What should you do if you win the lottery? As someone who has had experience with lottery winners, you should know that there are countless financial, tax, and legal strategies you can take to make the most of your sudden wealth monies. But not so fast! Winning the lottery is a unique sudden wealth event […] READ MORE
If you have a will, have you looked at in the past couple of years and updated if necessary? That’s important, but don’t assume that it’s enough to ensure that all your wishes are carried out in the event of your demise. It isn’t. What about the beneficiary designations on your qualified retirement accounts, individual […] READ MORE
Once again a celebrity has died, leaving an estate in chaos. Clearly good intentions but poorly planned and with no follow through. As unfortunate as this might be, there are lessons to be learned and mistakes not to be repeated. Most recently, the Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman became deceased, leaving an estate reportedly worth […] READ MORE
You’ve worked a lifetime for what you have. You did everything right; funded your retirement plan, paid off your home early, amassed enough savings to cover future expenses and even planned to leave a financial legacy to your loved ones. Too bad your ex-spouse—and his or her kids—will inherit it all… Estate-planning mistakes are both […] READ MORE
Did you know that several states have investigated some of the country’s largest insurers for failing to pay out unclaimed life policies to beneficiaries? Under policy contracts, they aren’t required to take steps to determine if a policyholder is still alive, but instead pay a claim only when beneficiaries come forward. The lesson here: It […] READ MORE
Using a payable-on-death or transfer-on-death account is the simplest way to keep assets out of probate. With either a transfer-on-death or a payable-on-death account, you are in control. The assets in the account pass directly to your named beneficiary and bypass probate, the court proceedings that validate your will after your death and transfers property […] READ MORE