A Capital Gains Tax Mistake – Part 1
A client called recently after receiving his income tax return from his accountant. Much to his surprise, he was facing a significant 6 figure income tax bill. So why was he calling us? We don’t prepare and file income tax returns. The reason had to do with the sale of real estate that he
Second Marriage Issues – Part 2
In last week’s blog post, I began a discussion about second marriage issues. This week I will tell you about a specific second marriage problem in our office. Husband and wife each had children from a first marriage and no children as a result of their marriage the second for both. They did
Another Reason People Fail to Plan – Part 2
In my previous blog post here I gave you another reason why people fail to plan for a potential crisis . Sometimes personal background or culture plays a role. We received a recent call from a daughter concerning her dad who had been traveling abroad when he had a stroke. The family was
Another Reason People Fail to Plan
In this blog over the years I have written often about how the lack of planning makes things more complicated and the outcomes worse when a crisis hits than when there is a plan in place. In many instances lack of planning stems from the lack of urgency and the belief
The SECURE Act’s 10 Year Rule (Part 2)
In last week’s post, I wrote about the SECURE Act, specifically the change that for most beneficiaries does away with the ability to stretch out the time period by which funds must be withdrawn from these accounts. This change will affect most children who inherit retirement accounts from their parents. Being 25
Voice Cloning Scam – Part 1
I most recently wrote about financial scams in this blog back in October but a recent story on the tv news caught my eye. I wanted to share it here as another example of the “dark side” of technology to which seniors especially can be susceptible. It involves voice cloning. Advances
Proposed Financial Elder Abuse Legislation – Part 3
The subject of my last two posts has been a proposed piece of legislation introduced by 2 New Jersey legislators in response to a couple of cases reported upon in the media in which seniors were moved into long term care facilities and their asset taken from them by individuals
Financial Elder Abuse Legislation – Part 2
In my post last week, I wrote about a type of financial fraud targeting the elderly that caught the attention of two New Jersey legislators. In two cases that were reported upon by the media, a man working with a nursing home convinced 2 seniors to sign powers of attorney appointing
Fraud Prevention – Part 2
In last week’s post I wrote about the increasing number of our senior clients falling victim to online financial scams. Once money has left your account the chances of recovering it are remote. So, the best defense is to prevent it from happening in the first place. As I stated last week, there
Fraud Prevention – Part 1
As internet use and online business have increased, so has online financial theft and fraud. Seniors are especially susceptible for a number of reasons. For one thing, criminals go where the money is. Much of the country’s wealth is held by the older population. Secondly, as we age, our cognitive skills are not what