You have elderly parents who need more of your attention, and your children are young adults but they aren’t completely independent yet. You are stuck between the generations. You are torn between them. You have obligations to both of them, and you thought you’d have some freedom by now! Just when your children should be grown up and gone, your parents decline and you need to keep an eye on them.
This is the sandwich generation - sandwiched between your children and your parents.
This is a practical guide for clients who need to know about estate planning for themselves, their elderly parents, and their adult children (and potentially young grandchildren).
It’s a bit cliche; the sandwich generation needs to make sure they look after themselves first! They should get their affairs in order, because if something happens to them, everything revolves around them, and those they leave behind probably won’t manage unless a proper plan has been organised.
This book gives a client the reasons they should have a Will, and powers of attorney. It gives them information they need to choose appropriate executors, and how to deal with investment structures they may already have. It teaches them the basics about various types of trusts and the best uses for each, and also about how to make sure their superannuation isn’t missed in their estate planning. It also gives them advice about how to talk to their parents about getting their affairs in order, and similarly, what they should talk to their children about in terms of their superannuation and even inheritance for grandchildren.
It is a guide, like my first book, In Case of Emergency, but that book was in the format of case studies. This is structured into chapters that a client can flick to, depending on their interest and relevance of the topic.