Category Archives for 2023
What It Takes To Complete a 401(k) Beneficiary Form
A few years ago during a prior Congress and prior presidential administration a federal law known as the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement or SECURE Act, became effective on January 1, 2020. Generally speaking, it delayed the required minimum distribution (RMD) age to 72 for seniors and established a 10 year distribution rule […]
Continue readingWhat Do You Want To Do In Retirement?
An outgoing columnist with the Washington Post recently penned an article entitled “Individual Retirement Accounts: Readers Offer Post-Career Advice.” Washington Post, John Kelly, December 17. 2023. The title might have been misconstrued to indicate there was some tax planning involved but, far from it, the columnist broached a subject surprisingly not very often discussed. It […]
Continue readingMedical Costs Are Expensive Especially For the Uninsured
If you ever wondered about medical bills and summaries you receive after a recent hospitalization or summaries received from your insurance carrier concerning recent medical expenses and then question the difference between the amount charged and the amount owed then this column might help. Note, however, first, that medical bills are mystifying to all of […]
Continue readingSocial Security Benefits and Medicare Premiums Both Up For 2024
As the 2023 calendar year comes to an end the Social Security Administration and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services have both issued their figures for the new 2024 year. It would probably come as no surprise that both Social Security benefits and Medicare Part B Premiums and Deductibles are trending upward. The impact […]
Continue readingQCD Year End Tax Strategies Expanded
For taxpayers who stress over annual Required Minimum Distributions and are also inclined to charitable giving, Qualified Charitable Distributions or QCD’s have been a useful tool to accommodate both relief over federal income tax angst and the desire to donate. QCD’s can use the federal tax code to benefit taxpayers, mostly in the upper income […]
Continue readingTax Considerations When You Own a Second Residence
When you own a home and, after your last vacation, are considering buying another residence it should come as no surprise that there are tax and financial consequences, both positive and otherwise to owning more than one property. You might have been smitten by the location or just decided you wanted a change without giving […]
Continue readingThe Reason Why Financial Calculations Need To Consider Health
If you have worked with a financial planner, there is a good chance your planner used Monte Carlo simulations and frankly that is a good starting point to determine future financial needs. However, the simulation is only as good as the data input. Kathleen Coxwell in www.newretirement.com describes “Monte Carlo Simulations: A Sophisticated Way to […]
Continue readingHow Old Is Old Depends On the Individual
As an elder law attorney the question inevitably arises in my practice “what is old?” Is old a specific age beyond which you can be expected to decline physically and mentally from then on out? If such an age exists what is that age? I have not defined it to date and have seen many […]
Continue readingIt’s Pa. Election Time – How To Do It Right
Tuesday, November 7, 2023 is the date for general elections in Pennsylvania. Some local and county officials, school boards and several judges including statewide judicial races are on the ballot. If you have reached this date and have not voted by mail yet you might have some concern whether the mail to your local Voter […]
Continue readingLife Insurance Can Fill In Holes In Your Estate Plan
A recent article in the “AARP Bulletin,” titled “7 Things to Know About Term Life Insurance,” Tamara E. Holmes, October, 2023, brought to mind several ways in which life insurance, in this case term life insurance, can, among other things, plug up holes in an estate plan. Term life insurance, as the name implies, runs […]
Continue readingWhat Medicare Advantage Commercials Do Not Say
About this time most years I pull out my most recent information on Medicare Advantage plans, dust it off, and address that information in one of my columns. The reason is simple. During this time, between October 15 and December 7, Medicare recipients, primarily Medicare Advantage recipients, are given the opportunity to choose among several […]
Continue readingCLIO Conference Updates On Legal Technology
Although it is possible to continue to practice law without relearning legal technology on a regular basis I never thought that was a good idea. The end result is that at least once annually I travel to a lawyers’ technology conference, CLIO CON specifically, to update my knowledge and see what new practices and strategies […]
Continue readingCan A Pennsylvania Lawyer Practice Law While In Florida?
Some time ago I wrote a column regarding “Practicing Law Out of Place,” see March 29, 2022. Recently the Pennsylvania Bar News, a newspaper of the Pennsylvania Bar Association published a similar article titled “Staying Out of Trouble While Out of State,” October 9, 2023 edition, by Andrew M. Lamberton, Esq. and Paul C. Troy, […]
Continue readingHealth Insurance Approaching Retirement Can Be Complicated
If you are one of many Americans anticipating retirement one serious and often unanswered question is how your change in status might affect your health care coverage. It is not a casual question. Here are some issues and possibilities. Your employer, especially if you have worked for a major corporation, might have a retiree plan […]
Continue readingWhat Can Happen When the Law Meets Artificial Intelligence
It seems sometimes that everywhere you go and in every news media you consult a major subject of interest is Artificial Intelligence otherwise known as AI. What AI is and what it means for the future has been the subject of television interviews such as the one appearing on the popular television program “Sixty Minutes” […]
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