Last Orders

Mel Croucher

Description

This is a hands-on guide to discover how long you will live, what you're worth and who gets what when you die. It takes you step by step through everything you need for a personal action plan, including your digital legacy, your will, your final years, your death, funeral, and all your last orders for after you've gone. Relax. Stop worrying. Here are the answers to sort out your online and real world affairs and solve all those life and death problems. LAST ORDERS covers everything clearly, simply and honestly. An essential read for everyone who is not immortal.

Sujets

• Economie gestion
• Personal finance
• Succession

Informations

• Publié par: Andrews UK
• Date de parution: 15 février 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781785386398
• Langue: English

Extrait

Last Orders
Your Life
Your Legacy
In The Digital Age
What You’re Worth
And Who Benefits
When You Die
Mel Croucher





First published in 2017 by
AG Books
www.agbooks.co.uk
Digital edition converted and distributed by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
© Copyright 2016 Mel Croucher
The right of Mel Croucher to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Any person who does so may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The views and opinions expressed herein belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect those of AG Books or Andrews UK Limited.



Introduction
This is a hands-on guide to find out how long you’re likely to live, to reckon what you’re worth, to decide who gets what when you die, and to deal with your digital legacy. It takes you step by step through all the answers you need for a personal action plan, including your Will, your final years, your death, funeral, and all your last orders for after you’re gone. Everything is presented as simple questions and answers, along with options and examples. There’s no confusing jargon, and there’s instant online back-up for everything you need.
Relax. Stop worrying. Here are the answers to sort out your online and real world affairs and solve all those life and death problems: How does my lifestyle really affect how long I’ll live? What happens about all my secret passwords? How do I protect everything I’ve worked for getting ripped off? Who’ll sort things out if I get dementia? Can my partner and I have the same Will? What should I do if I’m told I’m dying? Where do I store my last wishes for safekeeping? What’s the best way of telling people I’m dead or alive? How do I get my internet browsing history shredded? Why can’t someone else sort all this out? Where do I find templates to help me with everything? How do I make sure the dog gets looked after? Can I do everything myself, or do I need a lawyer, an accountant or a priest? How do I get my farewell video live-streamed at my funeral? What can’t I put in my Will? Where does a gay relationship stand in all this? What do all those legal words really mean? Is there a lazy guide to save me time, trouble and money? ...and hundreds more questions answered to help you do the right thing.
LAST ORDERS covers everything
clearly, simply and honestly.
An essential read for everyone
who is not immortal.



Disclaimer & Help
A whole load of research and experience has gone into producing this guide, and every effort has been made to provide you with full and accurate information. But nobody can predict all the circumstances you find yourself in, or the way you decide to use this stuff, or any choices or decisions you may make as a result. The author, publisher, retailer, website and app managers cannot be held liable by you or anyone else with respect to any loss or damage that may or may not be caused by using the information in this guide, or any resulting decisions, actions or circumstances. Thanks for your understanding.
This is a stand-alone publication. You don’t need any legal knowledge, technical know-how or financial expertise to use it for your best benefit. If you need any extras or help, there’s a complete set of ready-made templates which are free to use and free to print at our sister website www.living.estate and the app Living Estate, along with a whole host of online services and a secure electronic vault to store everything.



About the Author


Mel Croucher is a popular author, respected journalist, and internet security expert. He has been an auditor and consultant to major players in literature, business and entertainment, and helped sort out the online assets, inventories, valuations and legacies of world-class celebrities. His many clients include Prince, Eminem, and the families of Frank Zappa and Michael Jackson.
Back in the real world, Mel handled the aftermath of the early deaths of his own mum and dad. It was then that his family and friends started to ask him, “Hey Mel, will you do that for me when the time comes.” So he did. He conducted funerals and memorial services, handled wills, probate and estates, and developed expert methods and systems for facing up to the end of life in our digital age. When his life-long best friend got Alzheimer’s, he knew it was time to write this book.
As he begins to squint Death in the face himself, he’s put everything at your disposal for the first time, using his experience of all the practicalities, as well as a unique insight into our digital lives and legacies.
It makes no difference if you’re young or old, in the humblest of circumstances or the grandest, we all need to make the same choices in the end. So save yourself a whole load of time and trouble, because Mel has done all the hard work for you. Your Last Orders deserve no less. Live long and prosper.
The bells of Hell go ting-a-ling-a-ling,
For you but not for me.
The sweet-voiced angels sing-a-ling-a-ling,
They’ve got the goods on me.
Oh Death, where is thy sting-a-ling-a-ling,
Or grave thy victory?
(1916 marching song)



1. How Long Have I Got?
The days of our lives are threescore years and ten;
And if by reason of strength they be fourscore years,
Yet is their strength labour and sorrow;
For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
(The King James Bible, 1611)
Greetings, and welcome to chapter 1. If you’ve ever been Queen or a member of The Rolling Stones, you can skip this opening chapter. For the rest of us, here’s where we calculate the number of years left before we are likely to die. For readers of the printed book there are ready-made spaces to fill everything in. If you are reading this as an eBook, then you can use the built-in note facility and type in your responses. And if you don’t want to do that, take some blank sheets of paper or open a new electronic document for your results. The places and spaces for your results and answers are marked all the way through with this little hands-on pointy-finger symbol:


LIFE EXPECTANCY - INSTANT CALCULATION
OK. Let’s begin with a very simple calculation. It’s an instant reckoning for how long you’ve got left to live. According to the official statistics, our average lifespan as citizens is round about 81 years. So the obvious thing to do for an instant result is to subtract the age you are now from 81. Write down or type in the number of years you can expect to live, and this will be the starting point for all the rest of your lifespan calculations.
Example:
“I am 40 years old, so I deduct 40 from 81 to discover I’m likely to have 41 years left.”
My Life Expectancy Starting Point For The Number Of Years I Have Left


If you’ve ended up with a minus number, you can celebrate the fact you’ve already outlived most other people. On the other hand, if your result is in double digits, you could be thinking you’ve got plenty of time left to get to put your affairs in order. Well, it ain’t necessarily so.
Your life expectancy can be determined with a lot better accuracy when other factors are taken into account. For example, if you are male or female, what stage of life you have already reached, relevant family history, where you live, your weight, your lifestyle, and so on. When specific factors are thrown into the mix, you can calculate much more accurately how long you’ve got left. We are only dealing with adults here, and for our purposes this means over 18s. If you are under 18 then by all means join in and treat it all with the bravado you should, but treat it as a bit of fun that will come into play some time in your future.
PEOPLE ARE LIVING LONGER
The first edition of this book was written in 2017, and the best predictions reckon that our average lifespan will keep on increasing at a significant rate for at least the next ten years. After that it’s anyone’s guess as to how possible breakthroughs and catastrophes will affect things. So, the first thing you need to do is adjust that average figure of 81 years minus your current age life expectancy, if you happen to be reading this in the future.
If it’s not yet 2020 then don’t change a thing. If you are reading this after the year 2020 then make the starting point for your calculations 82 years. By 2025 the average lifespan should have increased by another year, making the starting point 83 years average lifespan. So greetings to the future, and make any necessary adjustments to your starting point in the space below. 2016 to 2020, no change. 2021 to 2024, add 1 year. 2025 onwards, add 2 years.
My Life Expectancy Adjusted For The Future


WOMEN LIVE LONGER THAN MEN
Let’s turn our attention to sex, and this is the simplest aspect of calculating your life expectancy, because the plain fact is that women tend to live longer than men. If you