Ensuring that you have the appropriate assets set aside for your retirement is not just about caring for the day-to-day expenses or paying off your mortgage. It is also critical to think carefully about end of life care. It is not always easy to answer the pertinent questions surrounding quality end-of-life care but it is essential to make sure that your finances are in order. 
If an individual is serving as power of attorney or trustee for an elderly person, then it is never too early to think ahead about maintaining financial stability into the elderly person’s golden years. In order to ensure that the money that has been saved up for long term care lasts, it is a good idea to consider putting the cost of five years of care in a private facility into liquid investments. Retirement savings will act in this way somewhat like a pension for the elderly individual.
It may also be a good time to evaluate the potential for long term care insurance. Many individuals and family members are not familiar with the challenges associated with qualifying for Medicaid and the need to spend down personal assets first until after it is too late.
Planning ahead and answering important planning questions can help to avoid some of the most common challenges associated with estate planning. Retirement planning and estate planning can go hand in hand and many of the same goals can be accomplished by consulting with a knowledgeable estate planning attorney and your financial advisor.
