Exit Strategies

If you haven't made plans for your final arrangements, you should! In the past, we lived in the locality where we grew up; our funerals took place according to established ritual in our local place of worship, and we were buried by our next of kin. But today, families are scattered, perhaps fractured; many older people are single, or have loved ones who don't get along; and, everything has become so much more complicated. Do you want to live indefinitely on life support? Where do you want your last resting place to be? Do you believe in an afterlife? Do you want to leave your millions (or your stamp collection) to charity instead of relatives? Who will make your final arrangements? It may be that you don't feel inclined to think about these questions, but they're no worse than buying life insurance or writing your will, and most of us accept these responsibilities for the sake of loved ones. By neglecting to address your end-of-life arrangements, you might be condemning yourself to a fate you consider worse than death, or else letting your survivors in for a whole lot of grief.