The Enlightened Family Business Podcast Ep. 167: The One Plan Every Family Is Missing with Libby Boatwright In this episode of the Enlightened Family Business Podcast, host Chris Yonker sits down with Libby Boatwright — certified financial planner, former Stanford Medical Center chaplain, pastor, and author of The Last Things We Talk About — for a candid, deeply practical conversation about the one plan most families never make: an end-of-life plan. Drawing on decades of experience in palliative care, hospice work, financial planning, and pastoral ministry, Libby walks through the full spectrum of what families need to navigate when a loved one faces a serious diagnosis or decline — and why waiting until the last minute makes everything harder and more costly. Chris and Libby explore the critical difference between palliative care and hospice, how hospitals really operate and what they won't tell you, why your advanced directive is your most important legal document, the caregiving crisis quietly bankrupting American families, how to be an effective patient advocate inside a system not designed to help you, and what it actually looks like to help a loved one die well. Chris also shares his own firsthand experience navigating hospice for both parents — including a powerful story about standing up to a hospital trying to redirect his mother's care. This is a conversation every family should hear before they need it. Episode Chapters · 2:22 Meet Libby Boatwright · 4:31 What End-of-Life Planning Actually Covers · 7:29 When the Diagnosis Arrives: Legacy, Bucket Lists, and Getting the House in Order · 10:00 The Circles of Support — Who Will Be There When It Matters? · 12:44 How to Start the Conversation When Families Don't Want To · 15:00 The Advanced Directive, HIPAA, and the POLST — The Three Essential Documents · 18:32 The Caregiving Crisis: Costs, Burnout, and Family Conflict · 23:36 Alzheimer's, Memory Care, and What It Actually Costs · 26:17 Protecting Assets: Trusts, Look-Back Periods, and Planning Ahead · 28:13 Navigating the Hospital System: Case Managers, Patient Advocates, and How to Fight for Your Loved One · 35:00 Palliative Care: What It Is, When to Use It, and Why Most People Don't Know · 38:09 Hospice: Medicare's Gift at the End of Life · 41:18 Chris's Story: Standing Up to the Hospital · 46:59 About the Book: The Last Things We Talk About · 50:16 Resources and Farewell Websites · elizabethboatwright.com · chrisyonker.com Book · The Last Things We Talk About: Your Guide to End of Life Transitions by Elizabeth Boatwright (Bull Publishing, 2021) — available on Amazon About Libby Boatwright Rev. Dr. Elizabeth "Libby" Boatwright, BCC-PCHAC, CFP, is a chaplain, pastor, certified financial planner, and author who has spent over 30 years counseling families on end-of-life issues, loss, grief, estate planning, and the emotional and spiritual dimensions of dying. She served as a Relief Chaplain in Oncology Outpatient Palliative Care Medicine at Stanford Health Care, where she worked alongside hundreds of patients and families navigating serious illness and end-of-life transitions. In her book The Last Things We Talk About: Your Guide to End of Life Transitions (Bull Publishing, 2021), Libby offers a practical framework for creating what she calls the "white book" — a simple binder or flash drive of all the materials a family will need when a loved one passes — helping heirs avoid what she calls "the treasure hunt" of lost documents and unspoken wishes. Libby has lectured at universities, colleges, and medical institutions, led seminars at national conventions, faith communities, parenting groups, senior fellowships, and estate planning forums. She has published in Cancer.net, Morningstar, CSA Journal, and Barron's, and has been featured in newspapers across the country. She has also appeared on ABC Nightly News and hosted her own radio show, The Fiscal Therapist, on KAIM. Libby holds Master's degrees from UC Berkeley, San Francisco State University, and Fuller Seminary, a Doctor of Ministry in Semiotics and Future Studies from George Fox University, and holds certifications as a Certified Financial Planner and Board Certified Chaplain with Advanced Certification in Hospice and Palliative Care. She lives in Northern California.
