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Hey Kids! Don’t Sell the Farm!
Here’s a true story about a family where the kids didn’t follow their dad’s advice about the family farm.
Post-it Notes Are Not Legally Binding
I once heard of someone asking her grandchildren to go around the house putting Post-it notes on the things they wanted after she was gone. For several years, every time her grandchildren would come over the post-it notes were still scattered around the house. Yellow...
How Innovative Medicaid Planning Helped Save the Relationship of Two Sisters
This is the real-life story of two sisters, an annuity, nursing home costs, and why Medicaid Planning matters. Mom did not have much, but she owned her home, had a steady retirement income, and had purchased two annuities. Each in the amount of $50,000. Each daughter...
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4 Things You Can Do to Avoid a Messy Guardianship
You may have read in a previous post that Buzz Aldrin has been fighting with his children over his own competency. Aldrin's children are concerned that he is not able to make good choices any longer... In that same article we talked with Attorney Amanda Lundeen about...
4 Things Everybody Should Know About Guardianship
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin has been in the news a lot recently. Aldrin, his children, and even his business manager, are embroiled in a lawsuit over whether Aldrin is competent to continue managing his finances and his life. Sadly, this guardianship feud between Aldrin and...
3 Things to Do Before You Hit 70
Decision making gets harder as we age. Here are 3 crucial decisions you need to address before you turn 70. Researchers say that decision making gets harder as we age, even if we don't have dementia. What does this mean for you? There are many important decisions...
How to Protect My Kids From Wild Spending
So, where will your stuff go when you die? Think about it for a minute. Who will get your stuff and how much will they get? Will the inheritance you leave make a big difference in their financial lives? In many cases it will, and it may be a lot more money than they...
Mom Is Having Memory Trouble and the Family Is Worried
Every week we talk with several families who are worried about the challenges of aging and call us for help. Recently, a family was concerned about mom's declining memory and dementia. Mom is mostly unaware of her inability to handle things on her own and...
Who Needs a Life Care Plan?
In a recent blog post, we talked about the challenges that our extended lifespan creates these days. Because people are living into their 80's and 90's on a regular basis, this creates financial, physical, medical and emotional struggles. Seeing families struggle with...
Elder Care Advisors: Helping People Age Well
These days, our extended life span creates a lot of challenges when it comes to managing the financial, physical, medical, and emotional reality of aging in America. We recently asked those who are facing retirement, or beginning to struggle with the challenges of...
New Medicare Cards Continue to Be Mailed Out
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) continue to mail out new Medicare cards to residents of Illinois. The rollout started in June, but continues into July. Sadly, along with any big wholesale change like this (affecting roughly 60 million seniors...
What Is a Trustee and When Might You Need One?
You've probably heard of trusts and trustees before - most likely in the context of a rich kid living off of their trust fund. However, trusts are not just legal tools for the wealthy. We've talked about trusts before, and if you want to delve a little deeper into...
4 Things You May Not Know About POA’s
Some people get nervous when they think about signing a Power of Attorney. Maybe they saw a movie where a guy was swindled out of a fortune when he signed one. Maybe giving someone control over your affairs is unsettling to you. Whatever the case may be, Powers of...