Most Common Challenges Facing Aging Family Members with Housing Transitions

The discovery that your loved one may need to make a housing transition either to downsize to a different location or to move into a residential facility that assist them with day to day care can be overwhelming and difficult for the family member in question and their adult children and other caregivers. These situations can be complicated by a sudden diagnosis of a cognitive issue like dementia and should therefore be handled with care and a team of professionals.

There are a number of different living arrangements available for the elderly today. They include senior communities, skilled care, independent living and assisted living. Deciding on the right type of location for your loved one will likely require research and an in-home visit. When you know your loved one’s abilities and where he or she needs assistance, you’ll be better equipped to make this decision.

All of these have one thing in common and that is a transition from an apartment or a home with which your loved one may have become very attached. This transition involves financial, medical and personal intricacies. This situation would ideally occur when everyone is of sound mind and very healthy.

However, sadly, many of these decisions happen in a rush and after other issues like dementia have come onto the picture. Consulting with an experienced estate planning attorney in Massachusetts can assist you to avoid these challenges and help you with determining how your estate plan is affected by decisions made regarding housing.

 

What Are the Biggest Advantages of a Living Trust?

Choosing a living trust as a component of your estate plan is a wise decision and it is one that can only be made after you have carefully reviewed your current estate planning documents. These include a will and identified that a living trust may be used to complement or replace some of the planning tools you have used in the past.

Some of the most common advantages of a living trust include:

  •      You ensure that your beneficiaries avoid the probate process for assets placed inside the trust.
  •      The savings of court proceedings and probate later on in your life can be significant.
  •      A living trust is flexible and can be cancelled at any time.
  •      A trust is relatively easy to amend.
  •      Trusts are often more difficult to contest than a will.
  •      Your trust is a private document, and rarely enters the public record. A will, on the other hand, is filed in the Probate Court and is available to anyone who wants to to read it.

Putting together a living trust requires thinking about your current documents, the assets you have currently in your estate, and how you would like to pass them on to your beneficiaries. This can be accomplished by setting up a phone call or an in-person consultation with an estate planning attorney in MA who has extensive experience managing living trusts and providing you with necessary guidance about how to protect your interests going forward.

 

Incorporating New Digital Technology into Your Estate Planning

A recent survey revealed that up to 63% of people don’t know what happens to their digital or online assets after they pass away. Whether it’s iCloud, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or any other online application, experienced and knowledgeable estate planning advice goes a long way into the digital and advanced technology as of now.

Many people employ a number of different types of digital assets, whether it’s an online retail account, a website or a blog, music sites, retailer apps and more. In most of these cases people will need your password or username information to log in and carry out any of your wishes.

Make sure that you have a secure inventory of these digital assets and a way for your loved ones to be able to access this information if something were to suddenly happen to you. You also need to realize that specific rules may apply with service agreements and digital executors, that make these tools unique. Online tools, for example, may be affected by the revised uniform fiduciary access to Digital Assets Act of 2015. This allows someone to determine the ultimate disposition of a digital asset.

Google’s inactive account manager will automatically alert someone if their account remains unused for a set period of time. Failing to respond to the alert in a timely fashion allows Google to notify a family member or a friend or the person you have named as your digital executor to confirm your death prior to carrying out instructions.

If you have digital assets- and you probably do- make sure you review the application’s terms of service. In addition to safely storing your own passwords somewhere, you might want to figure out if there are any website-specific rules you need to follow to allow someone else into your account after you pass away.

Do you need more information on what you should do with personal property, including digital media? Contact a Massachusetts estate planning lawyer for more information.

 

Americans’ Most Common Retirement Fears in 2017

Retirement is supposed to be exciting and the conclusion to your working career, however, it can also lead to some fears if you are not appropriately prepared. A new TransAmerica study indicates that American workers are dealing with fears about health and financial security in retirement.

As you might expect, healthcare and longevity both factor heavily into anxiety over the retirement process.

