There is a good chance that you’ve probably been sorting away most of your retirement funds in a traditional account, however, digital capability in millennials may be the key to making changes in how retirement savings occur. If you are looking to boost retirement assets, millennials have a larger share of the available market and more are willing to move to find different advisors, while older consumers tend to have more money and they are less likely to change. 

A recent 2017 Future of Advice study identified that millennials between the ages of 18 and 34 have $1.5 trillion in total retirement assets, compared to the $22.5 trillion held in retirement by consumers aged 35 and above.

Retirement is a major priority for millennials. Consulting with a retirement planning professional in conjunction with the estate planner that you use to help draft all of your legal documents for what happens if you were to become incapacitated and what happens to your belongings after you pass away is a good idea.

Even if you feel late to the retirement game or are concerned about the best way to make your retirement investments last over the course your older years, being knowledgeable and engaging with these materials on a regular basis can help to benefit you. Do not hesitate to schedule a consultation with an experienced estate planning lawyer to talk more about how your retirement savings may become an important component of how you live your life and pass things on to your future generations.

Unfortunately, there is a huge disconnect across America about who will be paying for long term care and the total cost. There are several common alternatives to paying for long term care insurance to assist you. These include:

• Low or no cost, in which your friends, family or spouse pitches in to take care of you, if they are able to and willing to do so. The time involved each day will vary widely, but many other family members and spouses may have to reduce their work schedule or quit their job entirely in order to assist you.
• Low or medium cost. Personal care assistance, home health aides and companions can come to your house regularly to assist you with what you need. Genworth’s 2016 Cost of Care survey identified that the median rate in 2016 was a $125 for licensed homemaker services. The median daily rate for an adult day care facility is $68 so this can plough through your retirement savings quiet quickly.
• High Cost. The most expensive option for a loved one who needs assistance is placing him or her in an assisted living facility or a nursing home. The median monthly rate for an assisted living facility according to the Genworth survey was $3628.

Looking at the low-cost alternatives and the time to figure out what will work most for your individual family members is strongly recommended. However, it can be extremely expensive to try to figure out the best opportunities for your loved ones. Talking to an estate planning lawyer can help you to identify whether Medicaid and other options are available to you and how to plan for them appropriately.

Is someone age 18 too young for a will or other estate planning documents? You might think so initially, but having a plan is always beneficial, particularly if you have special plans for your belongings or assets. In conjunction with a will, other tools like a power of attorney can even help a college student facing a medical issue. Once someone becomes an adult in the legal sense, scheduling a meeting with an estate planning lawyer makes sense just in case.

Putting together crucial estate planning documents is all too easy to ignore. In fact, most people skip the step of having an estate plan at all and don’t even have a basic will that articulates what they want to happen their possessions when they pass away. With no wills, some of the negative consequences that your family members may face include little to no direction, prompting conflicts and litigation costs, leaving children who have no assigned guardian and paying more in attorney fees, costs and taxes.

In addition to putting together a will, you may also want to list a document that explains what you want to happen to your remains, a financial power of attorney, and a health care power of attorney. Individuals with more assets might also want to consider the most basic form of a trust and can accomplish this by consulting with an attorney. There are many different aspects involved in the estate planning process, but it’s important to remember that any person of any age and of any asset amount should consider the benefits of estate planning and consult with an attorney sooner rather than later. Failing to take these necessary steps could put your family members in a difficult situation in the future.

Most people who are approaching retirement age are asking a similar question; what will it be like? Others assume that they’ll take a couple of months off and then determine what happens from there. Somewhere between the fear about filling your days and lethargy may be the perfect opportunity for your retirement. It’s important to think about the strategy and planning how you’ll spend the next few decades when you do walk away from work. 1515

You’ve probably made a tremendous number of life changes between the ages of 20 and 40. You got married, moved a few times and saw your children grow from babies to adults. The years between 60 and 80 will not be as different as you are thinking. You’ll need plans, goals and flexibility to adjust when your life circumstances change. Pursuing your passion, staying healthy, continuing to communicate, giving back and getting organized are some of the most common goals for people approaching retirement.

Choosing where to live and planning things out with their spouse or partner are strongly recommended so that you can ensure that everyone is on the same page. You may even be interested in figuring out how to adjust with your loss of work identity or how to prepare for your finances in retirement when you are no longer receiving a regular paycheck.

All of these goals can be accomplished by looking ahead to the future and thinking about how you envision your retirement and then planning in conjunction with an experienced estate planning attorney and a financial planner. Engaging with professionals in this way gives you an overview of the different opportunities available to you and the next steps that you need to take to prepare for a future in retirement.

An estate that is worth more than $1 million is a bit more common in New York than in other states, but for much of recent history, those residents were hit with a 16 percent state tax on their estates. This led to many New Yorkers moving out of state to more tax-friendly locations to ensure that heirs were able to keep as many estate assets as possible. Recognizing the drain of these estates to other locations, legislators have implemented a gradual plan making golden years in New York much more attractive.

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Every year until 2019 the exemption will increase based on what day the individual in question passes away. Since small nuances in the law and a minor mistake could lead to bigger tax consequences, those with estates above $1 million should conduct an annual review of their tax planning to verify asset maximization. Even being off by one cent can throw off an entire plan, so it’s vital that regular review and analysis are used to help protect the estate. The new exemption is increased by $1,062,500 every year until reaching the federal exemption amount in 2019. At present, some New Yorkers have looked to DING and NING trusts, those trusts held in other states to reduce tax consequences.

This move, combined with estate tax changes that exempt small businesses from massive taxes after an owners death and decreases in the state’s corporate tax rate, were applauded by the tax policy research organization Tax Foundation. The organization noted that it these were important steps towards improving the reputation of ease of doing business within the state. All of the recent changes were adopted in the most recent state budget, details of which were released at the end of March. Special planning for New York tax liability can be completed by an estate planning specialist. For tax planning strategies, email info@lawesq.net or contact us via phone at 732-521-9455 to get started.