Despite countless celebrity estate battles, most Americans still put off having a will created. Think of a will as an itinerary for your family that will make their lives easier once you are gone. Prince was clearly busy with performing, writing, recording and creating. But that's still not a good…
One Chief Justice's seemingly simplistic will was the target of a lot of humor. Tongues wagged in Washington that he had utterly failed to do any estate planning. The gossips had it all wrong. It may be surprising to outsiders, but Washington D.C. actually functions in many ways as a…
Financial planning needs to be part of the equation when doing all of the work involved in bringing a new family member into your lives. The cost of adoption can start at a few hundred dollars or it can easily exceed $40,000, according to the U.S. Department of Health and…
The numbers are still small, but as Boomers age, the reverse mortgage may grow in popularity to maintain a certain quality of life. Reviled for years for high costs, today the reverse mortgage—sometimes referred to as a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECMs)—is a government-insurance loan that allows qualified seniors to…
It is not easy to be a member of a military family. They face many challenges that civilians do not, and—all too often—they do not receive the support in two critical areas that could make a difference. Risks for Houston military families include accidents during training, battlefield injury and the…
Once again, the value of image and other intangibles will overshadow any other issue with a celebrity estate that is expected to break earnings records. The countdown on the estate tax liability for Prince's fortune has already begun, but arriving at the final number will not be easy and certainly…
Many young couples choose to hold off on estate planning because they feel they are too young to worry about estate planning and death. Maybe it’s because they think they don’t have enough assets to begin an estate plan or they just don’t want to think about death and what…
People think that Medicaid will solve all financial problems if they or a spouse will need expensive medical care late in life. It's not that simple. Concerns about outliving assets or having all their wealth spent on nursing home care has led many Houstonians in different economic brackets to take…
Long gone are the days of pensions, when employers took care of all Houston retirement income. On the flip side, Houstonians are living longer and healthier lives. If X equals a longer lifetime and Y equals smaller retirement funds, how do you solve for Z? Making retirement money last longer…
An interactive online tool has been released by the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that walks consumers through a series of questions to help them better understand the optimal time to file for Social Security benefits. The "Planning for Retirement" site is an attempt to address a serious problem…