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As we begin our New Year, now is a great time to make sure you have your estate planning and long-term care planning affairs in order. The following are the nine things everyone must know: 1) The 3 Phases of Life There are 3 phases of life, and each phase requires different kind of planning. First are the Maturing Years. Second are the Senior Years. And finally, are the Post-Death Years. 2) How Health Care Reform Affects You In 2014, Medicaid will be opened to all people that do not have health insurance and whose income is up to 133 …

Last month was spent planning an all-day cemetery trip to visit those relatives who were not as close to you during your lifetime, if at all. We decided who to look for, found the grave locations from the cemetery kiosk or by calling the cemetery directly. If that printout from the kiosk did not have a section map, then you will need to stop at the cemetery office to get some help. I do not suggest just wandering around the section until you find the grave, unless you enjoy doing that. There are some clues in the sections themselves. If …

As a mortgage professional, I work with many real estate agents who refer clients to me. I also have many past clients who are now looking to buy a bigger home, or they have someone in their family who they have referred me who is looking to buy a home for the very first time. Everyone’s telling me the same thing: Properties that are priced right are selling very quickly, sometimes even within hours. My real estate partners are telling me that there is a lack of inventory right now, which can lead to bidding wars on properties, leaving many …

You’re single and looking to purchase your first property. There are many factors to explore beyond the obvious considerations of cost. You will, of course, able to afford the maintenance of a single-family home? Will the association fee of a condominium or town home cover exterior maintenance? But wait, there’s more. First off, you need to decide what type of property will meet your current and future needs. Do you need a single family home or will a condominium or town home do? How many extra rooms are you looking for? Will you need a home office or maybe a …

All of a sudden everybody wants a taxable estate! Why? Because income tax relief is now preferred over estate tax relief. We are witnessing a sea change in tax planning due to two new developments: 1) The new “portability” of the estate tax exemption for our clients. The concept of portability allows the surviving spouse (widows and widowers) to carry over the estate tax exemption of the spouse who died and add it to their own exemption amount. However, to take advantage of this action you must “elect portability.” This means your executor, with the assistance of estate tax counsel, …

At press time, recently appoints Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen is being presented with a challenge right out of the gate. Do we taper the taper? The Federal Reserve is currently buying $65 billion in bonds per month (down from the high of $85 billion) in an effort to keep mortgage and treasury rates down. The Fed seems to be on course to reduce their bond purchases by $10 billion per Fed meeting, which occurs approximately every six weeks. The Fed has already decided to taper for a second time since the tapering started in December. The Fed has stated that …

Have you ever wondered how to pull a couple hundred extra dollars a month from your rental properties, or even a couple thousand? Achieving top dollar for your rental isn’t as hard as it may seem. First off, never skimp when remodeling a rental property. Many times, folks will install a brand new kitchen, but will not want to spend the couple of dollars extra to replace the flooring. Along those lines, if you do plan on leaving the old carpet, have it professionally cleaned. Painting can also go a long way. Remember to keep the colors neutral but not …

It is normal for families to pack a lunch, bring a flowerpot and gardening tools, and drive down to the cemetery to visit the grave of a loved one. They may plan to spend a good portion of the day. In most cases, people know where the person is buried without section and lot numbers. They just wind to the left and turn right at the tree. It’s four rows in and six graves over. Easy. They go every Mother’s Day or Memorial Day, plus the loved one’s birthday, or maybe on the anniversary of their death. They go several …

Today, the world is quickly changing, and medical care can be both impersonal and expensive. But one area that has not changed with the times is estate planning. Traditional plans are designed to focus on just a couple of things and, when creating them, most people tend to take the easy route. Often times, people are in good health and think, “There’s nothing wrong with us now; we want our estate plan to be very simple.” In those cases, their estate plans only really focus on who will get what when they die. The truth is, most of us are …

Last month I talked about the information that can be found on two documents that are filled out when an immigrant applies for citizenship: The declaration of intention, and the petition for naturalization. The information is quite similar, with the petition containing data about the spouse and children as well as the immigrant himself. Since I wrote that column, I have spent a lot of the past month looking for records of any relative in my file who was born outside the United States and who likely spent time here. I have found out quite a bit of new information …