Long Island estate planning attorneys assist you in protecting assets so you can leave your money and property to your loved ones. It is important that you make plans to secure your legacy and this means taking steps to build wealth during your lifetime and to keep your acquired wealth safe at the end of life and after you pass on. Unfortunately, many people are not able to leave their desired legacy because they pass away with a substantial amount of debt. If you die with debts, you may not …
Is Your Estate Plan Part of a Holistic Financial Plan?
Many people are going through life without any estate plan at all, and there are those who think that an estate plan can be reduced to the creation of a last will. In fact, your estate plan should ideally be part of a holistic long-term financial plan. Your financial plan should prepare you for each stage of life. Retirement Planning Time can pass quickly. You may wake up one morning as a middle-aged person and come to the realization that you are not on track for retirement. It can take …
Creating a Joint Tenancy With Your Child: Pros & Cons
If you add a joint tenant to the title or deed of your property, this person would become a co-owner. Joint tenancy with right of survivorship allows the surviving joint tenant to inherit the portion of the property that was owned by a deceased joint tenant. This transfer would take place outside of the legal process of probate. Probate provides some useful protections, and the state of New York delivers a streamlined probate process. However, there is no getting around the fact that it is …
Is Retirement in Your Future?
People often utter the phrase "when I retire." In fact, it may be more accurate for many to replace the word "when" with "if." There are those who contend that it is not a matter of "if" because they are going to be receiving Social Security when they reach the age of full eligibility as defined by the SSA. While they may be eligible benefits are modest, with the average monthly benefit at the beginning of 2012 being just a bit over $1200 per month. Cost-of-living adjustments are …
529 Plan, Minor’s Gifting Trust, or UTMA
Many people know about 529 Plans, or tax-advantaged investment plans that can be used for a child’s education. Minor’s Gifting Trusts are less well known, but serve a similar purpose, allowing minors to own securities without needing an attorney to prepare Trust documents, or the court to appoint a Trustee. But there’s another option you may want to consider if you wish to make a gift to a minor: A gift under the UTMA, or Uniform Transfers to Minors Act. A major advantage of a UTMA gift is …
How to Avoid Common Retirement Plan Mistakes
Americans hold huge sums in retirement plans; for many, their 401(k)s and IRAs make up the bulk of their retirement savings. You worked hard to build retirement savings – make sure you avoid these common mistakes: Failing to take distributions on time. Absent any other estate planning strategies, you must start taking distributions from an IRA at age 70 ½. If you don’t take the required distribution, you pay a 50% penalty on the amount you should have withdrawn. Delaying …
How Long Will You Continue Working?
You have some choices to make when you are planning for retirement, and there are in fact some significant benefits that go along with working beyond the age of full Social Security eligibility. First off, let's look at the age of full eligibility. For those born in 1954 or earlier the full eligibility age is 66. People born in 1960 and after become eligible at the age of 67. During that interim period things are a little more complicated. If you were born in 1955 you become eligible for …
Social Security Figures Underscore Importance of Retirement Planning
There is an interesting article on the Forbes website that provide some information that is very inspiring to those who are looking for reasons to start planning ahead for the future. The article tells us that this year the average Social Security benefit for a couple in the United States is a mere $2048 per month. For single individuals the average is just $1,261. These figures are in place after a 1.7% cost-of-living adjustment that went into effect at the beginning of the year. This is …
Take Pause Before Buying Into HECM Solution
Home equity conversion mortgages are available to individuals who are at least 62 years of age who own their own homes or have adequate equity. With these loans you receive payments from the lender who in turn is receiving equity in your home. The loan becomes due after the borrower passes away or moves from the residence. Such a move would often times be a move into a long-term care facility. The appeal of these loans is the fact that someone who is living on a fixed income can suddenly …
BC Sloan Center: Higher Percentage of Elders Still Working
The Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College does a lot of work that is of interest to people who are in the field of retirement planning. One trend that is emerging is the propensity for seniors to remain on the job longer than they once did. 40% of people who are 55 years of age and older are still in the workforce; in 1993 this figure was 30%. 17% of people who have reached the age of 65 are still on the job compared to 12% in 1990. The average age at which people retire has …
Make 2013 the Year You Seize Control of Your Future
The future is bright for people who are making measurable financial progress every day. When you work within a solid framework with specific goals in mind you make intelligent choices on a consistent basis, and you invariably feel quite good about them. Conversely, if you are just meandering along with no real long-term financial strategy you are probably going to feel some sense of insecurity and discontent. This is natural when you know deep down inside that you are really not prepared …
Have You Calculated Your Current Net Worth?
It is wise to look at your financial situation in a long-term and holistic manner. One thing leads to another, and there are different expenses that you are going to face as you reach different plateaus during your life. If you work with an experienced attorney who has a background helping people who are planning for retirement as they simultaneously shape a fitting legacy you will have a cogent framework to guide you. Everything that you do in the present impacts the future, and this is …
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