The most common fears that showed up in the survey of retirees included:

  •       Up to 51% of American workers are concerned about outliving their investments and their savings.
  •       Current employees are concerned their social security will be eliminated or minimized in the future.
  •       Long term care expenses are on the rise and Americans are concerned about paying for it.
  •      Cognitive decline is an issue that is currently worried about by 35% of workers.
  •       Lack of affordable and adequate health care since Medicare only goes so far and the costs not covered by Medicare can be catastrophic. This is why 32% of the survey respondents listed this as a major retirement fear.

Planning ahead can give you much more peace of mind and confidence about how you approach your individual retirement. It’s important to state necessary planning steps now to feel confident about how you approach the prospect of estate planning. Look ahead to a more confident future for both you and your loved ones by thinking about retirement and estate planning together. Scheduling a consultation today with an experienced estate planning lawyer is helpful.

 

 

What You Should Know About Potential Social Security Fraud Scams in Massachusetts

In 2015, legislation was updated by Congress that mandated that the centers for Medicare and Medicaid services discontinue the use of Social Security numbers on Medicare cards for seniors.

Instead, a randomly generated number was used to identify each Medicare participant. This could lead to someone giving up private and identifying information that could be used to carry out fraud now or in the future. Anyone eligible for Medicare should be wary of communication over the phone, especially anything that demands personally identifying details upfront.

Attorney Noreen Murphy serves on the Abuse Task Force in Arlington and notes that the Greater Boston area task force makes a good point about this attempt to deter fraud.

A number of different fraud problems have emerged lately including scammers who attempt to make telephone calls to senior citizens trying to get this randomly generated number by trying to ensure correct billing, updating records, or informing them that they will be receiving a new card in the mail.

The open enrollment season initiates on October 17th and runs through December 7th and this is a very popular time for scammers to reach out and inform them that they need to purchase a particular plan or switch plans. This could involve the disclosure of personally identifying information accidentally.

Do you want to talk about putting together a comprehensive plan for your estate as well as how to avoid some of the most common scams affecting the elderly throughout Massachusetts? Your ability to plan into the future can benefit you as well as your loved ones for many years to come. The right Massachusetts estate planning attorney should be contacted to schedule a consultation.

 

 

New Study Shows That Having Children Financially Challenging for Retirees

Parents may have numerous challenges as they shift into senior citizen years. However, a new study by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, determined that children can be a detriment to saving enough for retirement. Children are expensive because they require clothing, food, child care, and education.

The overall family income can be negatively affected by one parent, in particular, taking a lesser job or staying at home. This means less of a chance that that parent will be able to set aside money for retirement. Within a family, every child is associated with up to 4% less wealth. If the parents are in their 50s, each child increases by 2 percentage points the parent’s risk for not having enough support financially to get through retirement.

It’s estimated that nationally approximately 50% of couples do not have enough assets like a pension payment, retirement plans, or a house that is completely paid to sustain them through a full retirement, which could last as many as 30 years given recent longevity numbers. With this information, you need to be prepared to protect yourself and consider all of your financial obligation as you near retirement.

Retirement and estate planning are well worth the time and effort put in to ensure you’ve got something that reflects your needs and goals. Engage the services of professionals to get peace of mind with your planning.

 

 

Financial & Estate Planning for Women More Important with Increasing Longevity

While general financial and estate planning advice is intended to apply to all investors, the truth is that women statistically live longer than men and may face unique issues such as ensuring that the assets they have set aside will continue to last them throughout their expected lifetime. This also confronts the challenges faced by many women given that they are likely to earn less over the course of their careers compared with male counterparts due to the gender pay gap and taking time off work to be caregivers.

Although the gender pay gap is decreasing, women still earn 83% of what men are in 2015, according to research collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This often leads to women saving less for retirement, receiving smaller pensions, and getting less in social security benefits.

Women are more likely to live on their own in their golden years due to their own choices, or divorce or death of a spouse. It is crucial that they take individual responsibility and planning opportunities as seriously as possible because their financial decisions may have repercussions that influence them for many years to come.

