I TURN AGE 62 IN January—which means I could claim Social Security retirement benefits and perhaps collect at least a few monthly checks before I succumb to cancer.
But is that the smartest strategy? One of my top priorities is ensuring Elaine is financially comfortable after I’m gone, so I want to make sure she gets as much from Social Security as possible.
We got married in late May, a few days after I was told I had lung cancer that had metastasized to my brain and elsewhere.

The last few days have been hectic, attending a funeral for a friend as well as an information session by a local funeral home.
I learned a lot from the presentation on funeral services. Pre-planned funerals can ease the burden on survivors. They claim it is cost effective by locking in current prices. Services these days can be extensive and cover death even on a cruise ship or a foreign country.  They also offer incentives (discounts,

I MARRIED CONNIE because she’s four years older than me. That meant our life expectancies would be similar and hence a survivor annuity would be less expensive.
I am, of course, joking. Sort of.
Providing for Connie, should I be the first to go, is among my top financial priorities. During my working years, I received far too many calls from new widows who had just learned their husband’s pension stopped when their husband died.

MORE THAN 40 YEARS ago, I was an agent for the Internal Revenue Service. During training, we learned about auditing individuals, corporations, subchapter S corporations, Schedule C businesses, partnerships and probably a few other areas that I’ve since forgotten. But there was one area we didn’t touch: trusts.
That puzzled me, so I asked the trainer why. His response: “You aren’t smart enough to audit trusts.” He told me that how trusts operate might change drastically based on slight differences in wording.

DURING A GATHERING of retired friends, the topic of wills came up. Many had completed their wills and had their finances in order, while others were working on updating their wills. But there were several who hadn’t even started thinking about it. One of them said, “As a retiree, I’m just starting to enjoy my freedom and have some fun. It’s too stressful to think about death. I’ll get to it someday.”
As you might imagine,

Most of us like to be in control. I certainly do. But what about controlling how our heirs use the money we bequeath?
That’s a question I’ve had to face. I’m hoping both of my 30-something children will use my bequest to bolster their long-term financial future, adding the money to their portfolio and perhaps using a portion to buy new homes.
Both have good financial habits, and the money they’ll receive could—if used sensibly—mean they’ll be far wealthier in their 60s than I am.