The firestorm broke just one year ago. In the final months of the outgoing Obama Administration, Treasury Department officials proposed new rules that would have drastically affected the process of transferring a family business to heirs on the death of the business owner. The proposed rules would have significantly increased the estate tax burden on…
As today’s baby boomers enter their retirement years, a large number say they are hoping and planning for a “phased retirement.” Gone are the days when an employee hung up their tool belt or put aside the briefcase on their 65th or 66th birthday and simply called it quits. These days the plan for millions…
If you pass away with a reverse mortgage in place, is your spouse protected – even if he or she never signed the original loan documents? There was a time, until about two years ago, when the answer to that question was unclear, and reverse mortgages could sometimes leave surviving spouses in a tough bind,…
“The death of a beloved person is a scenario we all dread, and rightly so. It is one of the most devastating experiences one can endure. In the initial period of time after it occurs, most people wonder whether they’ll survive. So if it happens to you, what can you expect and how do you…
It’s something almost everyone agrees they need to do. So why do two-thirds of adults still fail to do it? We’re talking about end-of-life planning, specifically the type of advance planning that tells both your family and your health care team exactly how you want to be treated when you’re close to death. Generally called…
As anyone knows who has served the needs of an infirm loved one, being a caregiver exacts a heavy emotional toll. Not only must the caregiver deal with the pain of watching a loved one in decline, but he or she must keep up their own strength for the day in, day out physical exertion…
A little over a year ago, The New York Times published an interesting article about a trend in home design that we found encouraging when we encountered it: new homes specifically designed for multi-generational living. While this kind of lifestyle isn’t for everyone, the appeal definitely appears to be on the rise. We thought we…
Because we at AgingOptions work in the arena of retirement every day, we sometimes assume that there are certain basic facts about retirement that everybody knows. But the truth is that millions of people approach retirement woefully uninformed, and for that reason they tend to make costly mistakes that can play havoc with their finances.…
Helping out your grandchildren with costs of higher education may be a worthwhile thing to do – if you can afford it, that is, without damaging your own retirement security. But if you do decide to offer financial aid, you need to be strategic, or your generosity could end up making matters worse. That’s the…
The Great Recession that plunged the nation into economic uncertainty in 2008 supposedly ended several years ago, yet many older workers have never recovered the employment status they once enjoyed. It’s no secret that older workers find it tougher to land well-paying jobs these days. In fact, in a recent study conducted by the Federal…
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