Category: Wisdoms

  • Pay Off Debt or Invest: A Balancing Act

    If you find yourself with extra cash — either a lump sum or excess dollars from your monthly paycheck — you may be wondering what to do with it. If you have debt — such as a mortgage or student loans — the prudent option may be to pay off your balances. Yet it might…

  • Grief & Bereavement — Part VI

    While the attorney is an expert in the estate planning process, the client is the expert about their own life, grief and choices. The attorney, as counselor, helps clients find solutions and make choices as they compassionately facilitate the estate planning process. Holistic planning involves more than probate avoidance and tax minimization. It is person-centered,…

  • Financial Freedom in Your Golden Years

    Aging is a process that’s changing. We’re now living longer and more active lives. And as we approach our later years, many of us have strong feelings about where and how we want to spend this period of our lives.

  • Don’t Do It Yourself: DIY Estate Plans

    You can devise your estate plan without lawyers or accountants. All you need is a credit card, a computer, a printer and access to the internet. Armed with those four things, you can create one or more documents that may — or may not — accomplish what you expect.

  • Grief & Bereavement — Part V

    Clients who start the estate planning process do so with the knowledge that they will die one day. This death awareness comes with some degree of death anxiety, as  well as anticipatory grief.

  • Hiring Strangers as Caregivers

    When Hiroko hired a healthcare agency to assist her in caring for her husband, she trusted that the company would provide her with caregivers who were responsible and professional. Unfortunately, this agency sent a “caregiver” who helped herself to Hiroko’s jewelry. This is only one of many cases of caregiver abuse handled by the Office…

  • Starting Your Estate Planning Journey

    The first steps in your estate planning journey are learning 1) how to stay in control of your stuff while you are able to be in control and 2) how to make sure your wishes are carried out when incapacity or the grim reaper catch up with you. Sorry to rub it in, but there…

  • Out-of-Pocket Healthcare Costs

    The number of infants born in the US jumped significantly after World War II and continued to increase through the mid-1960s. Social scientists believe it was the result of the thousands of WWII veterans returning home to a booming economy and GI Bill benefits that provided access to home ownership, encouraging them to marry and…

  • Tips for Transitioning Into Retirement

    Retirement marks the end of a chapter in your career and the start of a new lifestyle. This unique transition can bring a myriad of emotions, most commonly, excitement and apprehension. If you’re pondering retiring in the next year or so, here are five tips to help you transition smoothly.