Before we dive into today’s blog post, we want to take a moment to thank our Veterans for their service. We deeply appreciate the sacrifices you have made.
We recently provided a guide to great aging and caregiver resources that are on Mass Gov’s website. In honor of November being National Veterans and Military Families Month, we wanted to direct you to the Veterans Affairs website, and remind you of a couple areas you should look into on there.
Right when you land on the homepage you will see great resources to explore: ones related to healthcare like refilling and tracking your prescription or messaging your health care team, and others related to education, disability and records.
If you scroll down, you will see that there is a link to information on VA life insurance options. Life insurance is an excellent financial and estate planning tool. On the VA life insurance page, you can learn about different options, eligibility, and access links to manage your policy or update your beneficiaries. And as clients of Family Estate Planning Law Group and regular readers of our blog know, regularly reviewing and updating beneficiary designations is essential.
The site also provides information on and resources for accessing health benefits for caregivers, you can check that out here. If you are a caregiver of a Veteran with disabilities, you should look into the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers.
If you haven’t done research into Veteran Directed Home and Community Based Services, you should consider doing so. If you need care or think you might need caregiving in the future, this program might be a great fit. Veterans receive a flexible budget for services that either the Veteran or the family caregiver can manage, and this can be used to help you stay at home or in your community. Learn more about the program on the VA site here. For additional information, you can read about it on the Administration for Community Living site by clicking here.
If you check out the burial and memorials section, you could work on preplanning your funeral and take some of the guess work out if for your family. Of if you are planning a burial and funeral for a loved one who was a Veteran, this section can set you in the right direction.
While we only mentioned a few important aspects of the Veterans Affairs website, we encourage you to spend some time exploring. This site is quite comprehensive. Whether you are Veteran looking for resources or a family member of one, if you haven’t spent some time diving into the available VA resources, it would be wise to do so, so you are aware of programs and options you may consider now or in the future.
If you want to learn about some specific financial planning tips to guide you as you explore the VA site, check out this article from Investopedia.
At Family Estate Planning Law Group, we want to help you have peace of mind with your estate plan. Estate planning is more than just signing the dotted line on some documents, it is far more comprehensive, and for Veterans there are specific estate planning strategies that you will want to implement. Planning for Veterans is something we have experience and take great joy in. We become partners with you in life to make sure your estate plan adapts with you as you experience the changes life throws at you from growing families, asset changes, to shifting needs as you age, all done with an understanding of your VA benefits. You protected our country, and we want to help protect you and your family through our holistic and ongoing process.
To learn more about estate planning for Veterans and how we can help your family, schedule a complimentary consultation today!