Columns

It’s fitting to focus this month’s article on a personal friend of mine who truly needs no introduction in the city of Berwyn or the Chicagoland Italian-American community. My “someone you should know” is community leader and funeral director Joseph Russo, who is realizing a longtime dream of opening of his own funeral chapels. I’ve personally known, trusted and admired Joey for more than 25 years, so I’ll start from the beginning. Throughout our high school years, we were the ultimate Italians (not your Jersey Shore wannabes). We were proud of our heritage and we had to profess it with …

The Federal Reserve recently announced that it is going to keep short-term rates low until the end of 2014. This reflects an effort by the Fed to be more transparent with Wall Street as well as the American people In the past, the Fed has not been so open with their direction, but with the problems that our economy is facing, as well as the austerity problems that are occurring in Greece, Italy and Portugal, they are trying to keep the markets calm and rates low in the hopes of spurring the economy. What does this have to do with …

If you’re thinking about buying into a Continuing Care Retirement Community, you need to weigh your options carefully. The new Illinois Medicaid law that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2012, dramatically changes the treatment of entrance fees. Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs) are communities that provide a full continuum of care for its residents. They have flexible accommodations designed to meet their residents’ health and housing needs as those needs change over time. They offer independent living, assisted living and nursing home care, usually all in one location. As a requirement for admission to most CCRCs, residents are required …

Many analysts suggest the financial crisis in the United States began in September of 2008, and since then there have been more than 3.2 million homes foreclosed on, with Illinois having one of the highest rates in the country at 5.4 percent. Investors looking to take their cash out of a low-interest savings account and purchase income property could potentially come out ahead with a foreclosed property. They can be very lucrative investment, but buying foreclosed homes is not for everyone! Many foreclosures have been abandoned by the previous owners and could have major damage to them. Bear in mind …

Last month, we looked at the peculiar problems of finding the marriage dates and marriage records of our Italian relatives. Since we keep better track of birthdays than anniversaries, we don’t always have the paper trail among our own records and photos to find the wedding dates of our grandparents, aunts and uncles. The Italian records are quite complete, and for the most part couples married in the town where the bride’s father lived, so even if that wasn’t the birthplace, it wasn’t far away. But when you’re looking for the marriage of a couple in America, it’s not nearly …

As a young boy growing up in an urban environment, green space was always hard to come by, especially when our backyard looked like a vineyard and giardino that would make the Green Giant jealous. In the front of the house, we would play “Running Bases,” or get 20 kids from the neighborhood together for “Relievio,” during which we would play hide and seek with a jail set up on my stoop, and hope that the other team didn’t yell “Olly Olly Oxen Free Free Free” before the game would be called due to darkness. So when my parents wanted …

Ok, you can stop crying now. I know our emotional families cry at weddings. As a genealogist, I only cry when I can’t find a marriage date! It is one of the tricky pieces of information to unearth, with its own special brand of problems that we must be prepared to deal with. The three most basic pieces of genealogical information are the birth, marriage, and death dates. Birth and death are easier to find, because there are better clues. We remember celebrating birthdays with relatives. A milestone birthday party is usually very memorable, so our photo albums give us …

What’s happening in the mortgage market right now is equivalent to free money. In other words, interest rates are so low that a borrower who took out a 30-year loan years back can refinance into a 15-year and save tens of thousands in interest with little impact on monthly payments. Let’s say that, 5 years ago, you took out a $200,000 loan for 30 years at a rate of 6 percent. The payment would be $1,199. After five years, your balance would be $186,000 and the amount of remaining interest that you would have to pay over the remaining 25 …

As we are all painfully aware, life happens and life changes. The matters we discussed with our doctor at age 35 are quite different from the matters we discuss with our doctor at age 75. So too it is with your estate plan. Simply put, the estate plan that you created for yourself at age 35 should be substantially different than the estate plan you need at age 75. How so, you ask? There are three phases to planning for life and three types of planning to address those phases. TODAY (planning for the maturing years) — Estate planning, asset …

If you’re a first-time buyer or you’re upgrading to a new home, your motto should be “sooner rather than later.” It is never too early to start doing your research, whether it’s on the internet or taking that late night drive through a desired area. Some internet sites offer detailed information on school districts, taxes, dining, parks, and much, much more. To surround yourself with a knowledgeable team, you also have to do your research. That team should include a Realtor, loan officer, attorney and home inspector. A Realtor can assist you in finding homes along with pricing and recent …