I must be really stupid

I must be really stupid or something. You see, I have done several things that would make me engaged in the future of my family. Most people are not engaged in thinking about their family and their future. Instead they want to focus on doing nothing and saving their money so they can spend it on themselves. They must be the really smart people. I have to be the stupidest idiot on the planet.

You see, I must be stupid because I have a pour over will and a living trust. Not only have I taken the time to have a will prepared, but also a living trust. In addition, I have amended my living trust as needed. Further, my wife and I have sat down and made the choices related to our health care, in case we become incapacitated. We have power of attorney documents for both financial and health care decisions. I must be stupid, because I paid an attorney to perform these services for my family. I am an idiot for not using an online service or software company to provide me a template and prepare these documents myself. I am even dumber for doing this while I was legally competent.

The smart people must be the ones who do not hire attorneys and pay them their fees. The really smart people must use online services or software companies and prepare their own legal documents. Or better yet, the really, really smart people must be the ones who do not have a will at all. These really, really smart people must be the ones who do not have a living trust, nor do they have living wills or powers of attorney documents, either. Boy I wish I was as smart as the really, really smart people.

You see, paying 3% in probate fees because you do not have a will must be a really smart strategy. Also, these really smart people know that if they go through probate, then everyone will know how smart they are, because everything about them becomes public knowledge.

Having to go to court and have a legal guardian declared to take care of your minor children must be a smart strategy, too. Instead of paying the attorney while you are alive, you pay the attorney and court costs when you are dead! The attorney has to file court papers for every year of your minor children's life until they turn 18 years of age. In fact, I know of a guy who remarried and had passed away without a will. He had remarried and had two minor children. He was so smart. A guardianship had to be established through the courts. He got to pay the attorney and court costs after he was dead.

The state law for those dying without a will in his state was that his two minor children got two thirds of his estate. The other third was fought out in court. His new wife sued the mother of his children. The new wife, you see wasn't in the will because there was no will, so she decided to hire an attorney to sue his estate in probate court so everyone could keep up with what was going on. It was all public knowledge by this time. This new wife even wanted to control the money for the minor kids that were not even her kids. You see this guy was real smart. He didn't have a will. He was so smart. He was even a doctor! Doctors are way smarter than I am. They go to college and medical school. That makes them way smarter than me.

You see, the really smart people do not want to have to make that "pulling the plug" decision with a living will. They have no need to worry about the future hospital costs, since they will be "veggin out" anyway. These smart people know that putting the "pull the plug" decision on the shoulders of their family members is no sweat off of their back. It doesn't matter that their family member may have regrets for the rest of their lives for having to make that decision. What's important is that the really smart person saved those darn attorneys fees. That trumps everything else. Nothing else matters when it comes to saving money for smart people.

You see, I must be really stupid, because I have life insurance and my wife has life insurance. This insurance is in place to help the surviving spouse in case one of us were to die prematurely. Yet, I must be stupid, because the smart people do not have any life insurance. How could I have been so stupid to buy life insurance when I was still healthy. If I would have only waited until I was uninsurable, then I could have saved all those life insurance premiums. Boy was I dumb.

I know of one guy who had two dads. One of his dad's, his biological father had little to no life insurance, even though he had four kids. The other dad, who was this guy's step dad, also had four kids, including his step son, but he must have been stupid. He bought $1,000,000 worth of life insurance. Both dads died prematurely. However, the step dad had to be stupid to buy $1,000,000 of life insurance. Are you kidding me? The sacrifice for the life insurance premiums must have been enormous. What kind of idiot would care enough about their four kids, even when one of them wasn't even his own, would spend money on life insurance? That step dad must have been really stupid. Just like me.

I know for a fact that I am really, really stupid, because me and my wife have a Long Term Care insurance policy. The really smart people must be the ones who do not have Long Term Care insurance. These smart people know that Long Term Care insurance is expensive, therefore they are smart enough not to buy any of it. They are smart enough to know precisely when they are going to die. They know for certain that they are just going to keel over one day and they will never need it. Either that, or they believe that their adult kids will not mind dropping everything in their own lives to care for them. This is obviously the smart way to take care of  Long Term Care issues. Put it all on the shoulders of their adult kids. Boy these people are so smart. I must be stupid, because I am paying for Long Term Care insurance. I am such an idiot. I could have saved that money and let my kids take care of me.

My conclusions for being stupid beyond a shadow of a doubt are that I paid for attorney fees to plan for me or my wife's early demise. I paid what most people would consider to be too much in attorney's fees. I paid for and continue to pay for life insurance and Long Term Care insurance. Pure stupidity. I could have saved all that money and the money that I have to continue to pay in the future. I am not selfish and self centered like all the smart people. That is a bad character flaw that I have...that is not being selfish and self-centered. I need to work on being more selfish and self-centered, then I might be one of those really smart people.

You see, smart people will read this blog post and receive confirmation on how really smart they are compared to me. I must be really stupid.

If you want  to discuss how hiring an attorney and paying Life and Long Term Care insurance premiums has made me so stupid, then feel free to give me a call.