Every Podcast Conversation at Your Fingertips

Dr. Kimberly Harms discusses the importance of end of life planning. She shares her journey from dentistry to becoming a grief counselor, death doula, mediator, and life coach after personal loss, emphasizing the importance of preparing for death and leaving a meaningful legacy. She explains how avoiding conversations about death often leads to family conflict, highlighting the need for clear wills, healthcare directives, letters of intent, and honest family discussions. Beyond finances, she stresses that legacies should center on love, resilience, forgiveness, and teaching life skills to future generations.

Dr. Kimberly Harms transitioned from a 30-year dental career to grief counseling and becoming a death doula after personal health issues and loss.
She emphasizes the importance of preparing for death to prevent family conflict and ensure a peaceful legacy.
Clear wills, healthcare directives, letters of intent, and family discussions are critical to avoiding post-death disputes.
Legacy goes beyond money, including love, resilience, life skills, and emotional guidance for future generations.
Grief is a process that requires active effort, time, and sometimes professional help to work through.
Celebrating life after grieving can bring joy and help loved ones move forward.
Discussing death openly with family, including children, helps prepare them and reduces misunderstandings later.
Emotional affairs, forgiveness, and reconciliation should be addressed while alive to avoid burdening loved ones.
Material possessions should be organized or distributed before death to minimize conflict.
True legacy is remembered in the hearts and minds of loved ones, not through wealth or public recognition.
Giving back through acts like teaching, volunteering, or creating positive impact can extend one’s legacy beyond family.
Preparing now—financially, emotionally, and relationally—ensures loved ones can thrive after one’s passing.

Today's Panelists:

Kirk Chisholm | Innovative Wealth
Barbara Friedberg | Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance
Douglas Heagren | Mergent College Advisors

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For more information, visit the show notes at https://moneytreepodcast.com/end-of-life-planning-kimberly-harms-750

0:00.0	Welcome to the Money Tree Investing Podcast.
0:04.8	Stock market, wealth, personal finance, value stocks, invest in your life.
0:10.7	Hello, Smart Money Tree podcast listeners.
0:12.5	Welcome to this week's show.
0:13.5	My name's Kirk Chisholm.
0:14.3	I'll be your host.
0:15.1	So today I'm joined with Dr. Kimberly Harms.
0:17.4	How you doing today, Kim?
0:18.4	I'm doing great.
0:19.3	How are you doing, Kirk?
0:20.3	Doing wonderful.
0:37.5	Well, glad to having the show. This is, I love this topic. Maybe the listeners won't. We'll see. I know it's kind of those weird topics, but it's, in my opinion, it is one of the most impactful topics in my work that nobody talks about. And so I really wanted to having the show because it is, we'll talk about it.
0:40.2	Anyway, Kim, tell us a bit about your background and what you do.
0:42.2	I started out as a dentist.
0:47.4	I was a dentist for 30 years until my good hand gave up and I had some nerve damage and I had to suddenly quit.
0:49.1	And I had worked a lot in dentistry and in leadership.
0:51.8	I was the first woman president of the Minnesota Dental Association.
0:55.0	It worked as a national spokesperson. So I was very busy in that field. And then I couldn't work anymore. So I had to rethink, what am I going to do now, right? It was a primary breadwinner of my family. My husband was sick. So I started looking, okay, so what do I do now? Second part of my life. And during that time, I became very interested in this area for women anyway between menopause and death. You know, you're looking at both sides. What the heck are you going to do? Then I became a widow and my husband passed away. So what I've done is I worked very hard to figure out what to do during this time. And I realize one of the most important things that we're lacking in is preparing
1:27.8	for death, graduating from life with all of our stuff in order. My husband passed away and I noticed
1:33.6	some things that I would have improved upon. So I became a grief counselor, a death dola, a civil
1:39.1	mediator, and a life coach. And I've written several books. And I'm focused really now on helping people
1:45.3	understand that life is short, the clock is ticking, we need to prepare the next generation
	...

End of Life Planning: Creating a Legacy That Lasts with Dr. Kimberly Harms

Money Tree Investing

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