Inflation may be low and the economy may be struggling, but the cost of elder care is continuing to increase, according to a new Metlife survey. The average cost of a private room in a nursing home rose 3.3 percent in 2009 to $79,935 a year – or $219 a day. The average cost of an assisted living facility also climbed 3.3 percent, to $37,572 a year or $3,131 a month.
The amount you can deduct on your taxes as a result of buying long-term care insurance has been increased by the IRS for 2010. Generally, you can deduct part of your premiums if the premiums, together with your other unreimbursed medical expenses, amount to more than 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income.
Tax-free college savings plans and prepaid tuition programs – known as “529 plans” – can be used to buy computer equipment and Internet services for students during 2010. This change was part of the stimulus bill enacted by Congress last year. Many grandparents and other relatives set up 529 plans (named for section 529 of the federal tax code) to help young people with college expenses. Family members can contribute up to $13,000 a year to
Once you’ve written a will and created an estate plan, you need to figure out what to do with the will itself. Obviously, it’s very important to keep track of the location of your current will – as well as any old wills. The safest place to keep the original copy of your will is in a bank safe deposit box, but it might not always be the most practical. If the will is in a
The criminal conviction this past October of the son of New York society matron Brooke Astor on charges of taking advantage of her while she suffered from Alzheimer’s disease could lead to more prosecutions for financial abuse of the elderly…and this includes ordinary families, not just wealthy socialites. As many as a million older people are taken advantage of financially each year, according to a study by MetLife. In most cases, the culprits are family members
Sometimes a nursing home wants to get rid of a particular resident. It might think the resident (or the resident’s family) is “difficult.” The resident might require more expensive or demanding care than others. Or the resident might be a Medicaid recipient, and the nursing home could make more money by replacing him or her with a private-pay individual. The usual way that nursing homes get rid of residents is to transfer them to a hospital,
A new law in Nevada could benefit people all over the country who want to reduce estate taxes and protect assets from creditors. The law allows anyone in the U.S. to create a “restricted” limited partnership or limited liability company in Nevada. In general, putting assets into an LP or LLC can be a good idea. You can then give membership units, or shares, in the LP or LLC to your heirs each year. Ordinarily, you
Years ago, when someone passed away, their loved ones could often access all the documents they needed with a simple key to a safe deposit box. Now however, many aspects of people’s lives – both financial and personal – are online in places accessible only by password. This includes e-mail accounts, PayPal accounts, online banks and brokerages, automatic bill-paying arrangements, and even Facebook pages and photo collections.
Many parents make gifts or loans to their children. Often they give more money to one child than to others, perhaps because one child has a greater need. If you do make a significant gift or loan to one of your heirs, you should modify your will to address it. The reason: If something happens to you, it might be unclear to your heirs what the effect of the gifts or loans should be on their
Almost three million children in the U.S. between the ages of five and 15 have special needs, according to the latest Census figures. Parents of these children need to use extra care in planning their estates. For most people, estate planning is about making sure your assets go where you want them to, and minimizing inconvenience and taxes along the way. But parents of special needs children face an additional challenge because they have to make
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