A Will Is a Key Component of Any Estate Plan, but It's Not Enough
A will can help you accomplish a number of important planning goals. For instance, it allows you to control how your assets are distributed after you pass away. Without a will, your assets will be distributed...
The Benefits of Putting Your IRA Into a Trust
An IRA Trust can help you control distributions after you pass away and restrict access to beneficiaries who might squander the funds of your IRA. How does an IRA Trust accomplish this? Let’s say your...
When Should You Start Taking Your Social Security Benefits, Continued
What if you don't start taking Social Security benefits until after your full retirement age? As you would expect, you'll be rewarded for this. For example, if your full retirement age is 66, you'll receive...
When Should You Start Taking Your Social Security Benefits?
Most advisors recommend waiting as long as possible to begin collecting Social Security benefits. Suze Orman, a contributor to AARP Magazine, makes a strong case for this approach. She argues that with...
Now is a Good Time to Make Sure Your Plan is Up-To-Date
Has your financial or medical situation changed since your plan was created? Have any of your children or grandchildren gotten divorced and remarried, or started families of their own? Do your beneficiary...
Estate Planning and Digital Assets
What happens to a person's Facebook account when he or she passes away? What about the photos you share on social media, the documents you’ve stored in the cloud, your texts to family and friends? While...
Planning Tips for the Sandwich Generation, Continued
The last thing anyone wants in an emergency is to run around hysterically searching for important medical and financial information. You should have all of the following information readily available: ...
Planning Tips for the Sandwich Generation, Continued
For adult children raising kids of their own, assuming the role of caregiver for one's parents can be extraordinarily difficult without the help of proper legal documents. We have discussed the importance...
Planning Tips for the Sandwich Generation
The term "sandwich generation" refers to people who are raising their own children while simultaneously trying to care for aging parents. If you are "sandwiched" between these two roles, the stress can...
The Importance of Choosing a Qualified Trustee
A trustee can be one person, multiple people, or what is called a "corporate trustee," such as a bank or trust company staffed by people who manage and grow trust assets. It is essential to choose the...