A Wiser Retirement®

318. What Is a Power of Attorney and Why Does Everyone Need One?

• Wiser Wealth Management • Episode 318

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If something unexpected happened tomorrow, who would make decisions for you? That’s the big question at the heart of this episode of the A Wiser Retirement® Podcast, where Shawna Theriault, CFP®, CPA, CDFA®, and Estate Planning Attorney Arun Gupta demystify what is a power of attorney and explain why nearly everyone needs them.

Related Podcast Episodes: 

Ep 279: What Should Parents of Children with Disabilities Know About Estate Planning?

Ep 233: How Second Marriages and Blended Families Impact Estate Planning

Related Financial Education Videos:

Why 18 Year Olds Need a Power of Attorney and Medical Directive

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AG Law

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Why Powers Of Attorney Matter

SPEAKER_06

If something unexpected happened to you tomorrow, who would make decisions on your behalf? Stay tuned to the next episode to learn about powers of attorney and why you need one.

SPEAKER_01

Welcome to a wiser retirement podcast, where we cut through the noise and bring you real, honest conversations about investing, retirement, and building lasting wealth. No sales pitches, no gimmicks, just everything your financial advisor won't tell you.

SPEAKER_06

I'm Shauna Ferial, and today I'm here with estate planning attorney Arun Gupta.

SPEAKER_03

Hello, Shauna.

SPEAKER_06

How are you?

SPEAKER_03

I'm doing well. How are you?

Meet The Hosts And Guest

SPEAKER_06

Getting ready for the holidays. Me too. All the fun stuff. Today we're gonna talk about powers of attorney and why does everyone need one? So uh it'll be a good, good show here. Um, just a quick fact. Uh, according to a 2023 survey by Law Depot, 73% of respondents reported they do not have documented estate plannings, which is things like wills, trust, powers of attorney, which we're talking about today. Seven do you do you think 73% is that what you think?

What A Power Of Attorney Is

SPEAKER_05

I think I uh there's a just a great majority of people that we're probably not interacting with on our day-to-day live. Sure. That just don't have anything. Right now where to start. So I I think it's definitely over half. I don't know about 73%.

SPEAKER_06

That's really high.

SPEAKER_05

It is. It is, it's high.

SPEAKER_06

I can't imagine.

SPEAKER_05

It's high.

SPEAKER_06

I can't imagine. So powers of attorney. So when everyone thinks of estate planning, you know, documents, it's like wills and trusts. And so some clients that come in when we talk about that, they don't really know that powers of attorney is one of those things that is part of the package, if you will. And so really just go over, if you wouldn't mind, what is a power of attorney?

SPEAKER_05

Uh a power of attorney, it's uh it's a legal document where you are uh designating an agent to basically step in your shoes. And you know, depending on what type of power of attorney it is, um, a financial power of attorney is probably what most people think of when they think of power of attorney. Uh that's a document where you'll appoint an agent to step in, manage your finances, sign on your behalf, take care of your bills. Um, and then the other uh main type of uh power of attorney is a healthcare power of attorney, uh, where you're designating an agent to step in and uh carry out your your healthcare treatment preferences, make decisions on your behalf in the event that you're you're unable to make those communicate those decisions to medical professionals. So those are usually what um power of attorney uh would would encompass. And uh, as you said, when when most of my clients come in to uh let's say they have no documents in place, I'm always gonna suggest, you know, if we're gonna set up a will will or trust for you, definitely uh along with it, um have a financial power of attorney or uh and a healthcare directive prepared. And you know, if if a client's coming in to maybe just update a provision in their will or a trust, I'll also say, hey, let's make sure while we do this, let's make sure your your power of attorney documents uh are are still in order with your your current wishes.

SPEAKER_06

Absolutely. And we'll and we'll get into like semantics and like the details of that too. And, you know, the powers of attorney, they can be temporary, they can be limited, they can be broad. And so, you know, the definition of a power of attorney, like you said, is a document, just giving someone the power to handle something if an event happens or not, maybe. So we can get into that. Um so just you you kind of alluded to it, just you know, between financial and healthcare, what are what would you say are the different? Those are the two main, but what are the other different types of powers of attorney just in general?

