Once you do all of it it gets pretty easy. You do need to stay on top of things like estate plans if you have grandchildren or other big life events. Plus an annual financial update is a healthy thing to do just to make sure you’re on track. The more you do upfront with good advice the easier it will be done the road.

Anonymous wrote:So much of it seems focused on money and mortality . Like naming pension/life insurance beneficiaries, trying to estimate/budget for your life expectancy, making sure you have adequate coverage for upcoming medical crises and longterm care needs.

Kind of creepy and depressing.

Once you are actually through the financial part of the process, does this phase of life get more hopeful/encouraging, or is it all down hill from here? 😳

You have been working on these items your entire working life. If you saved money for retirement, just decide what you want to do with the money. Medical crises andong term care needs are some of the things you saved for.

OP, for us, we had to live it. No amount of info mattered. We were nervous of a few months, till maybe a year. It didn't matter how many financial planners had said: this will be your income and you will be alright. One thing that helped me relax was to (mentally) earmark 10% of our net worth for misc expenses. Take it out of the equation (mentally). This is our fun money. It's something I keep track of. A bit of money switches between two accounts for a big unusual expense, a rare very expensive trip for example. It also provides me with a framework to consider: should we buy a vacation home? or incur some other expense that's a huge luxury. Something fundamentally different than what we are use to. For me anyway, I always come around to the answer that is no. Not worth it to me. I'd rather have the earmarked "fun" money available. But it allows me to dream. To know lots of paths are possible. I think I need that so I don't feel stagnant.

Once you have that stuff figured out you can relax and enjoy life.

It’s like developing a long term strategic plan for a business. It can be a painful exercise but once you complete it you feel pretty good. It’s only downhill if you let it get that way. Getting old sucks but it beats the alternative.

So much of it seems focused on money and mortality . Like naming pension/life insurance beneficiaries, trying to estimate/budget for your life expectancy, making sure you have adequate coverage for upcoming medical crises and longterm care needs.

Kind of creepy and depressing.

Once you are actually through the financial part of the process, does this phase of life get more hopeful/encouraging, or is it all down hill from here? 😳