Scheduling a consultation with a dedicated Massachusetts estate planning attorney can help give you a broader perspective over the issues involved in financial and estate planning and the necessary documents that may be required to assist women to provide for their own care and lifestyle over the course of retirement.

 

 

Older Americans Significantly Affected by Debt

Debt is a problem for people of all ages, however, a new research from the University of Michigan Retirement Research Center indicates that debt is a particular problem for baby boomers. The study has been conducted every year since 1990 and looks at the experiences of more than 20,000 Americans over age 50. Magnified Money identified that 33% of Americans over the age of 50 currently carry non-mortgage debt from one month to another.

The average amount of non-mortgage debt was almost $12,500 and approximately $4,800 in credit card debt. Any type of high interest debt can make it problematic for an older American to have a quality lifestyle in retirement. This is particularly true if they are exposed to any costs associated with long term care.

The rising costs of health care needs as people age is extremely important to consider, particularly for a couple that may have counted on the joint retirement to fund their retirement needs. Their assets can become quickly decimated by the health care costs linked to just one long term care event, such as the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s or a broken hip.

These issues can jeopardize the retirement of the other spouse as well and require careful and complex planning. If you are concerned about how to protect what you’ve accumulated over the course of your life, estate planning is a must. Consulting with an experienced lawyer sooner rather than later is strongly recommended if you have estate planning questions.

 

Dealing with An Aging Parent Who Shows Signs of Cognitive Issues

It is very difficult to realize that your loved one may be losing his or her faculties. In fact, many children who find themselves in this situation as adults will try to do everything in their power to step in and assist with this situation as long as they can. However, after a certain point you may be unable to handle this situation on your own.

This is even more difficult when your loved one is uncomfortable with getting help and may even fight you about it. Relying on your support network of other relatives is extremely important but particularly if there are cognitive issues with your loved one, it is imperative that you discuss these with the family member’s physician and develop a plan for how you and others will assist with this.

Alzheimer’s, plus unclear estate planning, can also generate a great deal of problems down the road when your loved one may no longer be able to make decisions for themselves. Finding advisors that you can trust to help with this situation – including an attorney, accountant, and financial professionals – can give you peace of mind. If something were to happen to your loved one where they were no longer able to make decisions on their own, someone is available to help guide you through the decisions that need to be made.

Unfortunately, elder individuals who are starting to suffer from cognitive issues like Alzheimer’s may be easy picking for scammers who will do everything possible to carry out fraud for people who are unable to make decisions for themselves.

Having the right family and professional people in positions of assistance and who care about your loved ones early on in the process is important. Furthermore, you need a clear plan of what will happen if the condition continues to worsen is crucial for protecting you and your family member.

An estate planning lawyer in Massachusetts is a great resource to turn to during this difficult time.

 

Don’t Make These Retirement Planning Mistakes

Millions of baby boomers are headed into retirement and unfortunately, some may discover that they are not as prepared as they thought they were. Thinking about retirement is a great opportunity to evaluate mistakes you have made up to this point or to avoid them in practice altogether.

The first and most common mistake with regard to retirement planning is failing to get an early jump on planning. The earlier you start saving for retirement, the easier it is to accumulate the necessary resources. Young individuals who are settling into a career, purchasing their first home, and getting married will frequently defer retirement planning, which could cost them in the long run. The next major mistake in retirement planning is underestimating your retirement needs.

Most people don’t realize how much money they will actually need to acquire in order to retire comfortably. A person will usually need to replace close to 90% of his or her income before retirement to maintain a standard of living and as longevity numbers are increasing, this becomes even higher. Furthermore, many people overestimate their ability to continue working past a certain age. People with desk jobs are most likely to assume they can continue working, but this is often not the case. Reasons outside of their control such as poor mental or physical health, losing their job or having to care for an ailing spouse or a loved one are just a couple of the reasons why you may need to stop working sooner than you anticipated.

Want more information about retirement and estate planning? Make a call to a Massachusetts estate planning lawyer today.