What happens to your Individual Retirement Account when you die, and how will that impact your heirs? Distributions from an IRA are taxable to the recipient just as they would have been to the original owner. However, it’s important that IRAs are properly titled to allow beneficiaries to “stretch” payout – thus reducing or delaying
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“I am in great health,” my client said. “Why should I worry about long-term care?” “I don’t want you to worry about it,” I answered. “I want you to plan for it so that you don’t end up in a crisis situation some time in the future.” Here are five good reasons to plan for
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“How are we going to pay for long-term medical care?” We hear that question frequently these days. For veterans who served during wartime and their surviving spouses, an underused Veterans Affairs (VA) benefit may help. Its formal name is Improved Pension but it is more commonly known as the Aid and Attendance Pension. As with
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As more seniors struggle with dementia, their loved ones are left scrambling to organize and handle health care and financial matters. The stress of dealing with the disease and related personality changes is compounded by the pressures of assuming control of the minutiae of daily living. While it is impossible to eliminate these difficulties, steps
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You may have put the rest of your affairs in order, but have you made plans for your pets? Hopefully, by now you have created a basic estate plan by doing the following: Signing Durable Powers of Attorney to make sure that someone you trust will be able to handle your finances, and/or make medical
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It’s that time of year again, when homeowners pay their annual property taxes … Happy holidays! This year we are faced with two things we don’t want to think about in these tough economic times: taxes and reduced property values. However, in the hope of spreading some holiday cheer, here’s a little good news that
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The Spring 2009 estate planning column in Friends and Neighbors outlined Medi-Cal benefits for long-term skilled nursing care. To receive these benefits, an applicant must have limited resources. What if you have too much money to qualify, but not enough to pay for the high cost of long-term care? Well, for a limited time, you
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