Food for Thought: Bringing Estate Planning to Life

Monika Rohlmann is an environmental consultant in Victoria, B.C.

A banker, a cook, and a writer got together to bring you this story.
Blacklock works as an investment and estate planning specialist,
Miyashiro is a chef and founder of a catering company, and Murphy is a
freelance writer.

Four fictional families living in Calgary regularly get together to
dine and discuss matters of life (and death). Their collective is known
as the Elderberry Gate Club, and through conversation, wine, and good
food, they bring you everyday discussion about family wills, estates,
and the complications that can arise from poor (or no) planning. From
September to July, each month has its own chapter complete with menus
and recipes and over-the-fence and dining room discussion. From “do I
need a will?” to “just do it!” the book guides you past planning
phobia into compliant submission.

The characters are fake, the conversation is fictional, the advice is
factual, and the food is fancy. Does one really need to read 224 pages
to be told that having no will is stupid; that do-it-yourself will kits
are incomplete, and that only an investment and estate professional can
properly prepare your affairs for bliss in the afterlife?

The idea of a neighborhood club coming together to cook, dine, and
discuss financial matters has great merit. But let’s find a real
group, with real problems and real do-it-yourself solutions.