What beneficiaries need to know and consider. At first glance, the rules surrounding inherited IRAs are complex. Here are some questions (and potential answers) to consider if you have inherited one or may in the future. Who was the original IRA owner? If the original owner was...
Let them know how they will receive retirement assets and insurance benefits. Will your heirs receive a fair share of your wealth? Will your invested assets go where you want them to when you die? If you have a proper will or estate plan in place, you...
From one perspective, the answer is yes; from another, no. When you buy a home, are you investing? If you buy it to flip it or buy it as a rental property, the answer is yes. If you buy a home simply to live in it,...
After many years together, some retired spouses may find their daily routines far apart. When you see online ads or TV commercials about retirement planning, do they ever show baby boomer couples arguing? No. After all, retirement planning is about the pursuit of a happy outcome...
Why it is so important and not just for the rich. You have an estate. It doesn’t matter how limited (or unlimited) your means may be, and it doesn’t matter if you own a mansion or a motor home. Rich or poor, when you die, you leave...
Let them know how they will receive retirement assets and insurance benefits. Will your heirs receive a fair share of your wealth? Will your invested assets go where you want them to when you die? If you have a proper will or estate plan in place, you...
A look at two basic methods for shielding assets from probate. How do you keep assets out of probate? If that estate planning question is on your mind, you should know that there are two basic ways to accomplish that objective. One, you could create a revocable living...
Special considerations for a complex situation. Marrying again makes estate planning more involved. How do you provide for everyone you love? Should you provide for everyone you love? How do you arrange to transfer wealth in a way that won’t hurt the feelings of certain heirs? If...
How well off do you think you are financially? If your career or life takes an unexpected turn, would your finances hold up? What do you think will become of the money you’ve made and saved when you are gone? These are major questions, and most...
A lack of vision is often the answer to that question. Many are the stories of family wealth lost. In the late 19th century, industrial tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt amassed the equivalent of $100 billion in today’s dollars – but when 120 of his descendants met at...