Medicare prescription drug plans can change which drugs they cover, leaving you without coverage for a drug you need. Or you may switch plans into a plan that doesn’t cover your medication. In these circumstances, Medicare drug plans are required to offer you a 30-day transition supply of the drug you were taking. All Medicare […]
Planning for retirement and deciding whether to buy long-term care insurance would be a lot easier if you knew your odds of needing long-term care, as well as at what age and for how long. Unfortunately, there’s no definite answer. On the other hand, some statistics do provide a bit of guidance. The Numbers In […]
Many of our small business owner clients enjoy having their children or other family members work with them in the business, and their “exit plan” relies heavily on transferring responsibility for running the business to those family members. Frequently, however, these plans are made with the best of intentions but not properly documented and memorialized, […]
Adult children with elderly parents often report to our firm that their concerns about their parents significantly increased following an accident at home. After a trip to the emergency room and sometimes also a short-term rehabilitation center, children observe a decline in their loved one that requires changes going forward. Taking a closer look at […]
Time is running out to use a potentially very lucrative Social Security benefits-claiming strategy. Spouses will no longer be able to use the “file and suspend” strategy after April 29, 2016. Beware, however, that the new rules are causing confusion at some Social Security offices. The federal budget agreement that was signed in fall 2015 […]
April 15th is approaching and it is time to begin crossing T’s and dotting I’s in preparation for paying taxes. As tax time draws near, you want to make sure you file all the proper forms and take all deductions you’re entitled to. Following are some things to keep in mind as you prepare your […]
When it comes to estate planning, everybody wants a Will. Many people believe that good estate planning begins and ends with having a Will and they think once they have a Will, all their estate planning problems have been solved. But unfortunately there is much more to the story than that. While we do not […]
Quite often when counseling clients we must stress the importance of documenting things in writing. One of the planning contexts where that is crucial is in the area of Medicaid eligibility. Specifically, while it usually fairly straightforward to present sufficient evidence that the amount of a claimant’s countable assets are low enough to qualify, it […]
When we are working with families who wish to engage in Medicaid planning or for whom a family member must file an application for benefits, there are some common misconceptions we observe. Families do not often appreciate that the Medicaid eligibility rules are extremely complicated and those rules are not always understood by the employees […]
February is National Caregivers Month. One task that can be daunting for family caregivers is identifying the assisted living community that best fits their loved one’s unique needs. It is important for caregivers to be able to identify the different assisted living options available. Sometimes a private home is no longer a safe environment. The […]