My Comments: I expected to be retired now. But I’m one of millions who find it better to keep working and use the daily mental challenge to stay healthy, and because the income is welcome.

But the topic here is not an easy one to resolve. I can attest to the difficulty of talking with folks about their mortality. Funerals are not generally fun events. But they are inevitable and to the extent you can make life better for those you leave behind, I think you have an obligation to at least make an attempt.

By Paula Aven Gladych

People always talk about their plans for retirement, and they spend a good portion of their lives saving money in retirement accounts so they can maintain their lifestyles in their later years. But planning for the future isn’t just about retirement accounts or what you want to do with all of your free time.

According to financial experts, people also need to plan for what comes after their retirement—end-of-life planning.

That means legacy and estate planning, life insurance, long-term care and burial preparations.

Many people don’t want to talk about their own mortality, so they avoid planning for it.

The single biggest gap in legacy and estate planning is education, said David Richmond, president of Richmond Brothers, a registered investment advisory firm in Michigan.

“Do parents talk to their kids as they age about their money and how it is going to come to them? Do we teach, as an American culture, how to give money away or how to manage money? It is not taught in high school or college. It is not taught anywhere,” he said.

Wealthier families have always taught these things because they have more money to pass down, but conversations about money should take place in all families, regardless of income.