How Not To Tear Your Family Apart

The goal of this book is to help individuals, families, and friends plan for both the expected and unexpected. Use this book as a tool to broaden your understanding of how to start important conversations with friends and family about long-term planning and to learn about your options. In the case of planning for immediate, extended, or long-term care needs, one size does not fit all. To bring to life the gravity of some of the issues facing families as they undertake this planning, I’ve created the Jones family, whose stories will hopefully demonstrate how all this works in the real world. There are three generations in the Jones family: the grandparents, James and Carolyn; their daughter and son-in-law, Jodi and Jackson; and their grandchildren, Erik and Nicole. I hope you’ll see yourself or someone you care about in some of these characters and be inspired to share this book with others who need to start important generational conversations and open a planning dialogue with friends and/or family.

My three simple steps offer you a framework to start conversations, open lines of communication, encourage participation, and talk about choices and financial stability. This is about living your best possible life as you age and letting other generations do the same.