Hurricane Sandy, And The Sin of Denial

Whew! Fall has arrived! And we’ve made it through another hurricane season without a storm, right?

Well…not me! I just got back from a week in New York City – and Hurricane Sandy!

No, I am not a hurricane chaser. Just bad timing!

It was strange for a Floridian. Down here, we’ve learned through experience. But, despite the destruction wrought by last year’s Hurricane Irene, the Northeast was totally unprepared. I mean totally unprepared! Forget generators...they didn’t even have flashlights! They didn’t even go to the gas station before the storm hit. They had no idea what they were in for.

Even the least-prepared Floridians have the basics down. But the ignorance and self-deception up North – despite nearly a week of warning - was baffling. And very scary.

Many folks up there acted as if it would just be rainy and windy. And this was a denial of “hurricane” proportions.

As an Elder Law attorney, I see denial every day. Not about hurricanes, but about illness and incapacity, death and dying. I’ve watched clients approach the long-term care journey with the same denial New Yorkers had about the storm.

And I know how easy it is to be in denial. Nobody wants to think about getting sick in their later years. But many of us, eventually, will. Would you rather face that possibility with the security of having planned for it? Or would you rather just bet – everything! – that you won’t need to plan?

Nobody wants to think about dying, either. But we’re all going to do it! Some of us will be prepared for that eventuality, with asset-protection and long-term care plans. Others of us – who haven’t planned properly – may have to choose between their quality of life and their heirs. And those who haven’t planned at all may come to the end of their days having lost every cent.

At The Law Offices of Alice Reiter Feld & Associates, we practice Elder Law. For the past 33 years, we’ve worked with thousands of South Florida families to prepare them for the inevitable changes (and end-result) of the aging process…with comprehensive estate planning, wills, trusts, powers of attorney, long-term care planning, asset-protection plans, and assistance with Medicaid or the VA.

Death is inevitable. And illness is likely. You can’t deny it. But you can prepare for it.

We’re just a phone call away.