Posts Tagged Estate Planning

One of The Most Valuable Benefits Available to Veterans Is Also One of The Least Utilized

On October 20, 2020   /   Blog  
Tags: , ,
One of The Most Valuable Benefits Available to Veterans Is Also One of The Least Utilized

Millions of our nation’s greatest heroes—veterans and their families who sacrificed so much in defense of our country—are eligible for government benefits but do not receive them. One benefit in particular, the Aid and Attendance Pension Program, can dramatically improve the lives of eligible veterans and their families. The Aid and Attendance Pension Program allows an eligible veteran to receive more than $27,000 a year for medical expenses and long-term care. The eligible veteran’s widowed spouse can receive over $14,500 a year. This benefit can be used to pay anyone, including family members, for in-home care. It can also be used to pay for assisted living and nursing home care. The Aid and Attendance Pension Program allows an eligible veteran, or the veteran’s widowed spouse, to remain independent for as long as possible, receive the care he or she needs and protect family assets against the high cost of long-term

Continue Reading... →
Back to Top

Should All of Your Children Receive Equal Inheritances

On October 13, 2020   /   Blog  
Tags: , ,
Should All of Your Children Receive Equal Inheritances

If you have more than one child, you’ve probably wondered if you should leave each of your children the same amount in your will or trust. While this seems like the best approach in most situations, there are some instances where it might not be the wisest strategy, or even the fairest. Factors you might want to consider include: One child earns considerably more than your other children One child has several children of his or her own, while another child does not One of your children serves as your caregiver, runs errands or helps you in other ways much more frequently than your other children Sadly, you may have to ask yourself another, more troubling question: Has one of my children disappointed me so often, or behaved so irresponsibly in the past, that I feel like I must disinherit him or her entirely? In cases where one of your

Continue Reading... →
Back to Top

The Benefits of Health Savings Accounts

On October 6, 2020   /   Blog  
Tags: , ,
The Benefits of Health Savings Accounts

Health savings accounts are tax-advantaged medical savings accounts available to people enrolled in high-deductible health plans (plans with deductibles of at least $1,350 for individuals and $2,700 for families). To qualify for a health savings account, your plan also needs to meet an out-of-pocket maximum below specified thresholds. In 2019, the out-of-pocket maximum for an HSA-qualified health plan must be less than $6,750 for individual coverage or $13,500 for family coverage. Money contributed to a health savings account is not subject to federal income tax at the time it is deposited. For 2019, people with individual medical coverage can deposit up to $3,500 in a health savings account while people with family plans can deposit up to $7,000. If you are age 55 and older, you can contribute an additional $1,000 to your account. In addition to being an excellent way to cover out-of-pocket medical expenses, health savings accounts provide

Continue Reading... →
Back to Top

Planning For High-Risk Professionals

On September 29, 2020   /   Blog  
Tags: ,
Planning For High-Risk Professionals

Every individual and family can benefit from estate planning. For some people, however, effective planning requires a higher level of asset protection. Certain professionals, such as physicians, attorneys, business owners and financial advisors, are far more likely to be sued than people working in other occupations. For example, just because a physician has medical malpractice insurance does not mean his or her personal assets are safe from a lawsuit. Many personal injury lawyers consider the entire value of the physician’s malpractice insurance to be the starting point in negotiations over damages, not the ultimate prize. If you work in a high-risk profession, contact us today to discuss your options. We can use a wide range of proven tools and strategies to protect your assets from lawsuits and other threats.

Continue Reading... →
Back to Top

Aggressive Moves You Can Make In Your Forties To Reach Long-Term Financial Goals, Continued.

On September 22, 2020   /   Blog  
Tags: , ,
Aggressive Moves You Can Make In Your Forties To Reach Long-Term Financial Goals, Continued.

Here are three additional ways people in their forties can maximize their retirement savings. Don’t skimp on your retirement savings to pay for your children’s college education. Why? Simple. You or your children can borrow money to pay for college, but you cannot borrow money to pay for retirement. In addition, when investing for retirement, time is indeed money. The more you can invest early on, the greater the likelihood that you’ll have more money when you retire. Also, working longer, say well into your sixties, may not be an option. Corporate downsizing and/or health problems could limit how long you can work. The fact is, saving more than you need for retirement will allow you to help pay off your children’s student loans when you do retire. Make the most of what your employer is offering. Your employer may well be offering more than a paycheck. For example, some

Continue Reading... →
Back to Top

Aggressive Moves You Can Make In Your Forties To Read Long-Term Financial Goals

On September 15, 2020   /   Blog  
Tags: , ,
Aggressive Moves You Can Make In Your Forties To Read Long-Term Financial Goals

