Your Social Security benefits in retirement are primarily dependent on the wages you get while working. The Social Security taxes deducted from your paycheck are based on that amount. If you’re still working and at retirement age, you can get benefits while earning other income. And depending on your age, you can also decrease and
“I love money. I love everything about it. I bought some pretty good stuff. Got me a $300 pair of socks. Got a fur sink. An electric dog polisher. A gasoline powered turtleneck sweater. And, of course, I bought some dumb stuff, too.” Steve Martin. “I made my money the old-fashioned way. I was very
How Do Trusts Work in Your Estate Plan? A trust can be a useful tool for passing on assets, allowing them to be held by a responsible trustee for beneficiaries. However, determining which type of trust is best for each family’s situation and setting them up so they work with an estate plan, can be
Your will does not control who inherits all your assets when you die. This is something that many people do not know. Instead, many of your assets will pass by beneficiary designations, says Kiplinger in the article “Beneficiary Designations: 5 Critical Mistakes to Avoid.” The beneficiary designation is the form that you fill out, when opening many different
Kids Grown Up? Protect Them with These Three Documents “Right is right even if no one is doing it; wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it.” Saint Augustine of Hippo “Everybody knows how to raise children except for the people that have them.” P.J. O’Rourke Without the right documents in place, you do not
There are many legal strategies involved in estate planning, including wills, revocable living trusts, irrevocable trusts, durable powers of attorney, and health care documents. New clients often say that they do not have an estate plan. Most people are surprised to learn that they actually do have a plan. In the absence of legal planning
What many people don’t realize that when they start drawing funds from those 401(k)s, they’re taxed. One of the reasons the accounts are so popular, is that a traditional 401(k) is funded from pre-tax paychecks, so the money deposited into the plan and any gains on the investment are not taxed until the money is
The Roanoke Times advises in the recent article “What to do in absence of advance directive” to talk to an experienced elder care attorney to coordinate the necessary legal issues, when dementia may be at issue with a parent or other loved one. Next, ask your physician for a geriatric evaluation consultation for your loved
Most people don’t know the rules about required minimum distributions. Also known as “RMDs,” these are the rules that require investors to make withdrawals from their retirement accounts the year that they turn 70½. However, says Forbes in the article “5 Things to Know About RMDs,” these withdrawals can have a major impact on cash flow,
“Make sure you visualize what you really want, not what someone else wants for you.” Jerry Gillies “No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” Charles Dickens Helping aging parents with daily tasks can become a challenge, if the parent has limited mobility. A trip to the bank, for example,
