Another Reason People Fail to Plan

In this blog over the years I have written often about how the lack of planning makes things more complicated and the outcomes worse when a crisis hits than when there is a plan in place.  In many instances lack of planning stems from the lack of urgency and the belief that “I’ll take care of it when the time comes and I need to”.

In some cases, culture plays a role.  Our country has always been a melting pot of people from all around the world.  Consequently, we have seen clients from all manner of backgrounds and cultures.  Sometimes, especially in the case of first generation Americans, their beliefs provide an explanation for why they have no estate or long term care plan in place.  When asked, a typical response is “we don’t do it that way where I come from”.

That may, in fact, be true – that things are done differently in a client’s country of origin.  But I then explain that the laws of this country and the systems in place here are what we have to work with.  Failure to take that into account can result in terrible outcomes.

Next week I’ll give you some examples.