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I looked at the picture of my two children that serves as my desktop wallpaper and asked myself what I really wanted out of my golden years. Parents often have a challenging choice to make once their children are born. At a time in their lives when their money is tied up on many fronts—saving for a down payment on a home, struggling with the relatively low income level one earns early in a career—they’re hit with the double whammy of needing to save for retirement and also needing to save to support their child’s education.

You’re most at risk if you have a lot of write-offs, have lots of kids, or live in a high-tax state. The good news is that you may be able to lessen the pain with smart planning, and a tax pro can help. • Your company has issued you stock options—Stock options can bring you wealth, but they can also trigger all kinds of nasty surprises—including big tax bills even when your investment has lost value. You’ll want a professional review of your situation before you exercise any stock options as well as follow-up afterward.

Suddenly, creating a will became a top priority. Having a will is also essential if you have minor children. You need to name a guardian and set up a trust to manage any money they inherit from you. Otherwise, a court battle could erupt over their care, and their money would be turned over to them at age 18—which is way too young to handle a big lump sum of cash. Even if you don’t think you need a will, you do need three things: • A durable power of attorney for finances, which allows you to name someone to make financial decisions for you if you’re incapacitated • A durable power of attorney for health care, which allows you to name someone to make medical decisions for you • A living will, which tells your doctors what kind of end-of-life care you want if you are terminally ill and incapacitated These documents can make an enormous difference in the quality of your life while you’re still around to care.