Long-term planning is the key to financial success, and you have multiple different stages of life that you must consider. One of the first financial goals that many people set is that of making sure they have the resources to provide their children with a college education.

Beyond that goal lies the financing your active retirement years. This period of time can be extraordinarily enjoyable as you have the free time to do all the things that you always planned to do while you were too busy working to do them.

There is also an interim that lies in wait beyond your active retirement years when you may not be capable of doing everything for yourself, and these twilight years should be prepared for as well. And of course the culmination of it all will be the distribution of your assets after your eventual death.

Clearly, there is a lot to consider, and when you recognize the need to map out a plan it is time to retain the services of a financial planning attorney that you will feel comfortable working with for the long haul. If you are wondering how to find one it is a good idea to query family members, colleagues, neighbors and friends to see if you can obtain any recommendations.

Word-of-mouth is a powerful tool. If someone that you trust has been able to develop a fruitful relationship with a particular retirement and estate planning attorney it is likely that you will be able to do so as well.

Once you have identified the attorney that is right for you it is important to stay in touch. As things change in your life alterations to your plan will be necessary, and this is one of the reasons why it is a good idea to develop a solid working relationship with your financial planning attorney. He or she will gain an understanding of your objectives, become aware the form of your assets, and be fully prepared to make the appropriate recommendations every step of the way.

The Law Offices of Saul Kobrick, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Military veterans take risks and suffer hardships, so embarking on a military career is certainly not an easy road to take. However, people who serve are often fueled by the motivation to serve their country and this can be a reward in and of itself. At the same time, their contributions do not go unnoticed and there are some very useful rewards that go along with military service. These benefits can play a significant role in your long-term planning efforts.

The cost of long-term care is considerable these days, and a lot of people aren’t aware of just how expensive it is to spend some time in a nursing home or a long-term care facility. Using national averages in terms of cost and length of stay, you could well be looking at an expense of around a quarter of a million dollars at the end of your life and perhaps more under certain circumstances. Some 70% of people who reach the age of 65 will need long-term care at some point in time so this is indeed something that could happen to you.

Veterans who served at least one day during a time of war out of a total of a minimum of 90 days of service meet the length of service eligibility requirement for a benefit called the Veterans Aid & Attendance special pension. Single eligible veterans who need living assistance can receive over $1600 per month, and though this is not going to cover everything it can be a big help and it could potentially pay for in-home care in full.

Another benefit that military veterans enjoy is that of a lifetime pension after 20 years of service. Having this income stream in addition to your Social Security benefit can often provide a very comfortable retirement. There are those who begin a new career in the civilian sector after serving 20 years and these individuals have a lot of options when they are planning for the future.

To learn more about long-term planning for veterans, get in touch with an experienced legacy planning attorney to arrange for an informative consultation.

The Law Offices of Saul Kobrick, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Increasing awareness about elder financial abuse is one of the current objectives within the elder law community. A MetLife survey tells us that an estimated $2.9 billion is lost annually to cases of elder financial abuse, but it is difficult to compile totally accurate statistics because only a fraction of the cases that take place are ever brought to the attention of the authorities.

Why would so many cases go unreported? There are a number of reasons, but the most common one is the fact that family members and other people that the victim knows are often times the perpetrators. Senior citizens who have been exploited do not come forward because they don’t not want to cause legal problems for the abusers.

Although a lot of these cases fit the above profile, there are also instances of elder financial abuse that are perpetrated by people that the victim does not know. Now that we live in the Internet age another avenue exists for scam artists and criminal types.

There are all types of e-mail scams that promise big payouts in return for some initial capital. Because many seniors are not especially Internet savvy they can find it difficult to discern between legitimate business correspondence and illicit attempts to bilk them out of their money. And as a result, they often find themselves lighter in the wallet.

In addition to email scams identity theft is an issue to contend with as well. Seniors make juicy targets for identity thieves because they often have good credit and own their own homes outright. One good step to take would be to sign up for one of the identity guard solutions that are offered so that any attempt to steal your identity would be immediately noticed.

Elder financial abuse is something that should be spoken about out in the open. If you would like to find out what you can do from a legal perspective to protect yourself, take action soon as soon as you can and arrange for a consultation with an experienced elder law attorney.

The Law Offices of Saul Kobrick, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Back a few decades ago when premarital agreements first entered the public consciousness they carried a certain stigma. Perhaps they made some sense when rich and famous people were getting married after having accumulated massive wealth, but many individuals considered them to be “romance killers.” After all, they contended, is the prospective groom going to get down on one knee and have the engagement ring in one hand and the premarital agreement in the other?

The way that you may feel about premarital agreements on this level is a personal matter, but not all marriages take place between childless people who have never been married before. If you remarry without executing a premarital agreement you may be leaving your children at risk.

