Recent Blog Posts
Crucial Steps Can Help Ease the Burden of the Sandwich Generation
A recent study from the University of Michigan reveals a worrisome trend for the children of Baby Boomers. According to the study (and this recent article) “more than 60 percent of young adults ages 19-22 receive financial help from their parents,” a tally which comes to “about $7,500 a year when help with rent,… Read More »
How Healthy Are Your Finances? A Mid-Year Financial Check-up
One of our previous blog posts mentions upcoming changes to tax law this winter, and what further changes may be in store once November comes around and we know who will be in the White House next year. This could be interpreted as a reason to wait on making any changes to your estate… Read More »
Changing Tax Law and the Presidential Campaign
Curiosity and excitement are always to be expected in an election year—especially curiosity about taxes. We all know that each presidential candidate has very different philosophies about where the tax burden lies, how much should be paid, and by whom; but all most of us really want to know is how the implementation of… Read More »
Should Zombies Pay Estate Taxes?
How dead do you have to be before the government can tap your estate for estate taxes? Do you have to be only kind of dead, or do you have to be fully dead-dead? This is the subject of a new law review article by Adam Chodorow of the Arizona State University law school,… Read More »
Low Interest Rates Good for Borrowers, Bad for Retired Seniors
If you’re nearing retirement and looking forward to living off the interest of your retirement savings you may have to consider staying in the job market for another year or so. Interest rates have hit record lows recently; a turn of events which is good for homeowners and borrowers, but very bad for seniors… Read More »
Start Planning Now to Help Your Parents—And Yourself—In Retirement
This recent article in CBS MoneyWatch is calling attention to what they call “the national retirement nightmare.” The article points out that what used to be the simple plan of socking away a little bit of money from each paycheck has now turned into the huge nightmare of planning not only for your own… Read More »
Start Your Marriage Off On Strong and Secure Financial Footing
Every time a celebrity couple splits up news sources start asking questions about prenuptial agreements. It’s been no different during the past few weeks as news and speculation about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ divorce leaks out. But prenuptial agreements aren’t only for celebrities, and they aren’t only for the rich and famous. In… Read More »
Has Home Foreclosure Become an Elder Law Issue?
The past decade has not been good for homeowners; especially young homeowners just starting out and struggling to get by, and older homeowners who may be struggling to make the mortgage on severely depleted retirement savings. Some news sources such as CBS News are now going so far as to report that this most… Read More »
Don’t Wait on Necessary Legal Documents for New 18 Year Olds
The year your child turns 18 is an important year: It’s the year they’re able to vote for the first time, it’s usually the year they graduate from high school, and it’s the year your child becomes an adult in the eyes of the law. Some parents find it difficult to think of their… Read More »
With $5 Million Gift Tax Exclusion Set to Expire, Is Now the Time for You to Give?
When legislation in 2010 raised the lifetime gift tax exclusion amount from $1 million to $5 million many wealthy families rejoiced, expecting that they would now be able to give large gifts to children or grandchildren and be able to save millions in taxes at the same time. But for all the rejoicing, the… Read More »