Personal

Welcome Summer! I hope all of you will have the opportunity to get outdoors and soak up the sunshine. The Federal Open Market Committee predicts a beautiful summer. The Colgan household has another big announcement – Kathy is pregnant again! Yes, we are expecting our second child on December 26th. Should be a memorable holiday. Christopher is also doing well. He recently turned 9 months old and as you can see from the picture below he loves to play peek-a-boo

Peek-a-boo at the Playground

Business

This month I would like to highlight a new product that I believe everyone should strongly consider. It is a revolutionary website that helps you organize your affairs and create your end-of-life plan. I know what you are thinking – “Why do I need to express my final wishes in advance? I am happy and healthy – and I really don’t want to deal with that stuff right now.” Well I can appreciate your hesitation but if you really care about your loved ones this would be the gift of a lifetime.

To learn more please read the following news release and visit www.planyourlegacy.com to “Take a Tour.” Show that you care enough to take care of the details.

Sincerely,
Mark Colgan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Groundbreaking Website Launched, Defines End-of-Life Planning & Personal Legacy Issues for Families

Pittsford, NY, June 7, 2006— How would you like to be remembered? Have you ever worried that your grandchildren may be left with few memories of you? Do you want to take control of your final arrangements to minimize the burden on your survivors? Now there is a new website that lets you document your life story, make your final wishes known and even let you craft one last conversation with your loved ones after your death.

“People typically consult with attorneys to create a Will, Healthcare Proxy and/or Power of Attorney. They may even consult with a financial planner to better understand how to preserve their monies for future generations. But, there are a myriad of significant details that are often left unsaid, unplanned and open to guesswork after one’s death,” explains Mark Colgan, CFP, founder of www.PlanYourLegacy.com and president of Colgan Capital, a financial planning firm specializing in working with widows, widowers and their families. “This website gives individuals a place, structure and process for communicating all of their final wishes to survivors, ultimately helping to ease the burden on survivors after death giving them room to grieve, heal, and celebrate your life.”

PlanYourLegacy.com builds upon the national success of The Survivor Assistance Handbook: A Guide for Financial Transition and The Personal Legacy Journal both authored by Colgan. Unlike other websites that only address issues of grieving, legal matters or financial planning, this site offers a comprehensive set of integrated tools that guides families through the practical and personal concerns that together make up the growing field of end-of-life planning.

The average age of a widow today is just 56 years old; half of women 65 years old are widowed and they are living an average of fourteen years longer than their spouses. Nearly 75% of widows now living in poverty were not poor when their husbands were alive. That means that too often death comes too soon, before most people are prepared for the end of a loved one’s life. “Colgan believes that with the kind of preparation offered by www.PlanYourLegacy.com, everyone can take the steps necessary to protect the most important people in one’s life. Some of the tools that can be found on the PlanYourLegacy.com site include:

• Legacy Journal—A simple fill-in-the-blank format that systematically guides you through the process for documenting, storing and ensuring delivery of important information about your preferences for funeral and burial arrangements, organ donation, pet care, etc. It prompts you for the names of important advisors, as well as the location of key documents and much more.
• Memorable Messages— One of the most difficult aspects of grieving is that unresolved longing for one last conversation with a loved one. This site offers you the opportunity to create personal messages to your loved ones, and to create one last conversation, which will be sent out shortly after your death to ease the burden of grief.
• Online Memorial—Hearing stories about a loved one deepens our understanding and appreciation of their life. This section allows members and their survivors to easily create a unique memorial page by adding a biography, pictures, video clips and audio files.
• Support for Survivors—Survivors have access to critical information that will guide them through the financial, legal and administrative aftermath of your death, helping them successfully navigate common pitfalls like loss of benefits, identity theft and get-rich-quick investment schemes. Based upon Colgan’s best-selling The Survivor Assistance Handbook, this section also provides checklists and worksheets to educate survivors about managing day-to-day finances.

According to The Allianz American Legacies Study (July 2005), while 68% of the nation's baby boomers say they feel highly confident discussing key elements of inheritance and legacy planning issues, only one third have actually done so with their own families because it is so difficult. This website also offers advice to families of aging or ill parents on how to have that important end-of-life planning talk with their parents.

Interested individuals are invited to take a free tour of the site by going to www.PlanYourLegacy.com. However, access to the integrated end-of-life planning tools site is reserved for members only. There are two membership options offered. The first is an $85 one-time fee with a annual renewal fee of only $15 or a single payment of $185 for a lifetime membership. Both options offer a 30-day, money-back guarantee.