Power of Attorney: What is it? This sounds much more complicated than it is. A power of attorney (POA) is a legal document that allows one person to act on behalf of another. The person setting up the POA is called the principal and the person given the power to act is called the attorney-in-fact.…
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A Will: What is it? After you pass away, the courts must determine the distribution of your assets. A Will is a legal document that expresses how your assets should be distributed at death. Remember, each state has a pre-determined plan for your assets that they will use unless you provide other instructions. A Will…
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The top 10 excuses people use to avoid creating an estate plan. 1) I don’t have enough assets to require an estate plan. When I talk to some people about estate planning, they look at me like I’m crazy. They say, “My last name is Jones, not Rockefeller. I’ve got a simple life with modest…
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Congratulations! You already have an estate plan. Maybe you didn’t know it, but right now you already have an estate plan! Even if you’ve never written a Will or considered estate planning, you have a plan. Each state has developed an estate plan of last resort—called an “intestacy”—for residents who haven’t created their own plan.…
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Most of us don’t like to think about death, but as uncomfortable as it may be to think about, if you put off proper planning you risk subjecting your loved ones to a financial disaster—just as they’re trying to deal with the emotional impact of a loved one’s passing. You’ve worked hard to design your…
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Determining How Much You Should Spend on a Long-Term Care Policy If you have decided you want a LTC policy, you next need to decide how much you should spend on it. There is no maximum or minimum dollar amount that will be appropriate for everyone. However, for most people your annual retirement income will…
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Before you start researching LTC insurance policies, first determine if you are a good candidate. Individuals with a net worth less than $300,000 or greater than $3 million may not need to consider LTC insurance—if this is you, consult a fee-only financial advisor to see what approach is best for you. There are a large…
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LTC is not cheap and costs vary depending on the type of care needed. Adult day care is less expensive than assisted living, which is less expensive than nursing home care. On the low end, an adult day care center might cost $35,000 per year and on the other end of the spectrum, a nursing…
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There are many more LTC solutions available today than there were just a few years ago. In the past, you had only two LTC options. Either you received support from a spouse at home or you were thrust into a full-time nursing home and received care from nurses and doctors. Not any more! Staying at…
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“When I die, I want to go peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather did—not screaming like the passengers in his car.” What does this gruesome joke have to do with long-term care (LTC) planning? Surprisingly, quite a bit. First, unlike the grandfather in the joke, most people do not die quickly. If everyone remained…
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