Baby Boomers U. S. (The Blog) |
| Tackle the Difficult Conversations Posted: 10 Oct 2010 04:25 AM PDT Table of contents for Money, Love and Legacy
 Helga Hayse Third in a Series of Guest Posts by Helga Hayse author of Money Love & Legacy: Conversations That Matter Between Generations Difficult Conversations Why do people postpone conversations about crucial but difficult subjects? For example, why are death and inheritance so hard to talk about? Social custom teaches us that it's rude to pry into our parents' affairs or to raise subjects with our children that will make them uncomfortable. Death and money to us are what sex was to the Victorians, uncomfortable and impolite to discuss, but with repercussions that make conversation necessary. Home Instead Senior Care, a national provider of home care services, coined a name for this very important conversation – the 40-70 Rule. It means that children who have reached age 40 or whose parents are 70 need to start discussions about expectations and responsibilities regarding living arrangements, driving habits, health concerns and financial matters as the parents age. The reluctance to talk goes both ways. Boomers don't want to be perceived as greedy or impolite if they raise the subject about their parents' financial resources and inheritance issues. They don't want to intrude on parents' privacy and autonomy or perceived as waiting for their parents to die. Their parents are often more willing to discuss end of life issues but are fearful of the emotional minefield of inheritance disclosure to children. Even though they know it's important for their children not to be surprised after they die, parents still hesitate to initiate conversations about their plans and end-of-life preferences. About the author: Helga Hayse educates people on the role that money plays in family relationships. She works with financial and estate planning groups about how to help their clients overcome resistance to planning and conversations between generations. If you would like to Guest Post for Baby Boomers US, please visit the Guest Post for Us page for the guidelines. You may also want to join the Baby Boomers US Forum for conversations by Baby Boomers about topics important to Baby Boomers!          
|
(aff). Follow along over the next few weeks for some insight on handling some converstations that most of us usually try to avoid but shouldn't.| You are subscribed to email updates from Baby Boomers U. S. (The Blog) To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for commenting on my blog. I will write back soon!