Author Archives: Jay Butchko
New York Octogenarian Loses Life’s Savings In Romance Scam
Unwise financial decisions are often an early sign of dementia in the elderly, but even healthy seniors are more vulnerable to romance scams than the general population. When seniors are lonely, their days on earth are numbered, and their families are far away, thousands of dollars seems like a small price to pay for… Read More »
Simple Living In Retirement Is Not Just An Aspiration But A Necessity
Trying to save for retirement while living paycheck to paycheck is an exercise in frustration. Unless you were born into wealth, chances are that you are living paycheck to paycheck; a household income of $100,000 is not enough to spare American families this predicament, especially if you are using income that could go to… Read More »
Talking To Your Parents About Their Estate Plan Is Even More Awkward When You All Live Under The Same Roof
Making financial plans with someone while also living under the same roof with that person is one of life’s great challenges. One of the reasons that business partners can get along so easily is because, when the workday ends, they do not get to tell each other how much money to spend on groceries… Read More »
Most Of Your Retirement Investments, But Not All Of Them, Should Be Boring
The goals of everyone’s estate plan are essentially the same, namely to ensure that the retirees making the plan will be able to pay for medical care in their old age, to reduce unnecessary tax liabilities in life and during probate, and to prevent family disputes among family members over end-of-life care and inheritance. … Read More »
Family Caregiver Training Could Be The Missing Piece In Your Estate Plan
Whether your plans for retirement involve aging in place, surrounded by your children and grandchildren, or moving to a sunny locale where the proceeds from the sale of your family home can buy you a comfortable existence in a seniors only community and long-term care insurance can pay for your residence in an assisted… Read More »
Note To Baby Boomer Parents Whose Estate Plan Includes Buying The Perfect Real Estate Property For Their Kids: Back Off
For New Yorkers, nowhere else could ever be home. This has been true since the days when the factories of the Big Apple first began to cover New York’s impressive skyline with smoke, and it is still true, despite all the economic changes that have taken place since then. You have heard all the… Read More »
Catalog Your Memorabilia When You Are Alive Instead Of Leaving The Task To Your Heirs
You love your baseball card collection more than life itself, but your wife and children probably do not have an opinion about it. Most likely, they zone out during family gatherings when you bring out individual cards that are relevant to the occasion and start enthusing about them to your grandchildren. Your family does… Read More »
What Is The Best Way To Avoid Probate?
If you have gone through the trouble of making a comprehensive estate plan, it is important to make sure that your loved ones will be able to have prompt and effective access to the inheritance you have left them. If you have left their inheritance with a will, this will not be the case…. Read More »
How Easy Is It To Write A Family Member Out Of Your Will?
How do you decide who inherits what from your estate? Should you leave equal shares of your property to each of your children? Should you take into account how much money you have given each child during your lifetime and then even things out by leaving your children unequal shares of property in your… Read More »
New York Will Allow Human Composting As A Legal Means Of Disposition Of Remains
Estate planning lawyers always say that you should write a will because you can’t take your property with you when you die, but do you still need to write a will if you don’t own any property? What if you own property but you don’t have any opinions about who inherits it when you… Read More »