Two out of three American adults are unprepared from an estate planning perspective, and this is not confined to younger people. Less than half of individuals that are 55 years of age and older have estate plans in place. Why do they ignore an event that is one of the certainties of life? In this … [Read More]
Planning Considerations for Small Business Owners
When you are the owner of a small business, your long-term planning goals will coincide with those of people that are not self-employed. Many of the same steps should be taken, but business owners have some additional considerations, and we will look at two of them here. Asset Protection It is important to protect the … [Read More]
What Are the Medicaid Rules for Healthy Spouse Income?
Medicaid is relevant to senior citizens that will qualify for Medicare because Medicare does not cover long-term custodial care. This is the type of care that you would receive in a nursing home, and there are in-home caregivers that provide custodial care for seniors. Of course, Medicaid is a need-based program. In Connecticut, you cannot … [Read More]
Estate Planning: Keep It Simple
The vast majority of American adults do not have estate plans in place, even though most people that are surveyed feel that inheritance planning is important. Why do they fail to take action if they know that this is a responsibility that should be addressed? There are a variety of different answers to this question, … [Read More]
Is There a Person With Special Needs on Your Inheritance List?
There are different ways that you can facilitate asset transfers to the people on your inheritance list. The right way to proceed will depend on the circumstances. Plus, you don’t have to provide for everyone in the same manner. Targeted solutions can be implemented to address the life situation of each respective person. With this … [Read More]
Omnibus Appropriations Bill Includes Secure Act 2.0 Provisions
We have been sharing information about a piece of legislation that is being called SECURE Act 2.0 as the bill has progressed through the legislative process. It has finally become a reality, because it is actualized through a number of provisions in the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which is commonly known as the contact form … [Read More]
Impact of Pandemic Is Eye Opening From an Estate Planning Perspective
Though COVID is an ongoing threat for the vulnerable, the worst of the pandemic is behind us. At the same time, there were some valuable lessons learned. From an estate planning perspective, the tenuous nature of life as we know it was clearly demonstrated. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, … [Read More]
Estate Planning Missteps Can and Should Be Avoided
A wise man once said that “Experience is something that you get just after you need it.” Clearly, we learn from our mistakes, but these can be hard-won lessons. With this in mind, we are going to look at some of the commonly made estate planning errors in this post so you can learn from … [Read More]
Is In-Home Care for Elders Covered by Medicare?
We are going to look at Medicare and in-home care for older people in this post. However, before we get there, we will provide some background information to help you understand the overall dynamic. Medical Care vs. Custodial Care There are distinctions drawn with regard to the type of care that you may receive in … [Read More]
Can I Leave an Inheritance With Strings Attached?
In some cases, a person will have reservations about leaving a loved one a direct, lump sum inheritance. Let’s look at some of the ways that you can approach this type of situation. Complete Disinheritance First, it is important to clear up a detail that some people have questions about. There are those that assume … [Read More]
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