Six Things Everyone Forgets to Include in Their Will

Making a will is one of the most important things to do, but many people never bother to do so. A living will is a legal instrument designed to provide protection and support for those that will be negatively affected by your death. Even worse, those who have wills often forget some very basic considerations. Make sure your will includes provisions for these important aspects.

Review Your Will

A will is a living document and needs to be reviewed at least every other year for changes in the inheritance laws. Through the years, people become adults, they marry, have children, and become involved in schemes or business you may want to restrict. In short, everything changes and your will should change with it. In nothing else, updating your will shows that you are aware of its provisions and desire to continue with the exceptions of changes that you make.

Get Your Ducks All in a Row

Some items of personal property are not superseded by the will. This includes designated beneficiaries of life insurance, survivor’s benefits, and other items. For example, if you work life insurance lists your mother as the beneficiary she will get the proceeds even if your will says these should go to your wife and children. It is a good idea to simply re-designate beneficiaries every three to five years and to keep a list of who receives what with your will.

Owning Your Life Insurance

You might want to pay for the premiums on your life insurance, but designate the ownership to a trust or someone else besides you. The reason for this is while beneficiaries don’t pay income tax on these proceeds, if you own it, the payout will become part of your estate for tax purposes, regardless of what the will states. Don’t let the value of these items cost your family a bunch of estate taxes. 

Not Designating Personal Property in Your Will

Do you really want the people in your family fighting over your clothes, or a carefully preserved collection of baseball cards? It is far easier on everyone if you designate what you want to happen to your personal property, and this includes pets. If possible, provide several options in order of precedence. Let’s say you want your son Tom to take your cat. However, Tom can’t take your cat; his wife is allergic. So, include a couple of options so kitty doesn’t end up at the pound, or your collection in the trash.

Using an Online Kit to Do Your Will

Take the time to find a lawyer in Newmarket who is an expert in estate law to assist you with your will. If you can’t afford this now, a kit may be better than no will at all. But, as soon as you can, get that SBMB Law expert involved. They are worth the cost. Remember, each states has separate laws regarding inheritance, and of course, there are federal statues as well.

Leaving Bequests That Don’t Exist

If you leave bequests that cannot be realized by the value of your estate after the debts are paid, then decisions must be made. This could land your estate in probate, or other types of court as your heirs sue for their share. Don’t do this. Keep your debts and your bequests reasoned out and review them frequently. Remember, your funeral costs will come out of the estate as well.

As you can see, there are a great many details to include when looking at putting together a will. This is not a procedure that should be rushed, but attended to carefully by each of us.

What Should You Do If You Don’t Have Enough Money to Pay the Bills?

Many of us get into this predicament from time to time. The month drags on, we spend a little money to have some fun, and then that bill comes in that we totally forgot about. This can be a terrible feeling, but there are a few ways that you could earn some quick money in order to pay this bill.

1) Sell Stuff

Every single one of us has items that other people would pay money for. Maybe you own an ATV or an extra vehicle. Or, maybe you have some old baseball cards in the basement that could fetch a little money. If you are really desperate and have no choice but to pay this bill, then start looking at your furniture or appliances to sell. You can honestly do without them for a while and it could earn you a few hundred bucks quite quickly.

2) Collect Debts from Others

When you have a bill due, this can be the perfect time for you to pay a visit to your friend that owes you some money from a few weeks ago. Hopefully, they have some cash and can pay you back so that you can take care of your bill. If not, then you may be able to borrow some money from another friend and agree to pay them back at a later date.

3) Gamble

Since you don’t have enough money to pay the bill in its entirety (and will therefore be late in paying anyway), then why not head to the local casino (some say the best online gambling in nj) and spend what you have left at the tables? You might get lucky and earn enough to pay that bill after all.

Have you ever been in this situation? What did you do?

Retiring Right: Is Your Home Ready for Your Golden Years?

retirement (Photo credit: 401(K) 2013)

If you are planning on retiring soon, there is a lot to do in order to feel prepared. This includes tedious paperwork, as well as cleaning out your junk and getting your home ready. As you enter retirement, it is important to review all aspects of your life and prepare early so you can enjoy all your later years without stress. Whether you are looking for a new home, or improving your current home, make sure it is ready for your golden years. Ask yourself the following questions to decide if your home is ready.

Where is it?

