Lovingly Planning for the End of Our Marriage

 

Estate Plan for Regular Folks

 

 

If you don't have an estate plan in place, create one now. 
Right now.

You see, an estate plan isn't just for the super-rich.

Thanks to today's ultra-generous $12.92 million exemption for singles, or effectively $25.84 million for married couples, you may have ignored an estate plan. (BTW—this generous number is set to expire at the end of 2025-- and go to who knows what.)

 

Here are five facts well 
worth remembering.

1. Even if you're not exposed to the federal estate tax, you still need to plan for the distribution of your assets and the guardianship of your minor children.

2. Having a will ensures that your wishes are respected and legally enforced after your death.

 3. A living trust can help your beneficiaries avoid probate, which can be a costly and time-consuming process—especially if you have property in more than one state. 

4. Keeping your beneficiary designations up to date, on things like IRA, 401K, and insurance policies, takes precedence over wills and living trusts when your assets are distributed.

5. Wills and living trusts alone, do not minimize federal estate tax or state death taxes.

Additionally, if you have children who have reached age 18 or above, then encourage them to give mom and dad powers of attorney for health and financial.  This will authorize you to help the young adults, if need be, without a bunch of hassle.  

We have given away many copies of FIVE WISHES which is a legal document form which works great for young people and those in the process of figuring out their estate plans. There is also a standard form on the Oklahoma Bar Association website for Power of Attorney and Living Will which many have used as well.  Ask us about this next time we meet if you have someone in your life who could benefit. 

World Financial Planning Day – Top 5 Reasons You Should Work with A Financial Planner

In honor of World Financial Planning Day earlier this month (10/7), I wanted to take some time to shine a little bit of love on myself and my fellow financial planners by sharing some information on what we do.

Didn’t know there was a World Financial Planning Day? That’s alright – that’s why you’ve got me! 

World Financial Planning day is a great time to raise public awareness about the value of financial planning. Everyone has financial dreams, and a financial plan can increase your probability of achieving your most important goals. The best way to get started is (naturally) to reach out to a financial planner.

As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, I want to share my top 5 reasons why you should work with a CFP® professional:

1. Experience and passion. CFP® professionals will share their experience and passion for building financial plans and guide you along the path toward your dreams. 
2. Consistent support. A CFP® professional will provide consistent support through regular meetings, advice, and a solid financial plan. 
3. Fiduciary duty. A CFP® professional has the fiduciary duty to be by your side. They are required to act in your best interest.
4. Strategies for success. Got a big financial goal? A CFP® professional can help you develop strategies with achievable milestones and timelines. 
5. Clear, effective advice. When it comes to big life changes—buying a house, adopting a child, an inheritance—you can rely on a CFP® professional for clarity and recommendations that will save you money.

A CFP® professional like myself can help you create or adapt a financial plan to incorporate your or your child’s education goals. Check out a blog post authored by my fellow CFP® professional here for more details. 

And if you have any questions, contact me. As Certified Financial Planner Ambassador of the state of Oklahoma, I am happy to give you answers straight from the horse’s mouth! 

** All written content is for information purposes only. Material presented is believed to be from reliable sources. No representations are made by our firm as to another parties’ informational accuracy or completeness.  All information or ideas provided should be discussed in detail with an advisor, accountant or legal counsel prior to implementation. ** 

Race to A Vaccine

Like all of us, I'd love to have a vaccine tomorrow. But we need to be responsible and not rush things. After all: it's better to be safe than sorry.

** All written content is for information purposes only. Material presented is believed to be from reliable sources. No representations are made by our firm as to another parties’ informational accuracy or completeness.  All information or ideas provided should be discussed in detail with an advisor, accountant or legal counsel prior to implementation. ** 

IRS--Here To Help

We have all heard the old saying--"Hi I'm from the IRS and I'm here to help."  To me this represents a situation to which the response usually goes something like--"Yeah right."  Well this morning that exact scenario played out with the Social Security Administration for a widow filing for benefits.  

This family have been clients for many years and fortunately for the widow we had already run her Social Security projections.  This dedicated software program is designed to help decide which option to choose and is especially helpful in unusual situations.

Virtual vs. Reality

Recently I moved my dad and his stuff from Texas to Oklahoma. We needed to rent a truck and car hauler and chose to use uhaul.com. It was easy; seemed to have all the pieces to the puzzle, including helpers to load in Texas and unload in Oklahoma. We were set… in the virtual world that is.

 It continued to be good as we checked in at the U-Haul office. We left to eat lunch and came back to pick up the truck and trailer. Oops! That’s when reality started taking over. The truck didn’t work with the trailer and they did not have another truck available. There was a truck in another town about 15 miles away but they did not have a trailer.

Do You Know a Muslim?

In Nashville recently I noticed how many different religious beliefs 

20 year Muslim Reservist

were represented by the people attending what I refer to as the cosmic financial planners group.  There were Mormons, Christians, Quakers, Bahai, Buddhist, and agnostics to name a few. I wasn't aware that I was searching this information out but instead just noticed this in reflection after the recent comments about Muslims from Donald Trump.

In a previous blog from awhile back I compared Oklahoma City to Damascus, Syria.  There were many common themes regarding the regular people of each city.  My guess is the comparison would NOT be similar today.  One thing hasn't changed though and that is how the saying "If a million people die it is a statistic.  If one person dies it is a tragedy." 

Above is a picture

Fork In The Road

At a recent conference in Nashville, Ed, a therapist, asked if i would drive him up the road to pick up some medication he needed since he left it at home.  Ed and I go a ways back and he is one of those people who is chock-full of intelligent humor and sweet and meaningful anecdotes.  Hence, the rest of the story about the Yogi Berra saying.  