SPEAKER_05

When you when you hear that word power of it power of attorney, usually I think of a financial power of attorney, but sometimes they're known as general power of attorney. Is that kind of the same thing? Kinda uh general general power of attorney is mostly the same as what a financial power of attorney are. I would say a financial power of attorney is kind of in two categories. Uh well, three. One is general, uh, which is similar to durable. Now, durable power of attorney is really what I think of when I think of financial power of attorney. And then the other one would be um a limited power of attorney. So a a durable power of attorney, that's what most people probably want and need.

SPEAKER_06

That's like the most power. Yes. Is that is that's my perception anyway. Okay.

SPEAKER_05

You are you're you're generally speaking, you are granting uh an agent.

SPEAKER_06

Generally durable, you're right.

SPEAKER_05

Uh uh the authority to act on your behalf uh while you're alive. Um sometimes even if you're not incapacitated, and then also the the durable part, it remains in force until you either revoke it uh or you die. Otherwise, it it's going to continue. And that's usually what what what most people think of when they think of financial power of attorney.

SPEAKER_06

Right.

Durable, General, And Limited POA

SPEAKER_05

Um, and a a general one um can end upon your incapacitation. So for example, oh, interesting. If you have a a general power of attorney, uh maybe you want someone to to take care of all of these powers if you're out of the country or something like that. Got it. Um, but uh, if you're incapacitated, maybe you wouldn't want them to make those decisions. Um, but but mostly uh the term financial power of attorney and durable power of an attorney, that's what what people are referring to.

SPEAKER_06

Got it. Yeah, because normally, I mean, usually you would name like your spouse. Um, and then you can you can say whether it's like immediate or springing.

SPEAKER_03

Yep.

SPEAKER_06

And and so, you know, we we can talk about that, you know, where it's like immediate is like where you give them the power, they have the power right now.

SPEAKER_03

Yep.

SPEAKER_06

Whereas like springing is if certain things happen, like you have to have a doctor's note or you become incapacitated, you have to prove that. And you know, this one of those things that, you know, when you're doing your estate planning documents, you know, because some people are like, well, I'm I'm dead, why do I care? I don't need you know, and everything's titled jointly or whatever. But the thing is, is like, what if you're still alive and you know, you can't act on your behalf? Um, maybe you get in a car accident or you just become ill or you're have a whatever the case may be, you know, you can't make those healthcare decisions. Although some hospitals, you know, do you have a DNR or whatever you know, do not resuscitate on file. But the financial power of attorney is a big one. You know, what happens if your spouse is like incapacitated and you need to call about social security or you need to go do some kind of business on their behalf, even though, I mean, even calling the phone company, if you're not on the net on the phone, you know, bell, they're not even gonna talk to you. No, uh which is crazy to me.

SPEAKER_05

Yes. So uh as you said, um, if there's a springing or I call it effective immediately or springing. When a client comes in, um, I'll ask them. Uh, so the the standard that I, if it's a married couple, usually I will put in something that says, once you sign this document, it's effective immediately. Meaning um, if you want your spouse to sign on your behalf, all they have to do is present that power of attorney document and they can sign on your behalf. Uh it's it's springing if you uh want to require an extra uh layer of security almost, basically saying this person can only act on my behalf if I'm actually incapacitated. Right. Uh, you know, usually shown by a physician's note that says this person is is incapacitated, and then that person can act on your behalf. If you're a single person, um, I'll I'll make sure and mention that because sometimes you let's say you name your, let's say you're you're elderly and you you have a child that takes care of everything for you, and you don't want to make them have to get a doctor's note. Well then you can say it's effective immediately. And that is the default. The default in Georgia is unless you state otherwise, once you sign that document, uh it is going to be uh effective for that for that agent without needing the doctor's note.

SPEAKER_06

So the forms are state specific.