As you get older, you may notice your driving skills diminish. If possible, make sure your home is close to public transit, or within walking distance of the places you go regularly, like the grocery store and pharmacy.

If you are considering moving when you retire, try going closer to family who can help you with transportation and keep you company. You should also look at areas with nice temperate climates so you don’t have to worry about health issues that arise from extreme temperatures.

How will you be spending your time?

When you retire, you may find you have a lot of free time on your hands. How do you want to spend it? Would you like to help take care of your grandkids, join a bowling team, or spend more time in the garden? Make sure your home and community are suited to how you’d like to spend your time. If you don’t know what you want to do yet, don’t stress. Try a few different hobbies and classes to see what kinds of things you enjoy.

How much space do you need?

If you plan on spending your retirement years travelling, you might want to consider downsizing to a smaller home base. If, however, you are planning on hosting visiting family members and friends, you may want a bigger home with a guest room. Shop some furniture sales for a comfy bed and stock up on linens so your visitors have an easy place to stay when they come to see you.

Is it accessible?

Is your home easy to get around in? Hopefully your health remains robust as you age, but your mobility may be limited. Even if you have no problems now, remember that it is easier to get injured, and harder to recover from injury when you are older. Have your bathroom checked out by a local plumber like CampbellCare Plumbing, Heating & Air, who can install grab bars near the toilet and bathtub to prevent falls. You could also consider installing ramps or moving to a one level home if you are concerned about climbing stairs.

Is it low maintenance?

Make sure that your home will be easy to maintain in your retirement. You want to spend your free time cultivating hobbies, exploring the world, and spending time with loved ones, not worrying about home repairs and yard maintenance. Will the yard require a lot of mowing? Does the driveway need to be cleared in the winter? Is the kitchen relatively easy to clean? Is the bathroom in good repair? Make the necessary repairs and changes now so you won’t have to worry about issues in your retirement.

Answer these questions to decide whether or not you are ready to retire. Maybe you want to move to a new home, or just spruce up the one you are in. Make the right choice for your health and lifestyle needs so your retirement years will be fulfilling and worry free.

Getting Your Creditors To Meet You Half Way

If you are like many consumers, you may carry high balance on your credit card accounts. With high balances come high monthly payments, and you may find that these payments are unmanageable with your budget. If you find it difficult to make your minimum monthly credit card payments, you may consider asking your creditors to meet you halfway.

What Your Creditors Have to Lose

Your principal balance on credit card payments equates to funds you owe to your creditors. If you default on that debt, such as by filing for bankruptcy, your creditors may not receive any of the money you owe them. They are aware that your financial struggles can equate to monetary loss for them, and they may be willing negotiate terms for you. 

Adjusting Financing Terms

You can consider asking your creditors to adjust the financing terms. For example, some creditors may be willing to reduce your interest rate. The interest rate is one of several factors that affect your minimum monthly payment, so a reduction in the rate may result in lower and more manageable payments.

Writing Off Debt

You can also ask your creditors to write off a portion of your debt. Some creditors may be willing to forgive a portion of the debt if they are assured that they will receive the rest of the money that you owe them. Some may request that you make a good faith payment with a large sum of cash in exchange for this settlement. When the principal balance is reduced, your monthly payments may decrease considerably. However, keep in mind that the IRS may consider the portion of debt that is written off as taxable income.

How to Get Started

Negotiating with your creditors can be beneficial to you, and many creditors are willing to work with you to set up a debt structure that is affordable for you if they know that you are struggling financially. However, some consumers have discovered that they receive more favorable terms with debt negotiations and settlement when they work with a company, such as Paddon & Yorke Inc, that specializes in this area. You can attempt to contact creditors on your own, or you can seek professional assistance by doing a consumer proposal in Toronto.

Debt balances can easily get out of hand, and the payments on your debts can stress your budget. If you find yourself challenged by your debts, your creditors may be willing to meet you halfway. You can reach out to your creditors to request adjustments to the loan terms or the balance owed, or you can seek professional assistance from a debt settlement firm.

Why Now is the Time to Refinance

I know you hear those commercials on the radio and television all the time about why “right now is the best time to refinance”. It’s amazing because it always comes from the same people, and they play the same ad every week of every year. This tells me that they think anytime is the best time to refinance. I actually think that now be may the best, and one of the last times that many people will have the want and ability to do so, and let me explain why.

