Thinking about pulling up stakes when you retire? Review this checklist of financial concerns first.
Moving during retirement is not just about the scenery. You need to understand the full financial impact that can come from relocation to or from Houston.
Morningstar’s recentarticle, titled “6 Questions to Ask Before Relocating in Retirement,” sets out some key questions for you to answer:
Let's take a closer look at what a life estate is and how using one could help you save your family home.
Home is where the heart is. The thought of losing your home can be devastating. What options do you have to prevent this from happening?
Motley Fool’s recent article, titled “What a Life Estate Is And How It Could Save Your Home,” tells us about life estates.
Here are six suggestions to help prepare for some of the most common stressful situations that can occur during elder care.
The role of an elder caregiver is not an easy one, and many Houston seniors find themselves taking on this role without any preparation.
A recent Forbes article, “6 Things Caregivers Must Do While There's Still Time,” explains that many family caregivers are part of what’s called “the sandwich generation.” They’ve just stopped caring for their own kids and now have to start to care for parents or older relatives.
"If you get a claim denial, always contact your doctor or hospital to see if they can help you through the appeal," said Shirley Whitenack, president of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and a partner with law firm Schenck, Price, Smith & King.
Larry Tocco retired last year from a job in the collections department of a credit union. After some medical treatment, he started receiving past-due notices from health care providers after his claims on a Medicare plan weren't paid. After several frustrating phone calls, Larry learned he was still on the active employee roll of the health insurance plan covering his former employer. As a result, his Medicare plan was considered secondary coverage.
A benefits manager from the credit union told him they sent the retirement paperwork, but the representatives with the Medicare provider said they didn't get it.
The bill relaxes a rule that makes getting specialized care from local doctors difficult for some veterans in rural areas.
The Associated Press investigated this new legislation in a recent article titled “Senate tweaks health law to boost specialized care.”
At some point, everyone needs to consider estate planning. It’s time to create an up-to-date estate plan when you experience one of these life events.
Think estate planning isn’t for you? Think again! And it’s not just a one-time deal; changes in your life should result in changes to your plan, so be ready to make some updates.
The Richland Source notes in a recent article, titled “Do you need an estate plan?”, that it’s time to create an up-to-date estate plan when you have one of these life events:
Actually the trusts are Crummey trusts named after one D. Clifford Crummey who won a decision in the Ninth Circuit in 1968, when I was just a high school lad. Israel and Erna Mikel were just in Tax Court showing how powerful the Crummey power can be as they used it to shelter over $1.4 million in transfers to their family trust from gift taxes. An arbitration clause that called for the use of a religious court caused the IRS to challenge the validity of the exclusions, but the Tax Court ruled in the taxpayer’s favor.
Trusts can have pretty funny names. Take the Crummey trust for example – doesn’t sound very good, does it? Who wants a “crumby” trust? Let’s explore this tool further.
A recent Forbes article, titled “Religious Arbitration Clause Does Not Hurt Million Plus Gift Tax Exclusion,” reminds us that there’s an annual exclusion from gift tax. Reminder: every year you can give the annual exclusion amount ($14,000 this year) to as many people as you want without any gift taxes or disturbing the unified credit against transfer taxes. However, to qualify for the exclusion, the gift has to be of a “present interest”.
“We are delighted to inform the public that the court has appointed Bobby Brown and Pat Houston as co-guardians of Bobbi Kristina Brown (‘Krissi’),” read a statement issued by David Long-Daniels, counsel for Pat Houston and Cissy Houston, and Christopher Brown, an attorney for Bobby Brown. “Both Mr. Brown and Ms. Houston are jointly responsible for decisions related to Krissi’s care and medical needs.” A court-appointed attorney, Bedelia Hargrove, will act as a conservator for the 22-year-old.
The court-appointed attorney specializes in fiduciary litigation, probate and estate administration, estate planning, personal injury and wrongful death cases, as well as general civil litigation.
As conservator, the attorney “is responsible for Krissi’s assets, including her likeness, rights and legal claims,” according to the statement read by attorneys for the family.
There are several corners of your financial life that can be simplified through consolidation.
If you feel like your finances are all over the place and hard to manage, you just need to take a moment to de-clutter and get a system going. Also, it’s ok to ask for help!
A recent article in The Tahoe Daily Tribune’s, titled “Simplify your financial life,”provides some very helpful advice on de-cluttering and organizing your important information:
"A lot of people think this is just about elderly parents, but it's a big issue for people with adult children away at school or on their own as an unmarried adult," said Carnick, president of Carnick & Kubik Personal Wealth Advisors. "Who's going to speak for them if they get in an accident?"
A recent Chicago Tribune article, titled “Checklist for updating, organizing estate planning documents,” reported some interesting survey results that show many adults are very unprepared and unaware when it comes to estate planning.
The Tribune reports that a new survey of 1,000 adults for www.caring.com shows these startling figures:
Houston Estate Planning and Elder Law Attorney Blog