Immediate Vs Springing Authority

SPEAKER_05

The forms are state specific. Uh in in in Georgia, uh they the they revamped the way they do financial power of attorney documents in in I think it was 2017. Um so the the form that you'll see more often than not now. So basically anyone that has signed a power of attorney after 2017, they look very similar. Meaning there's a there's a statutory guideline that Georgia provides that this is how uh a power of attorney document should be drafted. The reason being, or one of the reasons, uh a lot of times banks would look at a power of attorney document and for whatever reason, liability-wise, whatnot, they just would refuse to accept it. And that can be really annoying.

SPEAKER_06

Well, that's it defeats the purpose.

SPEAKER_05

It totally does. And that's one of the reasons why they made this. Um, basically, listen, if it if it substantially follows this guideline, you you have to accept it. You can't just reject it because you don't want to deal with the with the liability. A lot of other states are doing this too. Um, and you'll see a lot of power of attorney documents across many, many states that look almost exactly the same. Now there's gonna be certain tweaks here and there, but generally speaking, I mean, I think that's good practice.

SPEAKER_06

I think it's oh, I think it's because then it's like how how are they supposed to interpret every, you know, I completely agree with that. What an attorney writes, no offense. Like sometimes I can't interpret because you know, you you write very eloquently and very, you know, it's very deep.

SPEAKER_05

And no, listen, I'm I I'm with you for purposes like this. I I think it's just better for for the people that have to deal with the real world to administer these documents. Yeah. You can still be specific in it if you want. You can always add something in the special instructions. You can clarify, it's not like the forms have to be verbatim exactly the way it is in the statute, but basically substantially follow those guidelines. Some sometimes you'll still see financial power attorney documents with the powers like well defined. Uh, but sometimes you'll just see just a general area where you can you can uh have your agent either initial next to each power that they want to give their agent, or they can initial under the last option, which just says uh all preceding options where you know taxes, general family maintenance, many subject areas where you're just giving your agent, listen, agent. I want to have you act on my behalf on all of these subject areas, even if they're not relevant right now, maybe they will be in the future, but I'm giving you that power.

SPEAKER_06

And I want to address that too, because I know there's something in the documents you have to be careful. And we don't when you see the documents, there are some powers that'll give them like a lot of power. Yes. Like changing beneficiaries, changing wills. Yes. Get like maybe, maybe not do those. Yeah, no, maybe not do those.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_06

You know, so you have to think about that. So that's why as the individual, but make sure you're reading what you're signing and not just giving a blanket. And so when you when you do these documents, you know, let's say you have, you know, couple and then they have grown children. So a lot of times what people do, you know, where they name their spouse when their children are younger, they don't have kids yet, and then maybe like a sibling as a backup. And then as the children get older, they may name each other and then like one of the grown children with the others as backup potentially. And I want to go a couple of different directions there. The first one being when you draft those, do you make the immediate for the spouse probably and then the springing for the child, or do you make all of it immediate? So that that's I guess that wouldn't come into play until the first one is gone, though, as a backup.

SPEAKER_05

So as a matter of practice, if it's a married couple, I'll say spouse gets it immediately. And for the backup agents, children, or whoever, they don't have that power unless you're, you know, deemed to be incapacitated.

SPEAKER_06

So springing.

SPEAKER_05

So springing. However, I'll talk about it with the client. And sometimes they'll say, Listen, I don't want my kids to have a doctor's note either. Just it it's fine. As long as the spouse can't act, they can step in. Um but uh again, absent that language though, there is no doctor's note required for anyone. You have to, you have to put that in there. And, you know, just as a a layer of security, I think it's at least better to address that beforehand. Cause, you know, maybe, maybe you you're still completely with it. You don't really want this document to be enforced unless you're actually incapacitated. You wanted to be able to manage everything yourself.

