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and scammers just waiting to take advantage of the legal system to deprive you of your hard-earned wealth were what I would consider frivolous, but even frivolous lawsuits are often settled for staggering amounts Asset protection can only help you if you have it in place before someone sues you.

Unlike the QTIP trust, the surviving spouse does not have control over the trust principal. This might include bank accounts, investment portfolios, real estate, and other valuable property.

You have worked your whole life to preserve your wealth; after you pass on, the last thing you want is estate generally includes everything you own at the time of your death, including real estate, bank accounts If the value of your estate exceeds a certain exempt amount, the IRS will take a cut. For families with significant wealth, this taxation through each generation can be crippling. Setting up a generation skipping trust does not necessarily mean your children have to be left completely

If you retire too early, you cut down on the time you have to save money, and you also lengthen the time When you retire, your amount of financial risk needs to change. If there’s a serious downturn, you could lose much of your lifetime saving, which may not be easy to Retirees frequently overspend in the first few years when they have their good health and freedom. Others give no thought to what they’ll do with their leisure time, and when health issues arise, they

If you are a resident of two countries, and each has mandatory health insurance, it may be difficult overseas—but you may see some currency risk and financial regulations for policies with a cash or investment account You should learn in advance if health coverage like Medicare, unemployment insurance, welfare, and other you’re planning to retire abroad, you won’t be able to use Medicare—you’ll need to make alternative health Find out if you can have your Social Security benefits paid to you while living abroad.

working your first job, you might worry only about which beneficiaries to list on your first retirement account Having a vision of how you want to handle your charitable giving is best when discussed with an estate Appoint Agents for Powers of Attorney and Establish Medical Directives If you have not already done so treatment and care by establishing your healthcare and medical advance directives to spare your family from having

Michael Jackson: Didn’t Fund His Trust Michael Jackson’s estate and will have been an ongoing discussion Due to this mistake, his beneficiaries have had to go to probate court multiple times. Heath Ledger: Didn’t Update His Will A person may have a will, but it does little good if it is not updated Prior to his death in 2008, Heath Ledger created a will, but did not update it following his daughter The situation could have also been avoided if Ledger included language in the will that referenced any

Will (if you have one) Life insurance policies Retirement accounts For example, if your ex-spouse remains If you don’t have a valid will in place, since after a divorce an ex-spouse is no longer legally considered With your retirement accounts, after a divorce, you may revise your will to say that your 401(k) goes The same is true for life insurance: proceeds will go to the named beneficiaries of those policies, rather

trouble accessing medical records or making health care decisions without a durable power of attorney for health care. At minimum, young adults should have a power of attorney for health care and a POA for financial assets The financial POA says who can access financial accounts—like a 401(k) and an IRA. And, if they have minor children, they need to at least have a will.

cents per $1,000 of coverage per month—or $336 a year for the maximum $400,000—regardless of your age, health Have your legal documents organized. as a will (in which you’ll designate a guardian for your minor children), a power of attorney, and a health-care The beneficiary designations for your pension, life insurance, IRAs, and thrift savings plan take precedence service and haven’t changed it since you got married, that original beneficiary could inherit your account

However, it takes longer to set up a trust than a will, and you have to administer the trust upon your Estate tax savings: By removing assets from your estate, you may be able to reduce or eliminate estate For example, the beneficiary can’t have direct access to or control over the assets in the trust. Additionally, certain language must be included in the trust document to prevent it from being counted

Willing them a lump sum, property, or other wealth directly may disqualify them from SSI and Medicaid However, if you leave them nothing, then they are without the financial security you have provided for