You have decided to move in with your partner. You have a committed relationship that may even have been blessed by your church, but for a variety of reasons, you will not be married. It could be that you are …
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Your Most Important Assets
What are your most important assets? What assets do you want to leave your children or other beneficiaries that they can have and use the rest of their lives? How do you want to be remembered? What will be your …
IRA Charitable Rollover
Under current law, if you are age 70½ or older, you are permitted to donate up to $100,000 from your IRAs to public charities without having to count the distributions as taxable income. This important charitable giving incentive, however, expires …
Now’s the Time To Apply Online For Retirement
If you’re planning on retiring sometime early in the new year, now is the time to apply for Social Security retirement benefits. A convenient way to apply for Social Security benefits is online – from the comfort of your home …
Separate Trust Offer More Benefits
I am occasionally asked why I usually prepare separate trusts for married couples instead of a joint trust. The reason is very simple, it is what most of my clients want. Once I explain all the benefits and burdens of …
Tools To Help You Decide When to Retire
These days, everyone is taking a new look at their finances, and no one is looking more closely than the millions of baby boomers who are nearing retirement age. While some boomers expected to retire at one of the traditional …
Who’s In Charge of the Funeral
Mom has died. Dad cannot agree on the funeral arrangements with the kids and none of them agree with the pre-paid funeral plan that Mom has set up. If the family cannot agree then who does the funeral home listen …
Flesh Out Your Financial Skeleton
As Halloween hovers on the horizon, the most frightening prospect for some adults has nothing to do with ghosts or goblins. Rather, it’s their scary lack of preparation when it comes to retirement planning. I suggest a new activity: fleshing …
Understanding Step Up Basis
I occasionally have discussions with people receiving inherited IRAs who think that they can escape both income and estate taxation on the IRAs because of the step-up in tax basis rule. You may have heard of the step-up in tax …
Real Estate in Your IRA
You have found the perfect investment property, the price is low and the seller wants to unload it. However, you don’t have the cash to purchase real estate except in your IRA. If you just take the funds out of …