State Forms, Banks, And Acceptance

SPEAKER_06

Well, I've seen a couple of things before, and I'm sure I I know you have too, because I mean, we've dealt with the same clients in some regard, but I've seen a couple of instances where it's like, you know, sometimes you're protecting yourself from yourself. And what I mean by that is like, let's say, you know, you've lost your significant other and it's just you now. And so you have your a child or children as backup and it's springing. Well, what I've seen is sometimes, you know, what gets scary is when you start having memory issues. And then you sometimes you become combative in those instances where it's like, I don't need to go to a doctor. I'm perfectly fine. And they're writing checks to people and they're getting taken, you know. Yeah. And so it's kind of like, okay. So it's like, I try to tell that story to clients. Um, I've seen that in a couple of different instances, which I understand why you wouldn't want to just give your kids immediate powers because, you know, but at the same time, once it gets to that point, you know, you almost have to think about that in advance because if you do start having memory issues, sometimes you're like, I don't want to go to the doctor. I don't want to give you my power. I don't, and that's when you actually need it.

SPEAKER_05

No, and that and that's right. That's why, you know, obviously when you're of sound mind, uh, it's always, if you could prefer to have those documents signed when you when you know what's up.

SPEAKER_06

And you can talk about these situations. Well, and you can only sign documents when you know what's up, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

I mean, generally, yes, yes. Uh the the the line can be the uh a little bit. Like the definition is like moments of lucidity, interpretation. But but but yes, um, you are uh to be of sound mind and know what you're signing when you're signing it to to be able to do that. But um and you don't want to wait until it's too late. No, exactly. Because if you are not of sound mind, then they have to get like ship. Right yeah. So for a financial power of attorney, uh it would be called uh conservatorship, basically, where you are petitioning a court to have an if uh a person be the conservator of your of your finances. So um usually when I will draft a document, I'll just put in something that says, you know, if it if it is necessary to officially have a court appoint someone that you are selecting the agents that you know in the order named to be your conservator, so the court process i is is smoother. Um and for for healthcare directives, it's somewhat similar, but that's what a guardianship is. So you're selecting a person to be the caretaker, you know, man to make sure you're you know taken care of. Um, and usually you select the same agents that you would under your healthcare agent.

SPEAKER_06

So it's interesting. So I was just thinking, I don't even know if this is a thing, and I'm kind of putting you on the spot, but I'm sitting here thinking to myself, okay, you have the financial power of attorney, you have a healthcare power of attorney. If your financial power of attorney says, okay, I have to have a doctor's no, but then you don't have the healthcare power of attorney, the doctor's not going to give you any information because the HIPAA laws, because you have to have the healthcare power of attorney.

SPEAKER_05

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_06

You can see how this could be. No, it's hard.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah. So the, you know, in the the healthcare directives, the the standard healthcare directives that that Georgia has, there's there's built-in HIPAA waivers in there. Exactly. Which is important because, you know, if you're selecting your your agents to take care of your health, you you probably want the doctors to have the ability to discuss your health information with your agents. So that's built in that document um within the healthcare directive. Um, but yes, I can see how they overlap. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06

The other thing I was thinking when I said I wanted to go in a couple of different directions, you know, and we've seen this before, and this is always hard. So it's like, okay, when you're naming, I mean, usually spouse, okay, but then when you're naming the backup, it's like, do you name all of your children, if you have two or three children, to be your financial power of attorney and your healthcare, you know, power of attorney? Um, or do you how do you choose that and how do you not hurt feelings, or what do you suggest as the estate planning attorney?

