Celebrating ‘Planning Ahead’ column’s 15th birthday
It is difficult to believe but, 15 years ago this month, this column, “Planning Ahead,” appeared for the first time in the Daily Local News. Considering the changes all around us, 15 years seems an impressive time to keep any business venture going and our office thought that, especially with the winter season upon us, this is as good a time as any for a birthday party.
So, we are going to have a birthday party for “Planning Ahead” this Friday, Jan. 28, at our offices at 790 E. Market St., Suite 250, West Chester.
Readers, clients, referral sources, listeners and friends are welcome to stop by to our “open house” between 1 and 7 p.m. to share cake and celebration.
If coming, call 484-356-9414 first. Jeff Jones, my brother, and the force behind Life Transition Services LLC, a new concept in life care planning, will also be greeting guests.
Since this month marks the beginnings of “50+ Planning Ahead,” the radio show that I co-host with Phil McFadden, co-owner of Home Instead Senior Care, on WCHE 1520, listeners to our radio program are also invited.
There have been many changes over the past 15 years, both for ourselves and for the fields in which we work.
In the past 15 years, the federal estate tax has gone from exempting $600,000 in assets to exempting $10 million for married couples. Fifteen years ago, heirs of family estates over $2 million paid 60 percent in taxes over the $2 million mark.
Today, unless the estates are over $10 million ($5 million if individual) they would pay nothing. The Medicaid system has dramatically changed the grounds for qualification, although many more planning opportunities are available today than people realize.
Although nursing homes are still critical for care, assisted living communities have expanded for many of the frail elderly and a veterans benefit, Aid and Attendance, is helping many seniors who were wartime veterans or widows or widowers of wartime veterans with costs.
Fifteen years ago, I typed my columns and submitted them in hard copy each week. Later I transferred the typing to floppy disks and hand-delivered the disks to the Daily Local News offices. Now e-mail attachments handle everything electronically.
When earlier columns could not be sent from home, I had the opportunity to forward columns from a “Press Room” in St. Louis, from an office in a motel in Phoenix, and from a double-wide trailer in North Carolina. Being identified as a “member of the press” when away from home was exciting. It still is, but I send columns from my laptop.
For those who want access and answers, there are many more ways than previously existed. Here is how you can access “Planning Ahead”:
• Buy the newspaper. This is, of course, the tried and true method. Buy a newspaper every Tuesday and you can read “Planning Ahead” and discover firsthand what is happening in elder law, Medicaid, long-term care planning, medical developments, estate planning and estate administration, and taxes.
• Subscribe. Even better, if you subscribe, you can be sure to get the column every week.
• Access online at www.dailylocal.com. If you go to the website at www.dailylocal.com and in the “search” box enter “Colliton,” you can access the “Planning Ahead” columns. This works if you are away from home, move, or just did not get the newspaper that day.
• Access online at www.collitonlaw.com. Most columns are located, with a time delay, on our Colliton Law website. You can access by year and Google specific subjects within the columns.
For still more access and information, here is what to do:
• Listen about subjects you read about in the columns. Tune in to WCHE 1520 AM radio on Wednesdays from 4:30 to 5 p.m. This is the radio program “50+ Planning Ahead.” You can discuss topics, too, and ask questions by calling in to us at the show at 610-701-WCHE (610-701-9243) between 4:30 and 5 p.m.
• Listen to more even if you do not have a radio or are not in your car. You do not need a radio to listen to our radio show. Fire up your computer and go to www.wche1520.com between 4:30 and 5 p.m. on Wednesdays and you can listen to “50+ Planning Ahead” on your computer.
With all the options available today, information and answers are readily accessible when you plan ahead. See you at the party.
About the Author Janet Colliton
Esquire, Colliton Law Associates, P.C. Janet Colliton has practiced law for over 38 years, 37 of them in Chester County, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. Her practice, Colliton Law Associates, PC, is limited to elder law, Medicaid, including advice, applications and appeals, and other benefits planning including Veterans benefits, life care and special needs planning, guardianships, retirement, and estate planning and administration.