SWEET Potatoes may be the death of our healthcare system

Recently my dad has been in the hospital dealing with pneumonia and other issues related to not handling anesthesia very well.  However, after he was making an impressive comeback, he woke up with pain in his abdomen.  The doctors jumped in to action and ran a cat scan and x-rays 

Lucy's Last Wishes

LUCY IS FINE AND DOING WELL for a 17+ year old dog.  However, recently she was suffering from a persistent cough and after a few trips to the vet I had a moment.  Here is how it went--

The Wealth of a Nation

Adam Smith is often referred to as the father of modern capitalist economics. He was known to have said--"the decisions of individual owners to use their capital for their own gain, and of purchasers to buy for their own interests, would somehow be guided by an "invisible hand" to produce the greatest overall prosperity of society."
That was back in the day when money represented HUMAN productivity.  Needless to say our world financial systems have diverged from such a practical  measure.  Below is a clip from a piece that struck me as interesting, challenging and on some level bothersome.

MAKE HAY WHILE THE SUN SHINES

 Jim Rhone is an old school motivational speaker who talked about life in the seasons of a farmer.  In the winter you prepare for summer and in the summer you "make hay while the sun shines".  The hay is for putting back for times when the harvest is non-existent or less bountiful.  Certainly now, in Oklahoma at least,  we have bountiful supplies of water and it might be a great time to re-visit the "Comprehensive Water Plan" created a couple of years ago by the Oklahoma Water Resources Board. 
In contrast this morning at breakfast an attorney mentioned having just attended a seminar on WATER RIGHTS.  

Best Credit Score Trick For Kids

"It is this simple", says the father of 3 kids two of whom just bought their own cars with the best rate possible from the local credit union. Put the kids names on the most used household credit card that gets paid on time every month and has a decent credit limit.  Of course you DO NOT give a card to the kids nor do you even tell them that their names are on the card UNTIL you go with them to the credit union and they pull up their 765 credit score for an 18 year old.  

How To Easily Pay Down Debt

Whether in the global economy or your personal economy the picture shown here is true.  We as Certified Financial Planner Practitioners (tm) are regularly asked to make recommendations regarding college savings.  We also see student debt as liabilities for some clients years after entering the workplace.  It occurred to me how college debt could be compared to government debt as an example of how income growth makes paying down debt SO much easier.

Why Mandatory Social Security Makes Sense

NO--that is not a picture of the neighborhood in which I live.  However, a few years back I was blessed (read tormented) to serve as president of a neighborhood with 1600 or so homes that did not have a mandatory homeowner's association (HOA).  This neighborhood is very nice but only about half of the homeowners choose to pay the voluntary dues ($300/yr) that pay for common area  maintenance, security patrol and regular events.

Whose Money Is It Anyway?

In the past few years Credit Unions have offered interest rates on savings that are quite compelling.  HOWEVER,  hoops abound through which one must jump in order to achieve these higher rates.  Below is an annual notice regarding some of the hoops and "costs" of the good interest rate shell game  

Pain in the Back

The perfect follow-up to the last blog post on disability.  In the most recent Economist magazine this insert--sourced from the Lancet--shows the results from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation study on the burden of disability on countries.  The legend is as follows:

Disability "Insurance"--the REAL Thing

In the dental business--according to insurance companies--the number one cause of disability insurance claims is due to neck and back issues. Just imagine that you spend your entire day seated and leaning over a patient with at least a little tension in the room;-)  That seems like a prescription for some sort of physical therapy to counter the long-term potentially negative effects.  However, in my 33 years in business the most common solution is to buy disability insurance--which is more expensive than ever and not nearly as good as it used to be.  Recently, a dentist client asked 

Lipstick on a Pig

Two stories recently have converged to make me wonder about a couple of the biggest financial decisions people make.  This morning CNBC reported that 4 of the worst cars in crash tests were Jeep and Dodge. (Chrysler/Fiat products)  The reporter went on to say that in the last few years the Jeep specifically was reported as unreliable, had poor owner satisfaction, and bad crash tests BUT--sales are up 21% in the past year due to pretty design.  

Last week a local builder told me about a neighborhood, in which they are building, where the smaller more energy efficient homes are not selling nearly as well as the larger less efficient but "fancier" ones.  Hence his motivation to build more of the latter rather than the former. (BTW--the builder has a more efficiently built home for his personal use.)  

Years ago I considered building a house but only wanted it to be on the smaller size allowed for the area. After meeting with an architect and building designer it became clear that the only way to make the project make sense on a COST PER FOOT basis was to build a multi-level house with more "cheap" square footage to average down the cost.  For me the project never made sense and so it never happened.  

Maybe I just don't get it OR maybe the explanation resides in another report recently showing that the sales of SPIRITS are up dramatically in the past few years.  That along with the burgeoning business of marijuana and SHAZAM--it's starting to make sense;-)

You know the age old FRAM oil filter commercial--"pay me now or pay me later"--it certainly applies to housing and vehicles in today's world.

What's Your Motivation?

In January ATT--the original Ma Bell--lowered their expected return on pension fund assets to 4.3% from a previous 5%.  They also increased life expectancy for retirees to accommodate current longevity trends.  RESULT--over $8 Billion dollar charge to their financial statements for the increased cost in funding the pension plan.  (BTW--Auntie is 105 and has been on an ATT pension since she was 55.)  

Below is a clip from the most recent valuation of the Oklahoma Teachers Retirement System Pension Plan (OTRS):