Dangerous Special Powers To Avoid

SPEAKER_05

And uh that's a that's a good point you just brought up with the with the hurt feelings. And I will always want to make sure that I never dismiss those because feelings matter. There is value uh to that. If you think that naming someone at the expense of another person could cause an issue, uh talk about it and make sure you're doing everything with the most, you know, in informed way you can because that counts, right? But generally speaking, I will say for a financial power attorney, um if you name children, you could name them either as co-agents or you could name them in a s in a in a certain order. I'll say uh only name co-agents if you're basically if you don't envision them having any conflicts. Um, but otherwise, if you think there could be an issue, I wouldn't suggest naming them to act together. And I would suggest naming the more responsible one to be the person that that that handles that. When I say responsible, I mean more financially savvy or just someone distance doesn't matter quite as much as it used to now. But if you've got someone local and you think, you know, they'd just be better suited in that role, that's obviously uh still to be to be factored in. For the for the healthcare uh power of attorney, that's where I will um I don't want to say it doesn't matter as much, but those kind of decisions sometimes are more family decisions, right? Maybe you want to have your children act together to make those decisions, and it's not necessarily about you know the the responsible child versus the one that's maybe not. Um and the default language for for co-agents is you know, they're to act together to make decisions. However, if one is unable to serve, uh or you know, one's out of the country, the a third party's only gonna need the signature of one to actually So they can act alone. So they can act alone.

SPEAKER_06

However, you can put it.

SPEAKER_05

Correct. You can always put uh any decision. If I'm naming coagents, both of them have to sign off in order for you know it to be enforced. You can you can add that in there, but but the default would be if you do name co-agents that either can can can act on behalf if one's only available.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, and you want to make sure that your whoever you name as financial power of attorney, like you trust them all. Oh, 100%. Because they can like trade in your accounts, they can move money, they can pay your bills.

SPEAKER_03

Yes.

SPEAKER_06

Or theirs. You know, obviously now they are a fiduciary. Yes. So when you are a trustee or a power of attorney or an executor, in all of those cases, you're a fiduciary. Yes. Which means you have to put their needs ahead of your own. Exactly. And that's illegal. We're not doing anything like that, but you know, somebody also has to catch that. So it needs to be somebody that you trust.

SPEAKER_05

100%. And you make a good point there. Um, just because something is illegal doesn't mean it's gonna stop the person from committing the illegal act in the first place, right? So there are there obviously are repercussions. Uh, if you um deplete a bank account for your own benefit, that's not acting in the best interest of of the principle of the of the document, right? And but um that's not gonna stop a bank from letting you do that because for all they know, you're uh the appointed agent and you have the power to do so. Um so you know, there's in the document it it explains, you know, what you can do, what you can't do, how to sign on behalf of somebody. But yes, you wanna make sure that you select someone that you you really do trust because they're big time powers. They they they really are. And while you don't have to give them all of the general powers, almost almost every single client that I have under the grant of general authority section where it lists the powers, they're gonna initial all proceeding options. Right, right.

SPEAKER_06

And usually those change beneficiaries and wills, like those ones we talked about earlier, that are like really those are in a separate section. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

So there's a a second section where it's uh special powers that go above and beyond the what the statute gives. I always recommend to clients, listen, don't give your agent any of these powers unless you've got a specific reason for doing so, because these powers are, like you said, the ability to change the beneficiaries on your financial accounts, amend your trust, make large gifts, things that usually don't benefit you, they probably benefit other people.

SPEAKER_06

Right.

SPEAKER_05

Um, so those are the ones to be, you know, extra uh careful about.

SPEAKER_00

Quick check-in. Have you thought about the legacy you'll leave behind? Download seven steps to leave a financial legacy, a free guide from wiser wealth management to learn more. It's not just about wealth, it's about leaving a lasting impact. Go to wiserinvestor.com forward slash guides to download your free guide today. Now let's jump back into the episode.

SPEAKER_06

I get this question a lot, and it's something I wanted to address here. If you don't have any children and you're getting a little bit older, you know, maybe you're even single could because you're either divorced or, you know, you're significant other past and you're a widow. Who do you name as the for these things? These are the toughest ones so hard.

