Is It Better to Remarry or Just Live Together?

Finding love later in life may be unexpected and exciting, but should it lead to marriage? The considerations are much different for an older couple with adult children and retirement plans than for a young couple just starting out. Before deciding whether to get married or just live together, you need to look at your estate plan, your Social Security benefits, and your potential long-term care...

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5 Things to Know to Reduce Your Tax on Capital Gains

Although it is often said that nothing is certain except death and taxes, the one tax you may be able to avoid or minimize most through planning is the tax on capital gains. Here’s what you need to know to do such planning: What is capital gain?  Capital gain is the difference between the “basis” in property — usually real estate or stocks, but also including artwork and...

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Nursing Home Discrimination Against Medicaid Recipients

While it is illegal for a nursing home to discriminate against a Medicaid recipient, it still happens. To prevent such discrimination, nursing home residents and their families need to know their rights. The potential for discrimination arises because Medicaid pays nursing homes less than the facilities receive from residents who pay privately with their own funds and less than Medicare pays....

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Does Your Estate Plan Include An Unnecessary Bypass Trust?

A once-popular estate planning tool may now cost families more in taxes than it saves. Changes in the estate tax have made the “bypass trust” a less appealing option for many families.  If your estate plan includes a bypass trust not drafted by this office, you should reconsider its necessity because it could be doing more harm than good. (Our office typically drafts bypass drafts...

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Four Social Security Myths Debunked

There are a lot of misconceptions surrounding the Social Security system. Here are four common myths and the truth about how Social Security works and its future prospects. Myth 1: You Should Collect Benefits Early This is one of the biggest Social Security myths. In 2015, more than half of Social Security recipients began collecting benefits before their full retirement age (66 for those born...

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Last Chance to Use File and Suspend Strategy for Claiming Social Security Benefits

Time is running out to use a potentially very lucrative Social Security benefits-claiming strategy. Spouses will no longer be able to use the “file and suspend” strategy after April 29, 2016. Beware, however, that the new rules are causing confusion at some Social Security offices. The federal budget agreement that was signed in fall 2015 ended two Social Security strategies that...

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