Que Sera Sera, What ever will be will be, the future’s not ours to see, que sera sera. Doris Day’s famous song brings a breezy air of cheerfulness to the daunting mysteries of the unknown future. In the current climate of racial unrest and political uncertainty amidst a global medical pandemic, these lyrics run through our minds and bring some calm. The future’s not ours to see, indeed! We never would have predicted 2020 would be so raw.
While we cannot predict the future, many of us are realizing we should have been better prepared for the various possibilities that future might hold. Our estate planning team plans for the unknown every day. We’ve asked our clients, “if I looked into my crystal ball and it showed you in 15 years unable to care for your own daily needs, would you hope to be in a long term care facility or in your home with a care-worker looking after you? If the crystal ball showed you in the hospital unable to speak, would you wish you could tell the doctor you have a medication allergy? Our team presents our clients with many scenarios like these and they specify exactly how they want each scenario handled. We can’t predict the future, but we’ll help you to better prepare for it.
How are you doing? How is your family doing? Do you think you’re prepared for the unknown? Once you put some of your wishes in writing it will be much easier to sing those whimsy lyrics. Our clients know they’ve done everything they can to prepare for the most probable issues they’re likely to face as they grow older…and the health risks they may face as this pandemic continues to worsen. And, as for the rest…. que sera sera.
Many of us may be using this enforced “down time” to catch up with extended family by telephone or video conference, and maybe to check in more often with our aging parents. With this increased communication, some of us may be noticing that Mom or Dad are not as sharp as they once were, and that it might be time to consider getting some help in place for their day to day needs. If you’ve noticed a decline in your mom or dad’s faculties, or even if you haven’t but want to prepare for the future, call us and let’s talk about it.
The costs of long-term care in Connecticut are steep and are only going to get higher. However, with some planning, you can access existing programs that help with the costs of in-home care for families who qualify. There are also planning opportunities for families that should be implemented well before an actual health crisis hits. Call today if you’d like more information about long-term care planning and how we can help. Give our Estate Planning team a call at 860-232-1920, or click here to EMAIL US and we’ll be happy to schedule a free consultation.
For now, as an update to our own plans at Beckett Law LLC / Estate Planning Law Center, LLC, we’re all still pretty much quarantining at home during off hours despite the phased reopening, and we’re still planning on a July 30th opening for the office. In the meantime, we are further improving our socially distanced environment by installing plexiglass at workstations in open areas and making other changes for a safe opening for our friends and clients on July 30th. Kudos to Gov. Lamont, lawmakers, local officials and the residents of CT for taking strong steps from the beginning – this is one time being “last” is good – CT had the lowest infection rate of all 50 states as of last week. But it is a little scary that other states, like Florida, are smashing through record infections day after day after day. If you’re also staying home and trying to think of something new and different to do, we came across a great list on www.newretirement.com, which we’ve modified a bit – pretty much all of these ideas can be done at home in some form or another:
ABCs of Hobbies: Activism. Amateur Radio. Antiquing. Aquariums. Archery. Art. Astronomy. ATVs. Badminton. Baking. Baton twirling. Basketball practice. Beekeeping. Beach clean-up. Biking. Birding. Board games. Book club. Boomerangs. Brewing Beer. Bridge. Calligraphy. Camping. Cartooning. Casinos. Checkers. Chess. Collage. Collecting. Composing Music. Cooking. Crafting. Crochet. CrossFit. Crossword puzzles.
DEFGHIJKL of Hobbies: Dancing. Darts. Daydreaming. DJ. Drones. Electronics. Family Board Games. Fashion design. Fencing. Fishing. Flower arranging. Four wheeling. Genealogy. Geocaching. Geology. Golf. Hiking. Horses. Inventing. Jewelry making. Journaling. Juggling. Kayaking. Kites. Knitting. Lawn bowling. Letter writing.
MNOP of Hobbies: Mah jong. Make movies. Martial Arts. Metal Detecting. Mixology. Museums (tons of great virtual tours are available online now). Models. Mycology (mushrooms). Orienteering. Origami. Painting. Playing an Instrument. Photography. Ping pong. Poker. Pottery. Printing in 3d. Puppetry.
RSTUVWXYZ of Hobbies: Reading. Remote control cars. Robotics. Roller skating. Rowing. Running. Sailing. Sandcastles. Scuba. Sculpting. Sewing. Skiing. Snorkeling. Snowboarding. Soccer exercises. Step exercises. Swimming. Surfing. Tai Chi. Tennis. Theater — some are doing virtual programs. Trampolines. Topiary. Up-cycling. Watercolors. Wine making. Wine tasting. Wood-shop. Wood carving. Writing. Yoga. Yo yos. Zip-lining. Zoology. Zumba (virtually).
Have a great week! Call 860-236-1111 if we can be of help – whether it’s help we can offer ourselves, or if it’s connecting you with someone we trust, we’d love to hear from you and are happy to assist however we can.
