Estate Planning After 60: Preparing for Healthcare, Long-Term Care, and Retirement Security
As we grow older, our priorities may shift from building wealth to protecting what we’ve earned and ensuring a secure, dignified future. Estate planning for seniors goes beyond drafting a will—it involves thoughtful preparation for healthcare decisions, long-term care needs, and retirement income. At Cannon Legal Firm, we understand how essential it is to plan with clarity and compassion during this stage of life. Here are key considerations every senior should keep in mind.
1. Healthcare Directives and Powers of Attorney
One of the most critical parts of an estate plan for seniors can be establishing healthcare directives. These documents allow you to make your medical wishes known in advance:
- Advance Healthcare Directive (AHCD): This document outlines what medical treatments you do or do not want if you cannot communicate.
- Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare: This allows you to name a trusted individual to make medical decisions on your behalf if you’re incapacitated.
Having these documents in place can relieve your loved ones from making difficult decisions without guidance and help ensure your preferences are honored.
2. Planning for Long-Term Care
Long-term care is one of the most underestimated aspects of aging. Many seniors may require some form of assistance, whether it’s in-home care, assisted living, or a nursing facility. However, the costs can be substantial.
Key planning tools include:
- Long-Term Care Insurance: A private policy that can help cover services Medicare doesn’t.
- Medi-Cal Planning: In California, Medi-Cal can help cover long-term care, but eligibility requirements are strict. With proper legal strategies, such as asset protection trusts, seniors can qualify while preserving their estate.
- Care Directives: These outline preferences for caregiving and can be incorporated into broader estate documents.
A skilled estate planning attorney can help create a strategy that prepares you financially and legally for future care.
3. Retirement and Income Planning
Estate planning can also involve ensuring that your retirement income supports your lifestyle and legacy goals. Key steps include:
- Reviewing Beneficiaries: Make sure IRA, 401(k), and other retirement account beneficiaries are up to date.
- Trusts for Asset Management: Revocable living trusts can help manage your assets during retirement and distribute them smoothly after death.
- Minimizing Taxes: Strategic estate planning can help reduce tax burdens for you and your heirs.
Understanding how your income streams, investments, and benefits work together is essential for peace of mind in retirement.
At Cannon Legal Firm, we believe estate planning is about more than documents—it’s about people. Seniors deserve to enjoy their retirement years with confidence, knowing their healthcare, long-term care, and financial future are secure. Get a free consultation.
About Attorney Dana Cannon…
I am a wife, stepmother, new grandmother, and dog mom. I am a long-time resident of Long Beach, California. I grew up on the beaches of Orange County. I am proud to provide estate planning, trust and estate administration and litigation services to Long Beach, Seal Beach, and all of Orange County, Los Angeles County, and the surrounding counties of Southern California. My husband and I are avid boaters and spend several weeks a year on Catalina Island with our bulldogs.
I know that you have lives, families, careers, and other things that are important to you. As your attorney, my goal is to help to demystify the legal process and allow you to focus on what matters to you.
I have nearly 30 years of experience with Estate and Trust Litigation matters. As an attorney, I have successfully administered, litigated, and settled small estates involving minimal assets, complex matters with assets in excess of $30 million, and everything in between.
My passion and drive to help clients stem from my personal experience with a family dispute involving my grandmother. I know firsthand the emotional toll a legal dispute involving a loved one can take on a family.
It is my objective to ensure that my clients are well-informed every step of the way, confident that their rights are being protected, and that all parties involved are treated with respect.