Episode 264

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Published on:

26th Jul 2023

Understanding the Five Wishes: A Comprehensive Guide to End-of-Life Planning

Hello, Wine and Dime listeners! Thank you once again for joining the show. Today, we are diving into a topic that is often overlooked but incredibly important in estate planning: The Five Wishes. This document, created by the organization Five Wishes, is the first living will that addresses not only your medical wishes but also your personal, emotional, and spiritual needs. It allows you to choose the person who will make healthcare decisions for you if you are unable to do so yourself.

Key Takeaways:

  1. The Five Wishes is a comprehensive living will that addresses personal, emotional, and spiritual needs, in addition to medical wishes.
  2. The document allows individuals to choose a healthcare decision-maker and specify their medical treatment preferences.
  3. It covers how individuals want to be treated, what they want loved ones to know about them, and their funeral wishes.
  4. Distribute copies of the Five Wishes to relevant parties and keep the original in a safe place at home.
  5. Aging with dignity involves ensuring that family members are aware of an individual's final wishes.

Before we delve into the details of The Five Wishes, let's take a moment to talk about something a little lighter. In our previous episodes, we featured a winery called Billsboro on Seneca Lake. If you ever find yourself in the Finger Lakes area of New York, I highly recommend visiting Billsboro. Their wines are delightful, and the setting in their beautiful old barn is truly picturesque. One wine that stood out to me was their 2022 Sarah, which will be released soon. It's a light and rich-flavored wine that I believe many wine enthusiasts will enjoy.

Now, let's get back to the topic at hand: The Five Wishes. This document is a comprehensive living will that covers various aspects of your healthcare and end-of-life wishes. It was created with the help of the American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging and is available in 29 languages.

The Five Wishes addresses five key areas:

1. Choosing a Healthcare Decision-Maker

The first wish allows you to designate the person you want to make healthcare decisions for you if you are unable to do so yourself. This person, known as your healthcare proxy or agent, will have the authority to make medical decisions on your behalf. It's crucial to choose someone you trust and who understands your values and wishes.

2. Defining Your Medical Treatment Preferences

The second wish focuses on your preferences for medical treatment. It allows you to specify the kind of medical treatment you want or don't want in various scenarios. You can outline your preferences for pain management, comfort, and life-supporting treatments. The document provides options for you to be as specific as you'd like, ensuring that your wishes are known and respected.

3. Ensuring Comfort and Dignity

The third wish centers around your desire for comfort and dignity. You can express how you want to be cared for, including specific requests such as having pictures of loved ones in your room, being treated with kindness and cheerfulness, or even being called by a particular name or nickname. This wish allows you to define how you want people to treat you during your healthcare journey.

4. Communicating Your Personal Wishes

The fourth wish is an opportunity for you to communicate your personal wishes to your loved ones. You can express forgiveness, love, and any other sentiments you want your family and friends to know. Additionally, you can outline your preferences for your body after death, such as burial, cremation, or donation. This wish ensures that your loved ones have a clear understanding of your final wishes.

5. Funeral and Memorial Service Preferences

The fifth and final wish covers your preferences for funeral and memorial services. You can specify whether you want a burial or cremation, provide details about your desired memorial service, and even mention how you want to be remembered. This wish allows you to leave a lasting impression and ensure that your funeral arrangements align with your wishes.

The Five Wishes document is easy to use, with checkboxes, circles, and spaces for you to fill in your specific preferences. Once you sign the document, it becomes legally binding and supersedes any previous living will or durable power of attorney for healthcare that you may have had. It's important to distribute copies of the document to your healthcare proxy, family members, doctors, and anyone else involved in your care.

By completing The Five Wishes, you can age with dignity and have peace of mind knowing that your wishes will be respected. It also relieves your loved ones of the burden of making difficult decisions without knowing your preferences.

In conclusion, estate planning is not just about financial matters; it also involves making decisions about your healthcare and end-of-life wishes. The Five Wishes provides a comprehensive framework for addressing these important aspects of your life. By utilizing this document, you can ensure that your wishes are known and respected, and you can spare your loved ones from unnecessary stress and conflict during difficult times.

I encourage you to visit the Five Wishes website or reach out to us at info@rootedpg.com to obtain a copy of this invaluable document. Take the time to complete The Five Wishes and have open conversations with your loved ones about your wishes. It may not be the most enjoyable topic to discuss, but it is an essential part of planning for the future. Remember, aging with dignity is a gift we can give ourselves and our loved ones.

Thank you for joining us on this episode of Wine and Dime. If you found this information valuable, please share it with your friends and leave us a review on iTunes. Your support helps us reach more people like you who can benefit from our financial insights. Stay tuned for our next episode, where we will be discussing special needs trusts. Cheers to a well-planned future!

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About the Podcast

Money Roots
Money Roots with Amy Irvine
Welcome to "Money Roots," the podcast where personal finance becomes personal. Join host Amy Irvine, CEO of Rooted Planning Group, as she demystifies the world of finance and makes it approachable for everyone, from beginners to financial experts.

In each episode, Amy and her guests dig deep into the financial soil, planting the seeds of financial knowledge and helping you nurture your financial future. Whether you're looking to build a solid budget, invest wisely, or plan for retirement, "Money Roots" has you covered.

Get ready to explore practical advice, inspiring stories, and expert insights that will empower you to take control of your financial destiny. It's time to grow your money roots and thrive financially!

Subscribe to "Money Roots" now and join Amy on this exciting journey to financial empowerment. Let's put down some roots and flourish together.

About your host

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Amy Irvine

As a kid, I always liked numbers. I would spend hours creating math problems and solutions. Whenever I wanted to play math teacher, my brother was forced to be my student! Given my love of facts and figures, it’s really no surprise that I chose a career where I work with numbers.

I believe that you can use your dollars and cents to create and live a meaningful life unique to your own dreams and desires. I started Rooted Planning Group because I wanted to offer financial PLANNING services. Our profession has a tendency to focus on “assets under management,” but I wanted to focus on the journey of your life (what I refer to in the podcast as your financial “vineyard”). I truly believe that, like wine, life and finances have different palettes that should be celebrated and not judged.

My journey as a business owner was not a direct path; it’s more of a long and winding road. Over the course of the past 30 years, I’ve worked in various financial services positions, but I’m most proud of the ensemble of women that I’ve brought together at Rooted Planning Group.

I am the author of Uncork Your Finances and the podcast host of Money Roots.

I also co-founded the Southern Tier Women's Financial Conference in 2014, an annual event dedicated to collaboration, networking, and financial education for women.