It is difficult to turn on the news today without hearing tragic stories of how the opioid crisis that has swept the United States impacts families and communities. While many of the unfortunate effects of addiction can easily be seen, there are more unintended consequences that need to be taken…
In the first part of this post, we covered the initial basics in setting up a trust. Determining your purpose for creating the trust is certainly one of the most important steps, as are determining which individuals will be involved in the trust and how you want to go about…
As Congress moves closer and closer towards finalizing the proposed tax reform, seniors need to keep a close eye on some of the legislation’s key provisions that could have a serious impact on their benefits and economic forecast. With a projected $5 trillion in cuts over the next decade, the…
A recent article by Modern Healthcare suggests penalties for patient readmissions administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Studies (CMS) may be having the unintended consequences of increasing the mortality rate in certain patient demographics. The article cites numbers from a study by the The Journal of the American…
All trusts have distinct characteristics. Even trusts that have similar structures are still unique because of the assets in them and the goals behind their creation. However, there are still some common steps to establishing a trust. Regardless of the type of trust you are considering, keeping these steps in…
It is no secret that we live in an increasingly globalized world. That means it is becoming more and more common for individuals to find themselves abroad for any number of reasons that may include work, family, retirement, or even simply a desire to travel extensively. Whatever the reason for…
As part of its biggest structural changes to military retirement plans since World War II, the Department of Defense recently announced sweeping changes to pensions and savings plans that will start to phase in next year. The military hopes the plan will achieve both its goals of retaining valuable talent…
An often-overlooked part of estate planning is social security. We often hear that social security is not enough for an individual to live on during retirement, especially given that people are living longer lives and often require additional medical care when reaching an advanced age. However, social security can actually…
A recent study by the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health suggests the number of Americans suffering from Alzheimer’s or other cognitive impairments could more than double by 2060. Currently, an estimated 6 million Americans suffer from the disease and if the study holds to be true, that number could…
With so many different options available when it comes to creating a comprehensive estate plan, it can be difficult to choose the ones that are right for you. More and more often, individuals choose to utilize trusts as a way to preserve assets and ensure that as many assets as…