Of course you don’t get remarried expecting to get divorced again, but as we all know it happens. You could also pass away unexpectedly. If you don’t assert personal ownership of at least some the assets that you are bringing into the union there are no guarantees that your children will ultimately be provided for in the manner that you see fit.

Though just about everyone is familiar with the concept of the premarital agreement, a lot of people don’t realize that you can enter into post-marital agreements as well.  These agreements can play a key role in estate planning.

What if you want to do things with your estate that your spouse disagrees with? Conflicts like this can actually break up marriages. What you can do under such a circumstance would be to execute a post-marital agreement that defines the personal property of each individual in the marriage. The husband and wife could then create separate estate plans and have total control over their own respective portions of what had been community property.

These types of marital agreements serve very useful purposes. If you’re interested in exploring the possibility of executing either a post-marital or a premarital agreement, get in touch with an estate planning attorney to arrange for a consultation.

The Law Offices of Saul Kobrick, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

A lot of people think of Medicaid as being a federal program that is in place to assist people who have financial need get the medical treatment that they need. They assume that everything that senior citizens require is going to be taken care of by Medicare. The reality is that this is only partially true. Howard Gleckman, who is a Resident Fellow at the Urban Institute, recently published an article in the Kaiser Health News that shed some interesting light on how heavily senior citizens actually rely on Medicaid.

A lot of people are not aware of the fact that Medicare does not cover everything once you become eligible. If you need to stay in a long-term care facility or if you require long-term in-home care you’re going to have to meet these expenses out-of-pocket, and they are considerable to say the least. At the present time you’re looking at over six figures on average for a year residing in a private room in a nursing home in the state of New York.

Many seniors turn to Medicaid because it does in fact pay for long-term care if you can qualify for it. There is an upper resource threshold of $2000, but your home, your vehicle, and some of your personal possessions are not considered countable for Medicaid purposes. Plus, the healthy spouse of someone who is entering long-term care can keep half of the community assets up to $109,560.

Medicaid uses two thirds of its budget assisting disabled people and senior citizens. One third of its budget is used to pay for long-term care expenses for senior citizens. So it is clear that any cuts to Medicaid would have to impact senior citizens.

Right now we have a congressional super committee hatching a plan to reduce the federal deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years. Both the president and the House of Representatives have suggested huge cuts to the Medicaid system, so nobody would be surprised if the super committee cut Medicaid.

Whether we like it or not, we are living during times when federal programs for seniors are under siege. If you want to be ready for any and all contingencies as you reach the latter stages of your life you would do well to make sure that you have the personal resources to pay your own way. If you would like to start mapping out a strategy, take action and arrange for a consultation with an experienced elder law attorney.

The Law Offices of Saul Kobrick, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

When you do some research into the subject you find that a surprising number of Americans have done absolutely no estate planning at all. There was an article published in Forbes magazine last year that used statistics provided by a Harris interactive survey that delved into the topic. Of the 1022 people that were surveyed only 35% had a last will, and just 29% had signed a living will. You might expect young people to be remiss, but a surprising 23% of people over the age of 55 did not have a single estate planning document in place.

There are many reasons why people procrastinate when it comes to estate planning, and one of them is the fact that they don’t know where to begin. This is understandable to some extent, but most people don’t know where to begin when their car doesn’t start either. What they do is seek out an expert who knows how to fix cars.

The same principle applies to estate planning. Of course the typical layperson is probably not going to have a comprehensive understanding of how to proceed. So the logical course of action is to retain the services of an estate planning attorney. He or she will evaluate the assets in question, listen as the client explains his or her objectives, and make the appropriate recommendations.

Estate planning is not something that only wealthy people have to concern themselves with, and it is also not exclusively reserved for senior citizens. People of ordinary means need to express their wishes and make plans for possible incapacity. And unfortunately, people of all ages pass away every day so estate planning is just as important for younger adults as it is older ones.

There is no way to candy coat it: If you are currently going through life without an estate plan, you are putting your family members at risk.

The Law Offices of Saul Kobrick, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

When you hear retirement planning attorneys emphasizing how important it is to make plans for the future you would do well to take their advice seriously. The statistics indicate that a very significant percentage of Americans wind up in a difficult position when they reach the latter portion of their lives, and this is in large part due to a lack of planning and unrealistic expectations regarding entitlement programs for seniors.

The majority of people who receive Social Security say that it comprises the lion’s share of their income. In fact, their monthly benefit accounts for at least 90% of the total income of one out of every three Social Security recipients. The exact figure is going to fluctuate depending on the ebb and flow of people coming and going from the Social Security rolls, but according to the Associated Press the average monthly Social Security benefit is $1082 right now. This is why planning for the future is so very important.

Living on a fixed income can be difficult, but the Social Security regulations do allow for periodic cost-of-living adjustments, and these potential increases are tied to the rate of inflation. There were no increases at all in 2009 or 2010, but during that time the average out-of-pocket health care expenses of senior citizens went up by 14.1%. When you are living on $1082 per month or thereabouts these increases are difficult to swallow, especially if your income is not going up to match.

