I’ve recently turned 50. In the spirit of celebrating that milestone, I started doing one thing new each week. (I’ve since discovered there’s a book about that.) Some of the new things I’m doing are fun (like learning how to make mozzarella) and some are not so fun. That’s because 50 is the year for…
You’ve heard the expression “the taxman cometh,” but can he “calleth?” That question should be going through anyone’s mind who receives a phone call from the IRS. Seattle-area Elder Law Attorney, Rajiv Nagaich was home one day when his wife received a call that she was being sued. The caller identified herself as an IRS…
Do you want to feel confident about retiring? Participate in a retirement plan. A strong correlation exists between participation in a retirement plan and increased confidence in the ability to retire comfortably according to a report released in March from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit research institute that focuses on…
Three-quarters of American workers expect to continue working through their retirement years. Of those that do, 39 percent say they will because they like to work, a third say they have to work because they need the money and some unsurprisingly say that both reasons factor into their decision to continue working after retirement age. …
A University of Michigan study found that between 2000 and 2010, the number of seniors with living wills (Advance Directives) increased from 47 percent to 72 percent. Despite that significant change, hospitalization rates and in-hospital deaths remained pretty much the same, according to the study which was published in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society.…
A simple blood test can predict, with 90 percent accuracy whether someone will develop Alzheimer’s disease in the next two to three years according to researchers from several medical centers in a paper published in Nature Medicine in March. But, would knowing you had a 90 percent chance of getting Alzheimer’s potentially affect long term…
Maximizing Social Security strategies is becoming big business or at least it’s becoming bigger business than it used to be thanks to a number of strategies that became available in 2000. One of those strategies is called file-and-suspend. That strategy allows the higher wage earner in a couple to file for benefits to allow the…
Fractures are a common and problematic event for older adults. More than 2 million fragility fractures occur in the U.S. each year. Despite this, roughly 80 percent of older Americans who experience a fragility fracture are never tested or treated for osteoporosis. Fragility fractures are broken bones caused by a fall from no greater than…
Anyone with property has an estate. The point of probate is to legally clarify the ownership of that property in order to distribute the title of the property when you die. Any asset that has a document to establish the identity of the owner (title to a car, deed to a house, account ownership papers…
Under a new program, Social Security disability claims for veterans with a VA disability compensation rating of 100 percent Permanent and Total (P&T) will be expedited according to the Social Security Administration. To receive the expedited service, veterans must inform the Social Security Administration that they have a 100 percent Permanent and Total disability compensation…
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