Preparing for the Future: Financial Security After Your Spouse Passes

deceased spouse income

Do you have a plan in place to provide for the needs of your spouse? Many people don’t financially prepare for the future—especially when it involves the passing of a spouse—and understanding why is easy. Confronting the unavoidable reality of mortality isn’t pleasant. You’ve been saving for retirement your whole life, and every conversation has been about “we” not “me.” But you need to consider your future finances now, for the sake of you and your spouse.

While no one wants to think about when their husband or wife passes, everyone wants their partner to live comfortably for the remainder of their life. Here’s how you can plan for deceased spouse income.

Get organized

Organization is key when planning for deceased spouse income. You have to know what the assets are, where they are and how to access them. This is no small feat, as you may have accumulated a diverse portfolio, regardless of size, at this point.

Use Excel or a similar program to create a spreadsheet of your assets including the name of the asset, who you work with, their contact information (phone numbers, addresses and emails), usernames and passwords, etc. With this list, the surviving spouse should be able to easily access all investments.

Create a corresponding file system with any relevant paperwork and printed information to ensure the remaining spouse has everything they need to get to your shared assets.

Grief is very powerful and can cause otherwise responsible, organized adults to neglect simple tasks like responding to mail and returning calls. Once a spouse passes, you may find a phone and mail system helpful. Keep a notepad next to the phone to write down your messages. Also keep a list to record incoming mail to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.

Create a budget

Most people already have a budget of some kind, but you need to create one to account for end of life expenses, as well.

Consider how much the funeral will cost, any related costs and even regular bills for the month one of you passes. With this plan already in place, you can activate it as soon as a spouse dies and have peace of mind your bills will be paid.

If you tally up these expenses and learn you won’t have enough cash to cover them, talk about how you should pay for them. In most cases, insurance and other assets will kick in to cover these costs, although you may have to use a credit card to pay for them upfront.

Consult an expert now

The professionals at American Heritage Financial are here for you. They understand the sensitive nature of this type of planning and know just how to approach the subject.

Their goal is to ensure that when one spouse passes, the remaining partner is well taken care of and has few worries about their financial future.

American Heritage Financial leaves no stone unturned when evaluating pension income, social security, shared assets and more. They work to maximize deceased spouse income and keep you as comfortable as possible throughout the process.

The best part? American Heritage Financial has solutions to provide guaranteed income for life to ensure the surviving spouse can maintain their current lifestyle.

If you haven’t planned for deceased spouse income, now is the time. Contact MySeniorHealthplan.com to schedule your appointment with American Heritage Financial at 866-784-1812 or schedule now online.

 

 

image credit: shutterstock/Carolyn Franks