SPEAKER_05

These are the toughest ones to answer because having something in place is better than not having anything in place, right? You may not pick the perfect person, right? But having somebody there that you trust is better than not having anybody at all. And I'll tell clients talk about this before you make you know the selection, run it by your person that you're debating. And more often than not, almost every single time. If there is someone that you're thinking of putting as your agent and you have a conversation with them, they're gonna want to do it. They're gonna want to act on your behalf. Want it to be in my opinion, it's an honor to be able to, you know, to if you think highly enough of someone to consider selecting them to make these important decisions, inherently they trust you and you probably trust them too, right? So um having someone is i is is better than not that being said, don't just uh select someone without thinking about it, right? Make sure that this is someone that you think is financially savvy enough to understand what's going on. And you know, at the end of the day, this agent they can always seek help too. There are other professionals, financial advisors, accountants, attorneys, et cetera, that they can talk to to help guide them, right?

SPEAKER_06

Totally.

SPEAKER_05

Um, so I wouldn't think, oh, this is going to be way overwhelming for them. They they can't do it. Well, they can seek help if they need to, and it's better than not having anybody at all because those are the situations where where it gets really tough when there's nobody there.

SPEAKER_06

That is such a great point. Because if you're working with a financial advisor, then that financial advisor has been in tune with you and your plan for a long time. We know what draw withdrawals are going out and what the, you know, not that I, you know, drill down into every expense and why, but but sometimes, sometimes, you know, we go through the whole budget and we know what's going on. So if, you know, you're working with an advisor and you bring somebody else in who's the power of attorney, you know, to help with that, it's still kind of like the main, you know, the financial advisor is still helping in the situation and they know what's going on. And so I don't want to say it's on their checks and balances, it is, but at the same time, it also helps that that person that may not be your, you know, bloodline um or you know, your child necessarily, your heir, you know, maybe they wouldn't have as much work to do because they're not doing the trading and the, you know, and the withdrawals and you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_05

Oh no, I agree. I if anything, I think it's a learning experience. Um uh you can find out how things work with the fine the financial advisor is almost always gonna already have so much information, a relationship with somebody, right? Uh they could they can help guide you, right? Right. You may know, hey, there maybe don't do this because that's not something that this person ever would do. So you be more careful, right? Right. Um, so there are resources out there that that that can help guide you.

SPEAKER_06

Absolutely. No, that's great. How do you set up a power of attorney?

SPEAKER_05

Good question. So um obviously, if you reach out to an attorney, uh, they can prepare these documents on your behalf, they can review everything with you. Um that being said, it's not required. You don't have to go to an attorney to have these documents prepared. Um you can I mean, if you make one up on your own or you find something on the internet, uh obviously there's a chance that there could be something screwed up with it. However, again, um there's also a chance that it could be perfectly fine, right? I would, you know, implore uh everybody to at least exp if you don't have one, um, at the very least, talk to somebody that you trust um about how they set one up, right? Or talk to an attorney. They are they these are very straightforward. Um, these are not overly complicated documents. Um, you know, one conversation is basically all you need. And, you know, the the attorney can can can draft pursuant to whatever your wishes are.

SPEAKER_06

Well, and usually when you're doing that, you're doing like your wills. And then the other thing is like the documents, and we've talked about this in another episode with you and I is like looking at how the assets are titled and how that actually works. And, you know, so I think it's important to do it with an attorney, you know, because you're usually doing with the other documents. Um, this is also one of those things, like if you're getting to the point where you may need to help have fun help with your financial power of attorney, consolidating accounts and not having accounts all over the place is gonna be so easy, much easier. So if you have assets of this broker dealer and this broker dealer and this bank and this bank and this bank and this all over the place, that's gonna be more work for the person to handle and to explain and to kind of, you know. Um, so I I know we get that question a lot, you know. I I'm I'm nervous to use just one custodian. Um, you know, I I this for simplicity's sake, you know, and and you know, the protection-wise is usually there. Um, I just feel like consolidating, make it as simple as possible.

Fiduciary Duty And Real Risks

SPEAKER_05

I mean, I'm not a finance person. So uh I am gonna say yes, consolidating is always easier, you know, in my mind. I mean, there's probably reasons why you may have had separate accounts beforehand or whatnot, but a lot of the times I especially, you know, dealing with with trusts and retitling assets and beneficiary designations, the light bulb will go off and people will say, Why do I have all these accounts in all these places? Maybe, maybe I should consolidate. And that's obviously going to make things easier for your agent, also.

