“Relocating for retirement and trimming the budget line for taxes are among the many tasks preretirees and retirees have on their to-do lists.” There are states where taxes are lower than others. However, if you plan to move to a state that has low tax rates or tax breaks designed to help older residents, make […]

“We have money in savings and retirement accounts, but our most valuable asset is our home. We want to leave our property to our two children equally.” Treating everyone equally in estate planning can get complicated, even with the best of intentions. What if a family wants to leave their home to their daughter, who […]

“In case you didn’t see the news, those on Social Security won’t be getting a very generous raise this coming year.” The annual Cost of Living Adjustment, aka COLA, for 2020, is a smidge of an increase: 1.6%. That’s only slightly more than half of the 2.8% COLA for 2019. For the average beneficiary that […]

“They are thinkers, taking the same traits, habits and vision that make them effective in running a company, and applying those to the way they manage their investment portfolios. These are the people who are smart, busy people and who take an active role in all of the different parts of their lives, leaving little […]

“The fact is people’s names often change. People get married and divorced or sometimes just legally change their names.” When names change, executing documents with the person’s prior name can become problematic. For example, what about a daughter who was named as a health care representative by her parents several years ago, who marries and […]

“Granting people gifts makes you and them happy. If you can tailor your generosity so not to pay tax on your largess, you will be even happier.” It’s worthwhile to understand the rules about taxes that might be triggered by your generosity, says Forbes in the article “How To Avoid Taxes When Giving Big-Dollar Gifts“. […]

“A few years ago, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine gave us yet another reason to worry about getting Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias: They demonstrated an association between hearing loss and cognitive decline.” If it seems like every day brings something new to worry about, take heart—this is something that you […]

“A new national poll shows that many people over age 50 haven’t taken key steps to protect their health and well-being in case of severe weather, long-term power outages, or other situations.” With hurricanes, tropical storms and wildfires becoming routine events, data from the National Poll on Health Aging suggest that older adults, loved ones […]

“If someone has lost capacity to execute legal documents and has no power of attorney in place or has a power of attorney that is no longer usable (for example, if the named agents are deceased), a guardianship proceeding may be the only recourse.” Having a Health Care Proxy in place before it is needed, […]

“For most people, pets aren’t just animals–they’re the excited ‘hello’ when we get home from a long day of work, our jogging partners, our best friends and part of the family.” Many of us consider our pets members of the family, but the law does not. In Arizona, pets are considered property, reports the East […]