Planning for a long and prosperous retirement is no longer just about the money; because of the recession, boomers are needing to reboot their retirement plans. Here are six tips to get you on the right track again:

1. Get healthy. This should take priority even over saving more money, since significantly improving your physical health will reduce the chances you will need expensive healthcare procedures. Exercise more, eat better and take advantage of any wellness programs offered by your employer.

2. Spend less. Prioritize what you need versus what you want, and focus on spending just enough to meet your needs.

3. Save more. Add more to your 401(k) or IRA; increasing your savings by just 1 to 2% of your pay can make a noticeable difference to your savings without impacting your current lifestyle.

4. Pay off debt. Research shows that people who reduce or eliminate their debt prior to retirement do a lot better than those who carry debt into retirement. Pay off as many of your credit cards as possible and consider refinancing your house to take advantage of historic low mortgage rates.

5. Continue working. Most boomers will need to work at least part-time once they retire. Start investigating the kind of work you might enjoy doing. If you earn enough to cover your daily expenses, you won't have to touch savings, which can continue to grow until you are fully retired.

6. Maintain your network. Retirees with a large network of friends and family do better in retirement and live longer. Be sure you continue to nurture your network as you ease your way into retirement.

If you’d like to learn more about how the new tax laws will affect you, call our office today to schedule a time for us to sit down and talk. We normally charge $750 for a Family Wealth Planning Session, but because this planning is so important, I’ve made space for the next two people who mention this article to have a complete planning session at no charge. Call today and mention this article.

As a Personal Family Lawyer®, I am often asked to help people who inherit a retirement account.  The action you need to take with an inherited IRA depends upon your unique situation; the IRS has rules for each and recently announced that they will be cracking down on taxpayers who make mistakes with inherited IRAs.  Here are some inherited IRA scenarios and options for each:

If the account you inherit was a 401(k) or traditional IRA and the decedent was at least 70 ½ years old:  Contact the financial institution that holds the account to determine if the decedent had already taken the required minimum distribution for the year they died.  If they did not, you will need to do so.

If you are the spouse of the deceased account owner:  You can roll an inherited IRA into your own IRA to postpone taking distributions until you turn 70 ½.  If you take distributions before you turn 59 ½, you may be subject to early withdrawal penalties.  You can also leave it where it is and postpone taking the required minimum distribution until your deceased spouse would have turned 70 ½. 

If you are not the spouse:  You must first re-title the account to name you as the beneficiary.  You will then be required to start taking required minimum distributions, which can be stretched out over your lifetime, beginning by Dec. 31 of the year following the death of the account owner.

If there are secondary beneficiaries:  You have the option of disclaiming the inherited account, which will allow it to pass directly to the secondary beneficiaries.  This is usually done to avoid creditors or to minimize income or estate taxes.

If there are multiple beneficiaries:  You are allowed to split the account into separate IRAs for each beneficiary.

If you’d like to learn more about how to treat inherited IRAs or have other estate planning questions, call our office today to schedule a time for us to sit down and talk. We normally charge $750 for a Family Wealth Planning Session, but because this planning is so important, I’ve made space for the next two people who mention this article to have a complete planning session at no charge. Call today and mention this article. 

Balancing the needs of a multi-generational blended family with your own wishes can be a complicated task, especially when it comes to estate planning.  With a majority of Americans not only marrying once, but twice, three or even four times during their lives, it is a challenge that will come to many.

Even when blended family members get along, estate planning can be complicated. The potential for acrimony among family members can be so great that some people choose to avoid addressing the issue of who will inherit what altogether.  However, as any estate planning attorney will tell you, having no plan is not a good plan.

Overall, an effective estate plan for a blended family will ensure that:

·         Any ex-spouses do not inherit;

·         Your own children are protected;

·         Your current spouse is provided for;

·         Any estate taxes are minimized.

Estate plans are as individualistic as the families they cover, so it is always advisable to consult with an expert before finalizing your plan.  Although there are a plethora of online resources and books on the subject, estate planning for the blended family does not make a good do-it-yourself project. 

A Personal Family Lawyer can provide you with the individual attention you need to create an estate plan for your blended family.  If you’d like to learn more about estate planning for blended families, call our office today to schedule a time for us to sit down and talk.

We normally charge $750 for a Family Wealth Planning Session, but because this planning is so important, I’ve made space for the next two people who mention this article to have a complete planning session at no charge. Call today and mention this article. 

With longer life spans comes the necessity to be sure your money is around at least as long as you are.  Longevity insurance – where you pay a certain sum to an insurer when you’re in your 60s in exchange for monthly payments 20 or more years down the road – is a lesser known insurance product that is growing in popularity, especially considering potential cuts to Social Security benefits and the absence of pension plans in corporate America these days.

According to the Society of Actuaries, for a relatively healthy 65-year-old couple, chances are 63 percent that one of them will live until the age of 90 and 36 percent that one will make it to 95.  Some financial advisors consider longevity insurance to be a good way to manage the risk of living to a ripe old age.

Longevity insurance is an annuity with a fixed income that kicks in at a specified future age, usually 85.  For example, a “maximum income” version of MetLife’s longevity insurance with a lump sum investment of $100,000 at age 65 would pay a woman a little over $59,000 annually once she reached the age of 85.  A man would receive more – just under $74,000 a year – because men have shorter life spans than women.

Under many longevity insurance policies, if you die before payments begin, your heirs are out of luck.  However, there are alternate versions that guarantee some death benefits to heirs, but they are usually more expensive at the outset.

If you’d like to learn more about long-term care and other estate planning strategies, call our office today to schedule a time for us to sit down and talk with a Personal Family Lawyer®. We normally charge $750 for a Family Wealth Planning Session, but because this planning is so important, I’ve made space for the next two people who mention this article to have a complete planning session at no charge. Call today and mention this article.