There are only eleven days left in 2008. If you had plans for this year—things you were absolutely going to get done before 2009—you are quickly running out of time to do them. This doesn’t only include your 2008 picks from the 1000 Places to See Before You Die, this includes smaller things, more prosaic… Read More »
Blog Posts Page 60
Cheap Wills May Cost Your Loved Ones Later
With the holidays approaching and the economy in crisis, we’re all trying to cut back financially, especially on what we think of as non-essential items. And one of the areas in which people are cutting back, according to this article by Leslie Wimmer, is the area of estate planning. Some people are cutting back by… Read More »
Health Care Agent; Choose Your Representative Wisely
Do you know who will be making your end-of-life decisions when you are incapacitated? If you haven’t named a Health Care Agent, it is possible that a family member who does not share your views or wishes, or with whom you are no longer close, may be asked to call the shots in an end-of-life… Read More »
A Season of Giving
The economy is reeling, stocks are plummeting, and most people want nothing more than to take their money, hide it under a mattress, and avoid any kind of financial or estate planning. Giving money away is just about the last thing on most people’s minds right now. But those with financial wisdom and experience (namely… Read More »
Checks and Balances In Designing A Trust
Every once in a while we’ll hear a story about a family for whom a trust was more of a hindrance than a help. Most often it’s because the trust was not created properly, or was old and outdated and hadn’t been reviewed by the grantors on a regular basis. But sometimes the conflict is… Read More »
Give the Gift of Peace of Mind
The holidays are the perfect time for family reunions, family bonding, family fun …and, according to the Wall Street Journal the perfect time for parents and children to talk about family finances, family estate plans, and family decisions about end-of-life issues. After all, there are relatively few times each year in the lives of most… Read More »
Should You Be Responsible For Your Parents’ Care?
Jane Gross over at the New Old Age Blog recently wrote a post about the prospect of enforced filial responsibility. Filial responsibility laws are patterned after Elizabethan Poor Laws and state that adult children are responsible for the basic needs of their parents, just as you would be for the basic needs of your spouse… Read More »
Special Needs Trust May Prolong Life of Beneficiary
Individuals with mental illnesses already have a number of unique challenges to face, and now Time Magazine tells us they have one more terrifying prospect, because, according to Time’s recent article by Kate Torgovnick “on average, people with severe mental illness die 25 years younger than the rest of the population.” There are many contributing… Read More »
Forced Divorce for Seniors?
Growing old alone can be tough, but it might be what many of our parents and grandparents will be forced to do in order to protect their assets and still qualify for Medicare. In her article Caring for Aging Loved Ones Can Be a Catch-22, journalist Gail Sheehy describes how she learned the hard way… Read More »
The “Spousal Protection Plan’: Creating A Plan For Each Other
Senior couples often ask how they might protect each other from the devastating financial cost of long term nursing home care. This is a real concern, as nursing home expenses average $9,500 per month in our community, and are likely only to increase over time. This concern is all the more real for those who… Read More »