At what point do you think you’d finally reach the point where you thought having a Will or other end-of-life legal documents was an important part of your planning? Would you say that if you had a million dollars that you would for sure make sure to have documents outlining who your beneficiaries were? A…
By Tamara Sevigny of Kiel Mortgage Maria was in the midst of a crisis. Her husband passed away suddenly, leaving her with no life insurance. Maria’s income dramatically changed. The passing of her husband left her with just her Survivor’s benefit from Social Security. However, their home was paid in full. Her Pastor suggested she…
American physicians began writing about childhood diseases in the mid-1800s. An early advocate, Dr. Abraham Jacobi first taught about childhood disease in 1861 and later opened the first department of pediatrics at a general hospital. Despite these initial movements, in the early 19th century, physicians still treated children like small adults with few exceptions. It…
A Wall Street Journal article recently reported that withdrawals from 401(k) plans exceeded new contributions in 2013 (the survey is a biennial survey with reports conveyed on odd years) after decades of expansion. That trend is expected to continue as Baby Boomers reach retirement age and begin drawing down their retirement savings. Of concern isn’t…
Partnerships and LLCs allow families to pass on assets such as minority shares in a family business to heirs in a tax-efficient way. It’s a popular estate planning tactic because the transfer of assets deemed illiquid receive a discount on the value of the asset. Here’s how this works. You have a family business and…
On June 29, the American Heart Association recommended the use of a treatment that snatches blood clots from brains for individuals with severe stroke cases. Like using a snake to unclog a pipe, doctors thread a catheter tube through an artery up to the clot that’s blocking oxygen from reaching the brain. A wire mesh…
Most people wouldn’t necessarily think of their 18 year old child as an adult but in the eyes of the law, with few exceptions, he or she is. A handful of states require graduation from high school or reaching 19 years of age. Mississippi doesn’t consider someone fully adult until they reach 21. But everywhere else, including…
I’m dating myself here but I remember a time when getting up early to watch Saturday morning cartoons netted you a screen with the station’s call letters and a piercing sound that could wake your parents up (and thus get you grounded from watching cartoons) if you turned on the television before 8 o’clock. Today…
A 2012 study by Cerulli Associates found that 60 percent of investors either did not know how their advisors got paid or thought that the service they offered was free. In fact, there are at least six ways a financial advisor will charge you fees. They are: As a percentage of your account’s value. One…
If you have a high deductible health plan, you can receive tax-preferred treatment of any money you set aside in a Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) to pay for medical costs. HSAs differ from Flexible Spending Arrangements (FSAs) and Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs). (For more on these three types of health spending accounts please see this…
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