An article in Kiplinger discussed an aggressive approach to financial planning in your forties. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights. Make saving for retirement a priority and beef up your investments. You’ll want to start by making the largest possible contributions to your employer’s retirement plan. At the very least, you should put enough into your company’s retirement plan to take full advantage of its contribution matching program. A word of caution—if you put all your retirement savings into tax-deferred accounts, you might get hit hard by taxes when you retire. That’s because withdrawals from 401 (k) plans and traditional IRAs are taxed at the retiree’s ordinary income tax rate. This makes contributing to a Roth IRA a good idea. Your contributions are after-tax, but your withdrawals are tax-free as long as you are over 59½ and have owned the Roth IRA for five years or more.

Continue Reading... →
Back to Top

ATM Skimming – Yes, It Could Happen To You

On September 8, 2020   /   Blog  
Tags: , ,
ATM Skimming – Yes, It Could Happen To You

It’s all so convenient. You go to the gas station, insert your debit card into the reader at the pump, fill up your car, and you’re on your way. Or when you need some pocket money, you simply go to the nearest Automated Teller Machine (ATM), swipe your card, take your cash and go. Thanks to modern technology, there’s no longer any need to waste time waiting in long lines at gas stations or banks. Thieves also love the convenience of gas station card readers and ATMs. They’ve come up with some ingenious ways to use them to gain access to your bank account information, and therefore, your hard-earned money. It’s called ATM skimming, and the crime requires just two easily obtained components. The first is the skimmer itself. This is a counterfeit card reader, which is placed over the ATM’s actual card slot. When you swipe your card through

Continue Reading... →
Back to Top

Taxes on Social Security Benefits and How to Avoid Them, Continued

On September 1, 2020   /   Blog  
Tags: , ,
Taxes on Social Security Benefits and How to Avoid Them, Continued

An article on kiplinger.com offers some strategies to avoid, or at least mitigate, taxes on Social Security benefits. Withdraw money from your tax-free Roth IRAs. Tax-free withdrawals from a Roth IRA or Roth 401(k) are not included in your adjusted gross income. Rolling over money from your traditional IRA or 401(k) to a Roth IRA years before you start receiving Social Security benefits is an excellent way to avoid taxes later in retirement. Of course, you will have to pay income taxes when you make the conversion, but you can tap the account tax-free after that. Purchase a Qualified Longevity Annuity Contract. You can invest up to $130,000 from your IRA or 401(k) in a deferred-income annuity called a Qualified Longevity Annuity Contract (QLAC). The money in your QLAC is ignored when figuring your required minimum distribution, so you can reduce the size of your distribution, lower your income and

Continue Reading... →
Back to Top

Taxes on Social Security Benefits and How to Avoid Them

On August 25, 2020   /   Blog  
Tags: , ,
Taxes on Social Security Benefits and How to Avoid Them

Many people are surprised to learn that their Social Security benefits can be subject to federal taxation. Whether your benefits are taxed depends on what is known as your “provisional income.” This is your adjusted gross income (not counting Social Security benefits) plus nontaxable interest and half of your Social Security benefits. For people filing as individuals or heads of household with provisional incomes of less than $25,000, Social Security benefits are not taxed. For couples filing joint returns, the figure is $32,000. Unfortunately, individuals with provisional income of between $25,000 and $34,000, or couples filing jointly with provisional income of between $32,000 and $44,000, up to 50% of Social Security benefits may be taxable. In the case of individual filers with provisional incomes above $34,000 or joint filers whose provisional incomes exceed $44,000, up to 85% of Social Security benefits may be subject to taxation. The information above concerns

Continue Reading... →
Back to Top

Five Trusts That Can Help You Accomplish Specific Planning Goals

On August 18, 2020   /   Blog  
Tags: ,
Five Trusts That Can Help You Accomplish Specific Planning Goals

Trusts come in many “flavors.” Here are five trusts that can be used to achieve specific planning goals. Generation-Skipping Trust (GST) Let’s say your son has remarried and you’re worried that his second wife might not pass his inheritance to the children from your son’s first marriage—that is, your grandchildren. Or maybe one of your children is not responsible enough to handle an inheritance on his or her own and you want to make sure your grandchildren will receive a portion of your assets. With a Generation-Skipping Trust, the assets put into the trust will be transferred to your grandchildren when the GST goes into effect. A GST does not necessarily disinherit your children. The trust can be structured so that your children can draw on the income/earnings from the trust while your grandchildren stand to inherit the balance of the trust. Qualified Terminable Interest Property Trust (QTIP) A QTIP

Continue Reading... →
Back to Top