In a society dominated by paperwork, the question of how long to hold on to important documents has been baffling for most people. We especially worry about documents of a financial or personally identifying nature. People who worry about losing…
You have worked hard for years, have family members and friends you care about and have approached a time in your life when “estate planning” sounds like something you should do, but you are not exactly sure why. You may…
If you carry debt, do not assume that your death or incapacity will make it automatically disappear. To the contrary, the money you owe may eat away at the assets you were planning to leave to your heirs or —…
The new tax legislation raises the federal estate tax exemption to $11.2 million for individuals and $22.4 million for couples. The increase means that an exceedingly small number of estates (only about 1,800, nationally) will have to worry about federal…
According to a March 2017 survey by Caring.com, six out of ten Americans have no will or any other kind of estate planning. Many said they’d get around to it, eventually. When they’re old. (The survey did find that the…
There is a common misconception that estate plans are only for the ultra-rich – the top 1 percent, 10%, 20%, or some other arbitrary determination of “enough” money. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. People at all…
People often set up bank accounts or real estate so that they own it jointly with a spouse or other family member. The appeal of joint tenancy is that when one owner dies, the other will automatically inherit the…
Most people want to avoid their estate going through probate because their family will receive the inheritance faster, privately, and at a lower cost. A payable-on-death account is a common way to keep bank and investment accounts out of probate.…
Student loan debt is a part of life nowadays for most people, which is especially true for students obtaining advanced or professional degrees. As of 2017, the total national student debt is now over $1.4 trillion. On average, college students…
If you’re a frequent airline traveler, one of your estate planning concerns may be what will happen to your accumulated miles once you’re gone. They could be worth thousands of dollars, so you probably don’t want them just to disappear,…