End-of-Life Planning Should Include Legacy Videos
Planning for the end of life is as serious and hard as it sounds. Experts say that you should plan for everything, from what will be in your obituary to where your Facebook password is. There are a lot of resources that give (mostly) complete lists of what should be part of your end-of-life planning, but some of them leave out an important part: your legacy.
You may have heard of planning ahead for care. Advanced care planning is similar, but it's more about decisions about health and wellness than about Facebook passwords. The National Institute on Aging says that advanced care planning is deciding "what kind of health care you would want if you got too sick to tell the doctor yourself.
Back to making plans for death. After reading through a number of checklists for end-of-life planning, you should pay attention to the following non-health-related topics:
Legal paperwork for your estate, things, assets, pets, and so on (such as a will)
Thoughts about money (such as whether or not insurance will help pay for your burial)
Accounts and security codes (how can someone login to that Facebook account and shut it down)
What do you want for a funeral and burial (open casket, wake, cremation?)
What would you like it to say in the death notice or obituary?
That is by no means a full list, but one important thing that we've noticed is missing from many checklists for end-of-life planning is writing down your legacy. Having a say in your obituary or death announcement is a good step, but how do you really want your family and close friends to remember you? This is one of the most important reasons why it's so important to record a legacy video.
We call this kind of recording a legacy video, but you may also know it as a video biography, an oral history video, or a personal video memoir.
Recording a legacy video is a great way to share your favorite life stories, milestones, and accomplishments, as well as how much your family and friends meant to you. It will be a family heirloom that friends and family will treasure when they miss you the most. If you don't know what to ask in a video like this, you can use a few different methods to make the best legacy video you can.
Planning ahead for things like legal paperwork, money, and funeral wishes will make things easier for the family. A legacy video can also make a big difference.
When you think about planning for the end of your life, making a legacy video should be on your list for more than one reason.
