Searching for Lost Time in a New Phase of Covid-19
The Washington Post recently published an article “In Search of Lost Time” that encapsulated a view that is right on except it might have been published somewhat too soon for much of the country, especially the South and the West. Because we do not yet know what states are gaining and which are losing in […]
Continue readingPlanning For Life After Retirement
I sometimes say to clients when planning “if you could tell me when you are going to die, when your spouse will die, and who will get sick and when, I can write you an amazing retirement and estate plan!” Things being as they are, we unfortunately (or fortunately) do not know the answers to […]
Continue readingQuestions To Ask Nursing Homes During Covid-19
Families facing long term care for parents and husbands and wives have always struggled to answer questions, some of them obvious, like how long is the stay, how much will it cost, what treatments and therapy are being provided, and is the care covered by health insurance and, if not, then what. Our office […]
Continue readingMoving From Red to Yellow For Business and Life
Only a few months ago the expression “moving from red to yellow” would have had no significance for Americans. Today, as I drive or walk through our town of West Chester, Pennsylvania and travel through Pennsylvania and surrounding states, the term means a great deal. There is no chronicler as such of what is occurring […]
Continue readingLiving In Covid-19 Time
Leisure time in the age of Covid-19 has definitely taken on a different meaning from the not so long ago past. Sometimes it seems we have been living in a time warp forever. Sometimes it seems only briefly. Then, often it appears we are walking in some sort of dream – or nightmare depending on […]
Continue readingHow To Vote Now With Pennsylvania’s Vote By Mail
The ordeal Wisconsin voters went through to be able to vote in person can sound as a warning to Pennsylvania voters and to those throughout the country. Although the Pennsylvania primary has been put off until June 2 we do not know what conditions await at the polls at that time and there is an […]
Continue readingWays To Handle Notarizations During Covid 19
Last week in my column I posed the question whether we need legislation to deal with notarization problems during Covid 19. Now, after having seen and reviewed the directive recently issued by Pennsylvania’s Department of State I recognize some progress toward remote notarization has been made. It deals with some electronic notarization questions but not […]
Continue readingDo We Need Legislation For Powers of Attorney During Covid-19
Almost exactly a year ago I wrote a column for publication on April 2, 2020 in West Chester’s Daily Local News and related publications titled “Will Your Bank Honor Your Power of Attorney?” If that one did not raise enough thought-provoking questions, now in the middle of a global pandemic the question could be rephrased […]
Continue readingHow Remote Care Can Help – Even With Covid-19
This morning I dressed to go to work, polished off my coffee, checked to see that my cell phone had been properly charged, and positioned myself in front of a laptop computer for another day of work as we now know it. This is a new day at “the office.” Understand that I am the […]
Continue readingWhat Working From Home and Social Distancing Is Like
It is amazing what difference a week can make in handling an elder law practice or any business for that matter. As I am sitting here in my home operating from a “remote location,” I consider how different the world can be from what we have been used to. In the past week several orders […]
Continue readingHow Planning Helps in Dealing With COVID-19
The current struggles dealing with COVID-19 bring to mind our vulnerabilities as a society but also cause reflection on how to deal with crisis and unexpected emergencies. I suggest it is by having a plan or maybe several plans depending on how circumstances play out. One of the problems we have had now nationally is […]
Continue readingWhat Is the Best State for Long Term Care
If your parents live in Connecticut, you live in Pennsylvania and your brothers and sisters live in California and New York, chances are you may have had “the conversation” discussing with your parents where they might live if one of them needs long term care. It is not just a question whether they might leave […]
Continue readingAssisting With Senior Care – Has Anything Changed?
On July 9, 2019, I submitted a column to the Daily Local News discussing changes, if any regarding payment for long term care for seniors. With another presidential election coming up I found the column again. This is what it said. Over the holiday weekend I had a chance to handle some cleanout at home including […]
Continue readingWhy You Need More to Retire Than You Think
Some people approach retirement planning like an extended math problem. Frankly, many financial advisors do as well and with good reason. There are so many “unknowables” that the only way to wrestle the decision to the ground is to make some general assumptions and then follow them down the line. For instance, in no particular […]
Continue readingWhy Smart People Don’t Recognize Financial Infidelity
I have to admit I never recognized the term “financial infidelity” until recently but it does make sense. The expression recognizes the blindness many of us have in relationships to the spending habits of partners and the effect it has on our own finances. Take the case of a recently widowed or divorced individual who […]
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