Erica Mellone, CFP

Have you thought about how you want to be living when you’re 105? Does anyone know your wishes?

🐶 Luca, who has made appearances in many of my social updates and video meetings, is now 105 in human years, which is way past his life expectancy. Up until a year ago, I was often asked how he could be so spry at his age, and my half joking response was always “long walks, spending money on quality food, and having a comfortable couch to sneak up on”.

Today’s is not about saving for retirement.

🥦Modern medicine (and eating your veggies) could keep us around into our 100s too.

➡️ Early in my career I spent a lot of time discussing insurance with my clients and would hear a client's preferences or final wishes. But those wishes were often not in writing, and therefore most would not be carried out.

✅ A few years ago I started padding my emergency fund for the vet bills I knew were coming. While Luca’s blood work is “amazing for a dog his age”, his arthritis is on par with an active dog and has caught up with him after his years of partying hard.

🐾 Animals don’t always communicate when there is pain, and will try to push through it. They rely on their people to speak for them, and I’ll doubt my decisions instead of his veterinarian. If you’ve ever had a pet, you might relate to the monitoring and decision making phase I’m in.

📜 Humans have the ability to communicate our wishes, but many do not. We can appoint someone to speak for us, and instruct medical professionals how long and if we want extraordinary measures to be in effect. 🎁 We can direct how our toys will be distributed.

➡️ Without proper planning, your spouse or loved ones will have a more difficult experience carrying out your wishes, than you would for a pet. It’s not fun to think about, however once you created the proper documents with a trusted attorney, you won’t need to think about it again. And those you appoint to make decisions for you if necessary, will have clear guidance on what you want, and hopefully be at peace as they carry out your wishes.

➡️ August is I can’t create these documents for you, but I can offer attorney connections and help you plan for your savings to last for a long retirement. Luca is available by request to join video calls - just mention him in the memo when you book a discovery call 😉 https://go.oncehub.com/EricaMellone

Even if you’ve managed to recreate Fort Knox with your home cyber security system, you’ll eventually have to leave home. Traveling brings with it a whole new ballgame of cyber security risks you’ll want to prepare for. Here's how.
https://it.nc.gov/resources/cybersecurity-risk-management/cybersecurenc/tips/travel

If someone asked if you’d like to double-up the cyber security for your online accounts you’d say yes, right? That’s what two-factor authentication does! If you know you should enable it but aren’t quite sure how this will get you all caught up.

How to set up two-factor authentication on your online accounts 2FA is an important step in preventing your account from being accessed by unauthorized users.

Thank you to the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences for having me as a speaker to your Alumni on Wednesday evening. It's always a delight for to be able to provide education on timely topics.