SPEAKER_06

And I don't mean like consolidate all the accounts into one account. I just mean it one institution or a couple. Yes, yes. So that way it's easier than because if something happens to you, then that person has to take the power of attorney to every single account in every single institution. It's not very simple. Yes. And especially if you're, you know, having someone do it. And a lot of times, even if it is our kids, we're worried about, you know, they have families, they have jobs. I don't want to be a burden to my children. And so it's really, you know, it makes it simpler for them to do it that way too.

SPEAKER_04

Yes.

SPEAKER_06

Um, any kind of mistakes to avoid with that?

SPEAKER_05

Well, uh what I would do is make sure, especially if there's a big life event, yes, always revisit this. Always revisit this because um you may, for example, if you um if you if you name someone a sibling is your agent, and then you get uh you get you get married five years later and you don't update your document, your your sibling, this is for a financial power attorney. Your sibling is still your agent. And you know, maybe if you're if you're married, maybe you want to make your new spouse your agent. So that's a a a reason to update. And the healthcare directives are are are different in Georgia. If you get married, it will revoke whoever your your previous agent was.

SPEAKER_06

Isn't that interesting?

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, that that's a little i I I I can kind of see why I think those decisions may be um more family oriented and it it it's okay to do that, whereas a a financial one may you wanna maybe you appointed a sibling for a specific reason.

SPEAKER_03

Right.

SPEAKER_05

Um, and then uh if you if you get divorced, that's gonna automatically revoke uh a the ex-spouse's power under both the financial power of attorney and a healthcare directive. But basically that's good. Yes, I think that I think that's good too. I think that's probably what how most people would would want that for sure. Sure, sure. But uh, you know, big life events, uh, those are those are those are reasons uh to revisit all of it really. Your health, you know. Um yeah. Um uh those are always uh and any time you you think about updating your estate plan, you're gonna want these checked too.

SPEAKER_06

Thank you. You're always I always learn something from you, even after all these years, 13 plus years. I always learn something from you every day. I did not know that between the healthcare and the financial power of attorney. And that's why I love this job or this career, because you learn something new every day. And it's changing all the time. So you're always having to learn more. So it's never boring.

SPEAKER_05

Me and you find that exciting. I'm not sure exactly how many other people would, but hey, it's it's something to, you know, store in your brain.

SPEAKER_06

Well, that's the, you know, that's why we're doing this. Um, okay. So we have this new segment. Um, this newer segment. It's three questions in three minutes so that our audience and our listeners can get to know our guests or people that work with Wiser. Um, and so we are gonna go through three questions that have nothing to do with uh the show today. Arune, what's a money mistake you're weirdly glad you made?

SPEAKER_05

A money mistake that I'm weirdly glad I made. Now, I'm sure there are several. Um I don't know about how many of them made me made me glad, but um I probably was a while ago. I took out a lot a lot of cash on a vacation. Um I think it's just built into hey, when you're abroad, just get cash.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah.

When You Don’t Have Children

SPEAKER_05

And along with the cash, uh several other of my possessions uh were stolen. Oh and that's not good, right? However uh and my wife told me this too, but She's like, listen, it's just stuff. You know, things things can be replaced. You can make more money. We can buy the stuff that was gone. And um kind of made me not fret so much about those kind of things. And uh I don't need to withdraw that much, especially today. I don't need to withdraw that much cash. Almost everything uh, you know, is digital now anyway. And um, so I guess I'm that's a mistake I made. Mistake you made it.

SPEAKER_06

But but you learned my prior brought you and your wife closer because you saw like wow, she was really understanding about that, which is awesome. I love I love hearing about you and your wife. Your family's awesome. If you could only travel to one place, where would you go? And who are you taking? And you're not taking cash, apparently.

