Recent Blog Posts
Should Heirs Pay Taxes on Assets They Can’t Sell?
Throughout history artists and their artwork have often been on the leading edge of controversy. In a recent brou-ha-ha between the heirs of the New York art dealer Ileana Sonnabend and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service the controversy is over nothing less than the value of art—although perhaps not “value of art” in the… Read More »
Prudential to Stop Offering Group Long-Term Care Insurance, Giving Buyers One Less Option
If you have been thinking about investing in long-term care insurance when planning for the future, you now, unfortunately, have one less option to consider. Recent news reports that as of August 1 of this year, Prudential Financial Inc will stop selling group long-term care policies in all but five states. According to news… Read More »
Affordable Care Act Likely to Improve Situations of People with Disabilities
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a hot topic lately, and of great concern to people of all walks of life; but people with disabilities, or who rely on government benefits to help them pay for health care and living expenses, have even more at stake in the game and more reason to be… Read More »
Crucial Steps Can Help Ease the Burden of the Sandwich Generation
A recent study from the University of Michigan reveals a worrisome trend for the children of Baby Boomers. According to the study (and this recent article) “more than 60 percent of young adults ages 19-22 receive financial help from their parents,” a tally which comes to “about $7,500 a year when help with rent,… Read More »
How Healthy Are Your Finances? A Mid-Year Financial Check-up
One of our previous blog posts mentions upcoming changes to tax law this winter, and what further changes may be in store once November comes around and we know who will be in the White House next year. This could be interpreted as a reason to wait on making any changes to your estate… Read More »
Changing Tax Law and the Presidential Campaign
Curiosity and excitement are always to be expected in an election year—especially curiosity about taxes. We all know that each presidential candidate has very different philosophies about where the tax burden lies, how much should be paid, and by whom; but all most of us really want to know is how the implementation of… Read More »
Should Zombies Pay Estate Taxes?
How dead do you have to be before the government can tap your estate for estate taxes? Do you have to be only kind of dead, or do you have to be fully dead-dead? This is the subject of a new law review article by Adam Chodorow of the Arizona State University law school,… Read More »
Low Interest Rates Good for Borrowers, Bad for Retired Seniors
If you’re nearing retirement and looking forward to living off the interest of your retirement savings you may have to consider staying in the job market for another year or so. Interest rates have hit record lows recently; a turn of events which is good for homeowners and borrowers, but very bad for seniors… Read More »
Start Planning Now to Help Your Parents—And Yourself—In Retirement
This recent article in CBS MoneyWatch is calling attention to what they call “the national retirement nightmare.” The article points out that what used to be the simple plan of socking away a little bit of money from each paycheck has now turned into the huge nightmare of planning not only for your own… Read More »
Start Your Marriage Off On Strong and Secure Financial Footing
Every time a celebrity couple splits up news sources start asking questions about prenuptial agreements. It’s been no different during the past few weeks as news and speculation about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ divorce leaks out. But prenuptial agreements aren’t only for celebrities, and they aren’t only for the rich and famous. In… Read More »