Make Sure Your Money Goes to the Right Person after You’re Gone There is so much information available about personal finances that you could spend your entire life reading all of it and you would never reach the end. Usually personal financial topics are geared toward what to do with your investments or how to […]
I read a recent “LA Times” article and the message hit home. My parents have been telling my sisters and me for years now that we are receiving our inheritance when we need it most … now, for expenses such as our education, purchasing our first homes and our weddings. Apparently my parents are not […]
Minimizing and Managing Social Security Benefit Taxes This is the third and final article of a three-part series to help married couples maximize the total amount of Social Security benefits they will receive in their lifetimes. How Social Security Benefits Are Taxed The amount that benefits are taxed is determined by how much other earned […]
I cannot emphasize enough to my clients the importance of beneficiary designations. A beneficiary designation describes how your assets will be distributed upon your death. It is a form you complete with a financial institution (or your Human Resources department) pertaining to certain assets, for example, when you establish a life insurance policy or create […]
No, this is not about purchasing life insurance or finding the best policy. We leave that to the insurance experts. This article is a simple reminder to keep your policy information with the rest of your estate planning documents. The reason: You want your personal representative or your trustee to know about your policies after […]
Almost all of my non-lawyer friends give me a funny look when I talk about probate. Yes, it is an odd word, but with a short explanation, it makes sense. I find that the basics can be easily explained in one sentence – Probate occurs when someone dies and a court gives someone else (the […]
Do not miss out on an unprecedented retirement and estate planning opportunity. During 2010, converting “traditional” IRA accounts into “Roth” IRA accounts present some unique opportunities. TRADITIONAL vs. ROTH A traditional IRA is an individually-owned retirement account in which the owner can receive a tax deduction upon the contribution of assets (maximum of $5,000 for […]