Beneficiary designations are very important. Before making a decision on a beneficiary, it's very important to check your state laws and speak with your estate law attorney and/or your financial advisor.
It’s easy to overlook an important task after a spouse or other loved one passes away – like retitling assets. It’s a little thing with big ramifications. Follow this checklist to help make a challenging time less confusing.
Are you aware that health insurance and Medicare don’t cover long-term care costs? If you’re planning how you’ll finance long-term services, this could create a problem. With the cost of long-term insurance rising, Medicaid might be the next best option. We’ll cover how to apply for Medicaid and what you should be aware of. Before […]
Do you have a close friend or family member who collects Social Security, but has difficulty managing their payments or similar finances? If so, they may need to assign someone as their representative payee. Keep reading to find out more and what a payee is able to do. A representative payee is any trusted individual […]
For most families, the estate planning process is more involved than simply naming beneficiaries. While the primary goal of estate planning is transferring assets in an orderly and tax-efficient manner, it’s just as important to focus on preserving wealth across generations.
In our past few blogs we have been focusing on Medicaid and qualifying for it. This month we wanted to talk about if a Medicaid recipient is in a nursing home and their spouse, not in a nursing home passes away. If one spouse has to go into the nursing home, some planning can be […]
No matter what line of work you are in, estate planning has facets that apply to everyone, and it comes down to documenting wishes and avoiding probate and unnecessary taxes. Too many people put it off, but, in general, the sooner you do it, the better.
When thinking about the future there is quite a bit to consider. One of those is what you’re going to do if you can’t stay in your house as you get older. If you would need to end up in a nursing home, keep in mind that long-term care is very expensive. In many instances, […]
The rules around required minimum distributions from retirement accounts are confusing, and it’s easy to slip up. Fortunately, if you do make a mistake, there are steps you can take to fix the error and possibly avoid a stiff penalty. If you have a tax-deferred retirement plan such as a traditional IRA or 401(k), you […]
