When staying in a hotel/motel, when did we transition from having an actual person call your room in the morning as your courtesy wake-up call to now having a computerized message on the other end of the line? Of course, with our over-the-top bells and whistles now available on our cell phones, many of us don’t even think about a wake-up call when traveling at all since we can set that up on our phones. But that’s not really the wake-up call I am thinking about right now in October, which is National Estate Planning Awareness Month (NEPAM).

Emotional Triggers

I’m thinking more about that wake-up call, or triggering event that happens in your life, that finally motivates you to take action on your estate planning. For some of us, it’s a tragic and unexpected event that happens to a family member or friend. For others, it’s hearing about others’ sad stories or unhappy endings of incapacity or death. An example of that I will never forget is when I was attending a fundraiser luncheon and I was reaching for another tissue from the box in the middle of the table. I was so tempted at that moment to raise my hand and say “Please stop! No more sad stories, I can’t take it anymore! How much do you want me to write the donation check for?” Emotions can be a great wake-up call and motivator.

For still others, it takes a gentle nudge, a phrase that hits home, or a moment of being in just the right mindset to decide to take action. Whatever your wake-up call is as it relates to estate planning, I hope this is the month that you take action. It may be to review your current documents (trust, will, Powers of Attorney), organize your records so they are findable and helpful, revisit your current beneficiary designations and account titles, or finally get your estate planning documents drafted and signed.

Actionable Tools

There are many FREE or inexpensive resources available to walk you through the process of whatever you need or even provide the tools to help you get this done. For example, if you are looking for topical financial education (estate planning included), you may find Laura Adam’s newsletter or podcasts helpful at Money Girl. Or if you prefer a step-by-step guide to your overall financial wellness, Tony Steuer has a Get Ready Money Club with weekly action items on his website. (P.S. It’s FREE). And if you’re like me and are focused on getting your financial house in order, you can find topical, life event-specific, or bundles of checklists at Mind, Money, Motion And in October and April each year, I offer a FREE virtual workshop: Get Your Docs in a Row. Together we complete a net worth worksheet that also doubles as your estate planning checklist.

The Calm Before The Storm

I don’t know about you, but I prefer to think things through in the calm, not during the storm. My brain works better and I think more clearly when I am not stressed. So thinking about and making decisions before anything traumatic happens is a gift not only to myself but also to my family. And with the increased prevalence of dementia, as we get older, that fact adds another “what are you waiting for?” dimension. Do it now, before you potentially can’t.

Dementia Facts

Estimates suggest that about 29% of adults 65 and older are already having difficulty making sound financial decisions. And like many diseases, the likelihood of dementia increases with age. So by age 82, there is a 50% chance that a person has dementia. And by the time they reach age 90, there is a better than 80% chance they have it. Indeed, what are we waiting for?

Choose Action

Like everything in life, we have a choice. Write a date on the calendar (or various dates) to set yourself some deadlines. If you need to have your documents reviewed, call the estate planning attorney’s office this week to set a review appointment. Tell someone else about your plans. If you write it down and/or tell others about a goal, it is SO much more likely to happen. And my last nudge is to plan a trip on the calendar. Your mind goes to “What if something happens while I’m traveling!?!” and you magically get estate planning motivation. That’s the reason June is the most popular month for signing estate planning documents (before everyone goes on summer vacation!).

You can choose NOT to wait for a wake-up call on the important tasks of getting your financial house in order, including documenting your wishes in estate planning documents.

Have you experienced or witnessed an estate planning wake-up call? What sad stories or happy endings can you share for us to learn from? How can we help each other with this important and inevitable aspect of life? Let’s have a discussion!

Marie Burns is a Certified Financial Planner, Speaker, and Author of the bestselling Financial Checklist books. Find Marie on Facebook or contact her at [email protected]

This article was first published at 60 and Me – a community that helps women over 60 live happy, healthy and financially secure lives.