The Missing Piece of Most Estate Plans
Jen and Karen are the founders of Heartwood Collective, an organization providing end-of-life consultations and death doula services. They are the guest authors for this month’s post, and will be hosting an educational webinar on November 13, 2025 for interested RSMA clients.
You can register for the webinar here.
The Heartwood Collective and their services are not affiliated with LPL Financial and RSMA Wealth Management.
Having a strong financial plan and creating a will with a trusted estate attorney are essential first steps to “getting your affairs in order.”
But they aren’t the only steps.
Those documents account for what you own—the assets, property, and accounts you’ve spent a lifetime building. But there are also other, more personal questions that deserve equal care:
What happens to your body?
Who should be involved in your medical decisions?
Where can important papers and account information be found?
How do you want to be remembered?
Answering these questions, and documenting your wishes, is an act of love. It relieves your family from the burden of guessing what you would have wanted. A thoughtful “death plan” can outline not just funeral preferences, but also practical instructions: who will care for pets, how digital accounts should be handled, or what final words you’d like read at your service.
From our conversations with Kari, Judy, Devin, and Mercedes, we know that RSMA views this kind of preparation as a natural part of a holistic financial plan. Just as RSMA helps clients model retirement cash flows, establish estate structures, and plan for the transfer of wealth, they also see the value of conversations that go beyond numbers. That’s because having a clear plan for your final wishes adds a key layer your financial and estate documents—it gives your loved ones the clarity and confidence to carry them out.
Far from being grim, this process can be deeply life-affirming. Many clients find that thinking about how they want to be remembered brings focus to how they want to live right now. It can also lead to meaningful family discussions about values, generosity, and legacy, which are the same themes that underpin good wealth stewardship.
Avoiding the topic of mortality doesn’t make it less real. It only makes it harder for others when the time comes. Taking proactive, practical steps today like updating estate documents, confirming liquidity for expenses, and sharing both logistical and emotional wishes can create peace of mind for you and clarity for those you love.
Death is a part of life worth planning for, just as we plan for education, retirement, and the milestones in between. By making that plan, you ensure that your final chapter reflects the same thoughtfulness and intention that guided every other part of your life.
About the Authors
Jen Tadjedin is a Death Doula and Certified Senior Advisor who brings both personal insight and professional dedication to her end-of-life work. After a career in advertising, Jen pursued a major shift—one that led her to seek more meaningful, human-centered work. Over time, her deep comfort with death and dying, shaped by personal life experiences, became the foundation for a new path rooted in service.
Today, Jen is driven by a strong desire to help others approach the end of life with clarity, empowerment, and peace. Through one-on-one doula support and educational planning workshops, she works to normalize conversations about mortality and help individuals and families face this natural stage of life with openness and confidence.
Karen Callahan has always been drawn to people and their stories. From her recent career in people development on HR teams, to her earlier career helping to build StoryCorps, the national oral history project, she loves learning about the paths and experiences that shape one’s life and legacy.
After losing both of her parents, and witnessing how much we struggle – as a society – talking about and accepting our mortality, Karen turned her focus to helping people talk about and plan for the end of their life. In her work at The Heartwood Collective, she is committed to leading folks through these important decisions with compassion and candor and in a way that honors the life they’ve lived.
She completed her End-of-Life Doula training through The Peaceful Presence Project, and recently became a Certified Senior Advisor.
It is through The Heartwood Collective that Jen and Karen continue to pursue their passion for end-of-life education and planning.
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