However, I'm going to argue that taxes aren't necessarily a certainty in the same way as death. What if there is an all-out SHTF, for example, there may not be taxes, but there will certainly be death.  

In this slow-burning SHTF, I'm looking around my life and fixing what I can fix. I'm preparing how I can prepare, but I'm looking at things close by AND this one certainty that I can't avoid: I will definitely die someday. Now I know that death isn't a very popular topic in this culture. That's why we should talk about it now all the more!

This all came to the forefront when I visited my elderly great-uncle in his new care home. Seeing his condition and his surroundings struck a chord of fear in me, a fear greater than my fear of any nuclear attack, which I probably wouldn't survive anyhow. 

I realized that, while I have an impressive array of batteries and solar-powered lights, and I have more off-grid knowledge than you can shake a stick at, I am woefully unprepared for death. I have no living will. I have no proper legal will. I have stuff that I would like the people I love to get, but right now, they may in the courts for the rest of their lives trying to get it. I saw this recently when an elderly aunt left only an improper handwritten will. This ate up thousands of her estate as it went through the courts, with her assets frozen for more than a year.

Am I alone in my lack of preparations? Heck no! In fact, according to a recent 2023 survey conducted by AARP, only 1 in 3 older Americans has a living will in place. 

So, although I'm in good company, I've realized that this is something that I need to do, for my own peace of mind, and for those of my close family members. 

Why a Living Will?

I saw my great uncle's condition. He sadly didn't recognize me, asking if I was a new employee at the home. He didn't appear to know where he was much of the time. Sometimes he was afraid, and he was uncomfortable and in pain. I worry that the time may come soon when he is unable to make decisions for himself about his own health care. What might happen then?

When I talked later in the week with my mother and sister, I let them know that I did not want any extreme measures to extend my life. My sister quite rightly said, "Well, that's nice to know, but what you have told us will not likely carry a lot of weight, so you had better get yourself a living will." 

Now, keep in mind, everyone will have to decide for themselves in what context they would like "extreme measures" taken and in what context they do not. For myself, I want medical professionals to know that I do not want to be on life support indefinitely, should I be brain-dead.