The good news is that there is going to be a cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security recipients 2012. The monthly benefit of people on Social Security is going to rise by 3.6%. Given the fact that the average annual income derived from Social Security is about $13,000, this will equate to a $39 per month raise for the average senior citizen on Social Security.

If you’re looking for motivation with regard to making preparations for the future, consider the above statistics. The only way to be sure that you will be able to retire in comfort is to take control of your own destiny. If you have not already done so, now may be a good time to make an appointment with a retirement planning attorney to create an intelligently conceived plan that leads to a comfortable retirement.

The Law Offices of Saul Kobrick, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

It is natural for people to keep their financial business to themselves, and this can even extend to your family members. There are any number of reasons why many people like to keep things confidential and the way that you approach this is entirely up to you. However, when you’re planning your estate and otherwise making preparations for the latter portion of your life you may want to consider opening up a bit for the well-being of your loved ones and for your own protection.

When you state your wishes in a last will or trust you may not see the need to get extremely specific with regard to some matters, and this can leave things open to interpretation after you pass away. It is not entirely uncommon for family members to engage in a taffy pull over a particular possession. Sometimes the item in question is of significant value, but there are other times when sentimental value is at the root of the dispute. The sad part is that you may not even have known how your respective family members felt about this item.

For this and other reasons it may be a good idea to convene your family members and have an open discussion with regard to the way that you intend to plan your estate. When you do this you let everyone know what you’re doing and why you are doing it, and when feedback ensues you may get some information that assists you as you are making final decisions.

Communicating openly and honestly is usually going to be the right course of action, and you can actually help foster a healthy dynamic within the family that carries over after your death. Family members should support one another when they lose a loved one, and acrimonious interactions are the last thing that most people would want to leave behind. These can often be averted through some simple acts of communication.

The Law Offices of Saul Kobrick, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Some people view estate planning as a one-time exercise in executing a last will, but in reality making preparations for the future should be seen in a more expansive light. This is one of many common misconceptions that is in circulation, and we would like to shed some light on the subject of legacy planning in an effort to separate the myths from the facts.

With regard to the notion that estate planning is a “one and done” exercise in creating a last will, it should first be noted that a last will is not going to be the best vehicle of asset transfer for many people. Most people have heard of trusts, but many of them are under the illusion that trusts are only relevant to people of extraordinary wealth. This is really not the case at all.

When you utilize a last will to transfer your assets your estate must pass through probate, and this can be expensive, time-consuming, and potentially problematic with regard to possible challenges to your will. If you were to use a revocable living trust to transfer your assets you may wind up saving money in the long run, you will eliminate the possibility of will challenges, and your heirs will receive their due quickly and efficiently.

Another myth regarding estate planning involves the idea that only the super-rich have to worry about the estate tax. As the laws stand at the present time, the estate tax exclusion is going to be reduced to $1 million and the rate of the tax is going to rise to 55% at the end of 2012. You do not have to be a Wall Street CEO to accumulate assets in excess of $1 million over the course of your life if you include the value of your home, your retirement savings, your spouse’s accumulated resources, and any inheritances you may have received.

The best way to get good information when you are planning your estate is to go to the source. When it comes to legacy planning, the only logical course of action is to develop a relationship with a licensed and experienced estate planning attorney.

The Law Offices of Saul Kobrick, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

If you want to retire someday it is important to understand the fact that retirement is not a pot of gold that is lying in wait at the end of the rainbow. You have to take the appropriate steps to make your retirement dreams a reality.

While it is true that people who have paid into it sufficiently can expect to receive Social Security when they become eligible as the laws stand today, there are no guarantees about the viability of the program in the future. In addition, right now the average monthly Social Security payout is $1082. You’re not going to be playing much golf or doing much traveling if you have to try to live on this kind of money, or even twice as much for that matter.

Retirement is just a word that means you have decided to stop working. The vast majority of people work because they need the money, plain and simple. It may seem like overstating the obvious, but if you’re going to be able to retire you must have the financial resources to pay your way without working. The reason why we are pointing this out is because far too many people simply don’t recognize this obvious fact. They apparently feel as though Social Security will be enough, but when you examine the facts you find that this is simply not the case.

Most people are going to have to develop a long-term plan and accumulate resources over a number of years to be able to retire in comfort. This is within the reach of a high percentage of Americans, but you have to proceed intelligently.

Everyone has their own area of expertise and most people would not consider themselves to be financial experts. With this in mind, if you want to map out a plan for the future, the wise course of action is to arrange for a consultation with an experienced retirement planning attorney. He or she will examine the specifics of your finances, listen as you explain your objectives, and put you on a path that leads to the fruition of your retirement goals.

The Law Offices of Saul Kobrick, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.