Planning Early is Better

When planning involves a vacation or dinner out with friends, we are all over it. Yet, often, when planning is about our death or our life as an elderly person, not so much. Unfortunately, when we fail to plan for when we cannot make our own decisions or when we die, our family suffers most. […]

Do-It-Yourself: Great for Small Repairs, Dangerous for Estate Planning

Learning estate planning is quite a bit different than learning to replace a spigot on You-Tube. With so much information available online today from learning home repair hacks and even publishing your own book, it is tempting to try to do this for yourself. Making an appointment to see an attorney is hardly at the […]

Maximizing your Social Security Benefits

People are living much longer today and collecting social security longer than in previous generations. And in many cases, women outlive men. Those who are in their 60s can elect to receive their retirement benefits earlier or later. Each month, 10,000 Baby boomers are turning 65. For those who have diseases that are known to […]

Divorced and 50: Fixes for a Carefree Retirement

Divorce is never a happy subject. The emotional impact on a family can take months or even years to heal. Another pain that many do not learn about until it is too late is the potentially dangerous effect of divorce on retirement plans. Folks over 50 who divorce often experience a loss of income that […]

Family Wealth Planning: Steps on how to leave your family (and the world) a better place

Guilt. When you are a parent, you feel guilty. It’s just how it is.  Regardless of what the issue is, you hovered over your kids, you worked too hard, you regret using child care, or you were too permissive, the fact is, because you are thinking about it means you ARE A great parent. What […]

5 Things We Can Learn From Our Parents about Retirement

When we talk about retirement, most of us are still thinking about our parents’ retirement and how they did – or did not – plan properly for it. It’s no big stretch to think that our retirement will differ significantly from that of our parents, but there are still lessons to be learned from them […]

Design tips for a beautiful, safe home for healthy aging

Your kids have gone and you are looking ahead to a happy, retired life in a home that you want to reflect the way you live. Who do you call to help you redesign your home for healthy aging? Jeannette Knudsen Allied ASID and her Gilbert firm Design for a Lifespan LLC helps people create […]

Estate-Planning: What about our timeshare?

From time to time, we will answer questions we receive from our clients on our blog. Naturally, if ONE person is pondering a topic relative to estate-planning, it is possible there are others out there wondering the same thing. Today’s question is: How do we handle our timeshare in our estate planning? Timeshares are a […]

Entrepreneurs: Plan for business succession

Business owners are accustomed to having to handle issues that employees do not think of such as changes in tax laws and management plans for time away from the business. One topic that is relevant to both business owners AND employed people is estate planning but like with most things, the business owner has specific […]

6 Keys to a contented retirement

In the next decade, more Americans will retire than ever before. Like recent retiree, David Letterman, most look forward to the end of their professional careers, while others become anxious or concerned. When finances have been planned for, retirement can be among the most satisfying and happiest times of your life. It can also be […]