Life Insurance Can Still Play a Key Role As Part of an Estate Plan
Life insurance can be beneficial in replacing lost income for young families, but as people get older, it can also serve a purpose as part of an estate plan. // Read more
What Is a Life Estate?
The phrase "life estate" often comes up in discussions of estate and Medicaid planning, but what exactly does it mean? A life estate is a form of joint ownership that allows one person to remain in a house until his or her death, when it passes to the other owner. // Read more
It’s Time to Reassess Your Medicare Choices
Are your Medicare plans still working for you? Medicare's open enrollment period, in which you can enroll in or switch plans, runs from October 15 to December 7. // Read more
A Quick Primer on the Taxation of Social Security Disability (SSDI) Benefits
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is a federal program that provides cash assistance to people with disabilities. Because SSDI is an insurance program and not a "means tested" benefit for people with minimal resources, anyone who meets the program's eligibility requirements can qualify for benefits, regardless of their income and assets. (For more about SSDI,
Most Adults With Special Needs Require Estate Planning Documents
Mental disabilities take many forms, and not all of them affect a person with special needs' ability to make decisions. In fact, although many, if not most, people with either mental illness or some form of cognitive disability may require significant care, they can still carry out most day-to-day activities. In most cases, people with
How Does the Medicaid Look-Back Period Work?
One area that causes a lot of confusion with regard to Medicaid is the look-back period. Medicaid, unlike Medicare, is a means-based program, which means that you are only eligible for it if you have very few assets. The government does not want you to transfer all your assets on Monday in order to qualify for
Hybrid Policies Allow You to Have Your Long-Term Care Insurance Cake and Eat It, Too
As long-term care insurance premiums rise and fewer companies offer policies, alternatives to traditional long-term care insurance policies are springing up. Previously, we wrote about annuity “doublers” that help pay for long-term care. Another increasingly popular hybrid product combines life insurance with long-term care coverage and offers buyers solutions to a number of problems that have kept people from