SPEAKER_05

No, okay. Well, I since I already mentioned my wife in the previous one, I'll skip over her for this, even though I probably would take her somewhere. But um, I would take my kids, three girls, I would take them um and I just went on vacation last week and it was a great recharge, and that's probably why I'm thinking about this. But I would just take them to the most beautiful, exotic beach that I could and just turn life off and do nothing but you know, enjoy their company. Um beach. The most beautiful beach that I've been to. Uh I hope I'm pronouncing this correctly, Fernando de Naranja in uh in Brazil. Oh yeah, I went there uh for part of my honeymoon, and it was just uh the colors, the the the nature, the it just everything about it was just breathtaking. So that's that's where I would go. I'd take my kids this time.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah. Oh, that's awesome. What's something you believed strongly 10 years ago that you don't believe anymore?

SPEAKER_05

Ten years ago. Okay, not to reveal my age, but okay. Ten years ago. Okay. Um I thought that you know these years are for when you should focus more on work. Use your energy for that, because it's gonna be pay more dividends later in life. And while some of that's true, I would say that spending while you have that energy working on things like your relationships, friends, uh, maintaining constant contact with people, it it's gonna pay dividends later in life too. Um it's so easy to lose touch with people. Um so easy to lose touch with people, and it I mean you can always reconnect later, but I feel like if you put in a lot of your energy early, people know, hey, this is this is someone that that really cares about me for for who I am and they're they're always gonna be there. And um, especially, you know, after school, job, kids, it it it it's harder. But I I think it's good to always make sure that you're working on all parts of life, not not just your career.

SPEAKER_06

I love that. Relationships over stuff and money, and obviously, you know, but you know, sometimes it takes like you know, getting a little older and like having being a parent, I think changes your personality.

SPEAKER_05

My answers right now are probably influenced like with that because I'm I'm in the thick of it with kids right now.

How To Set Up And Simplify

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, you know. The three girls, absolutely. I feel you. Okay. As you know, as you know, I know we both have the mine are a little older than yours, but just wait, the teenagers are coming, and then you're gonna be like, so no, I didn't know 10 years ago that's right. Girls could be so mean. No.

SPEAKER_05

Um I'll cross that bridge down the road.

SPEAKER_06

So the takeaways are, you know, really, you know, think about who you want to serve, think about in what capacity, um, really reviewing your estate plan ongoing, talking to her professional, um, making sure everything's in place and, you know, just revisit it often and make sure everything's good.

SPEAKER_05

Yep. All sound advice.

SPEAKER_06

Um, and it's really not a power of attorney is not really losing control. Um, it's more about staying in control and having the people surrounding you should you need that, um, no matter what happens, just because, you know, life is going to happen and things are going to be unexpected. Um, and so having things in place or documents in place and a plan in place is really important for when those unexpected moments happen. Well, thanks for listening to today's episode. If you're interested in learning more about Wiser Wealth Management or want to schedule a consultation to meet with our one of our fiduciary financial advisors, you can do so by going to wiserinvestor.com or clicking in the link in the episode notes. If you would like to talk to Arun Gupta, we also have your website and contact information in the show notes as well. Thank you. We'll see you next week.

SPEAKER_02

Thanks for listening to a wiser retirement podcast. We hope you enjoyed today's episode. Make sure to subscribe wherever you're listening. That way you don't miss any new episodes. We'd also appreciate if you could leave a rating and review. If you have any questions about anything that was discussed today, head to WiserInvestor.com and reach out. This podcast is strictly for informational purposes only and is not to be considered as investment advice or solicitation to buy or sell any financial products, securities, digital assets, or any other investment vehicles or a basis to make any financial decisions. Wiser Wealth Management Incorporated is a registered investor advisor with the SEC. The host andor guest may personally own securities, digital assets, or other investment vehicles mentioned on this podcast. Neither the host nor guests of the show are compensated for their participation, and no referral fees are paid to or received by any host or guest for clients, listeners, or similar interests. Investments involve risk, and unless otherwise stated are not guaranteed. Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial advisor, tax professional, insurance professional, andor legal professional before implementing any strategy discussed herein. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.