologist John Rosemond: johnrosemond com, parentguru com

John Rosemond has worked with families, children, and parents since 1971 in the field of family psychology In 1971, John earned his masters in psychology from Western Illinois University and was elected to the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society