People tend to get serious about the process of estate planning and preparing for the eventualities of aging as their retirement years start to come into focus, and this is understandable. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words, and when you are younger you are surrounding by the backdrop of youthful endeavors. As a parent of dependent children you can relate to the lives of your kids more than you can the experience of your parents and grandparents. After all, you can remember your own childhood but you have no personal experience of reaching middle age and beyond.
But as you get older the realities that seniors face start to creep into your personal experience. Some of your extended family members may fall ill when you remember how vibrant they once were. You will invariably attend some funerals, and some of your own peer may pass away. By the time your retirement years start to beckon over the horizon you are well aware of the full spectrum of life experiences. This is why estate planning becomes more important to people of this age.
Although none of us can cheat death, it is not necessarily knocking on your door when you reach a certain age. The mind is very powerful, and if you feel as though you have reached the age where goal setting is no longer an option you may indeed be accelerating the process. Your zest for life and enjoyment of each day may have something to do with your life span, and it certainly has plenty to do with the quality of your life.
With this in mind consider the story of Bill Burke, a Costa Mesa, California senior citizen who climbed Mount Everest in 2009 at the age of 67. He tried and fell short at 65 and 66, but would not accept the notion that his age stood in his way. Much is possible at virtually any point in your life, and to a very real extent, age is indeed just a number.
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