People have been carrying their toxic interest-only loans for a long time now, those that were fortunate enough to weather the storm and not have to file for bankruptcy. Those loans have come with rising interest rates and payments that have become downright unmanageable. Makes you wonder why they haven’t refinanced already, huh? Well most of them were underwater on their mortgages, until now at least. We have seen home prices steadily rising since last year, and the trend continues even more this year. This means that people actually have the required home equity to refinance whereas in the past they simply did not. Those that still lack the home equity may have additional cash saved up, and improved confidence in the home market, that they are now willing to sink more money into their house in order to pay down their loans more.

Ok, so we know home values are rising, but what about interest rates? Well, interest rates really did reach historic lows last year, and I may never see them that low in my life time again. While rates are up about a point over last year they aren’t quite at a point where it is pricing people out of the market. After all, it’s been a long time since rates were even at this level. While I’m sure you would’ve loved to refinance your home loan last year at those super low rates it probably just wasn’t possible based on your home value. This is exactly why we are now in a the middle of the perfect storm of rising home values and still very low interest rates. In fact, many people can refinance their loans and use the additional money to continue to aggressively pay down their principal loan amounts.

While I don’t think purchasing a house is necessarily for everyone, I do think that refinancing is right for any homeowner who is paying a higher rate than what is available now. There are many low fee refinance options available that will allow homeowners to payback the closing costs within months. There was a point a couple years ago that I refinanced my house three times in a year alone. I was fortunate enough to buy at the downside of the market and have the required equity, but it still shows just how beneficial refinancing can really be. At the very least there are plenty of loan calculators available to you online, and plenty of loan officers willing to help you decide the right path for you.

Five Ways to Protect Your Business Assets from Changes in the Economy

Assets (Photo credit: LendingMemo)

Despite bursts of positive news in the media about the economy, there is still a lot of contradictory news that counters this optimism. The more uncertain the economy, the more important it becomes to protect your business assets.

Your business assets include your office furniture and fixtures, your computers and electronic equipment, your real estate and vehicles. In other words, your business assets are the things that you used your start-up capital to purchase so you could run your business.

A Simple 5-Point Protection Plan

1. Get an asset protection plan. Don’t wait to see what happens, as this will usually result in unexpected expenses and losses you’re not prepared to deal with, let alone cover. Plan ahead, even if your asset’s future seems secure. Use asset preparation to counter any possible claims against your business. You can’t predict the future, but you can do everything in your power to protect your assets before a process server shows up at your doorstep.

2. Get liability insurance. Although you might feel safe now that you have an asset protection plan in place, you should still get professional insurance. An asset protection plan will supplement your insurance plan. It also works the other way: your insurance plan will supplement your asset protection plan. Liability insurance is one of the best ways to protect your future finances—compensation payments can be astronomical and having a plan which will cover these can mean the difference between failure and stability for your business’ future.

3. Get clear on your finances. Separate your personal finances from your business ones. This will help you differentiate between your personal and business assets. Protect your personal assets through a trust and protect your business assets through an LLC, partnership, or corporation. Even if you lose your business for whatever reason, you should take measures to be able to fall back on your personal assets.

4. Begin tax and estate planning. While your asset protection will do a lot for you, there are some things that it cannot do. For instance, you cannot make gifts with asset protection—this is a fraudulent transfer. However, with tax and estate planning, it is not a problem and you will be able to use these resources as you wish.

5. Think of getting a self-directed IRA. One way to maximize your investments is through a flexible checkbook IRA. After a custodian opens up an account for you, you can buy precious metals, stocks, real estate, trust deeds, mortgage deeds, energy investments, promissory notes, and a lot more investments than a traditional IRA would allow. 

If the currency, for example, continues to hyper-inflate at its current rate, wouldn't it be nice to own precious metals? With a checkbook IRA, a Medicine Hat financial planning specialist says, you can diversify your portfolio, invest in assets you understand, access alternative investments, and lean on commodities to protect yourself and your business against any changes in the economy.

Keep in mind that your business assets include any and all items listed on your company’s balance sheet as the things your business owns. The security of these assets can make or break a company, depending on how well-protected they are. Changes in the economy can endanger the assets of any business, of any size, so it is always wise to be prepared for periods of recession, even in the midst of an economic boom. By using these five strategies, you will be able to protect and retain ownership of these assets.

Informational Credit to Thomson Schindle Green Insurance & Financial Services Ltd