March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965 Nat King Cole was born Nathaniel Adams Coles in Montgomery, Alabama. He began playing music at an early age and eventually began performing under the name “Nat Cole.” He added “King” from a nickname he ultimately acquired from performing regularly at a jazz club. Nat King Cole recorded […]
Given the prevalent role families play in providing long-term care, insurance may not always seem necessary. However, as briefly discussed in my last post on the basics of long-term care insurance, the true value of long-term care insurance involves protecting the wellbeing of loved ones. Even though spouses and adult children are often willing to […]
A rabbi trust is a type of non-qualified deferred compensation plan set up by an employer for the benefit of an employee. Rabbi trusts get their name from a 1980 IRS private letter ruling that approved the use of these trusts. In that case, a congregation wanted to set up a trust for the benefit […]
Statistics have shown and there is little denying that long-term care will be in most of our futures at some time and to some extent. It also seems to reason that the premiums/costs to insure against this almost inevitable risk are far less than the cost of paying these fees out of pocket. We can […]
Last week, I was lucky enough to see the cliff up close. Not the fiscal cliff that kept us all riveted (or not) for the month of December, but a beautiful snow covered cliff. And it got me thinking: was the fiscal cliff all much ado about nothing?
J.P. “Big Bopper” Richardson – Oct. 24, 1930 – Feb. 3, 1959 (age 28) Buddy Holly – Sept. 7, 1936 – Feb. 3, 1959 (age 22) Ritchie Valens – May 13, 1941 – Feb. 3, 1959 (age 17) On February 3, 1959, a plane traveling from Mason City, IA to Fargo, ND crashed in the […]
A couple in love has a baby but they haven’t tied the knot. Many times they also haven’t created an estate plan. Unfortunately, the unwed parents in love need an estate plan more than married parents. Why, you ask? Well, if an unwed parent dies without a plan, the surviving parent doesn’t inherit any of […]
Bethenny Frankel is the real housewife turned mogul, who sold her SkinnyGirl drinks to Beam Global for $120 million. In a matter of a few years, Bethenny went from near bankruptcy to multi-millionaire. She also went from single, to marriage, to motherhood in that same time frame. And now, she is getting divorced. I don’t pretend to be […]
Some people continue to ask why they need an estate plan, especially since Congress passed the American Taxpayer Relief Act, which made the $5 million federal estate tax exemption permanent. The question is often, “If my estate is under $5 million, why do I need an estate plan or need to be concerned with any […]
Amid all the other fiscal cliff headlines and the American Taxpayer Relief Act provisions, you may have missed the annual gift-tax exclusion changes that automatically became effective January 1, 2013. The annual gift-tax exclusion increased from $13,000 to $14,000. You can give away up to $14,000 in 2013 to as many different recipients as you […]
May 4, 1929 – January 20, 1993 Today is the 20th anniversary of Audrey Hepburn’s death. Audrey Hepburn was a beautiful, iconic Hollywood actress, who eventually left the movie star life and began doing humanitarian work for UNICEF. Ms. Hepburn was born in Belgium and spent part of her childhood in the Netherlands during World […]