While Medicare covers nursing home stays, exactly what it covers is complicated and in some cases it can be much more limited than people think. If you or a loved one might need a stay in a nursing home, it’s very smart to understand the rules ahead of time, so you can be prepared and not have an unpleasant surprise. Medicare covers up to 100 days of “skilled nursing care” per illness. However, in order for
You can generally begin claiming Social Security benefits at any age between 62 and 70. Most married men begin claiming benefits at 62 or 63 – despite the fact that their family’s overall expected lifetime income from Social Security would be much greater if they waited a few years, because the amount you get from Social Security each year increases the longer you wait to start receiving it. The people who are most affected are wives
When two or more people own property – whether it’s a home, a condominium, or a piece of land – the relationship between the owners is known as a “tenancy.” There are a number of different kinds of tenancy. Understanding the differences is important, because different kinds of tenancy can mean different rules for whether an interest in the property will pass at an owner’s death outside of probate and whether creditors can claim the property.
A number of changes are coming to health insurance plans that supplement Medicare’s coverage, which are commonly known as “Medigap” plans. Medicare doesn’t cover all medical expenses – even if you have Medicare, you’re still responsible for co-payments, deductibles, and items that are excluded from coverage. To supplement Medicare’s coverage, you can purchase a Medigap policy from a private insurer. There are currently 12 different Medigap plans available, identified by the letters A through L. Each
The federal estate tax expired at the end of 2009, and this has created a serious problem for many people who haven’t revised their wills in a while. The tax applied in 2009 to estates of more than $3.5 million. It is slated to come back in 2011, and apply to estates of more than $1 million. Most people expected that Congress would “fix” the estate tax before it expired, and there would be a new
“A man complained that [on] his way home to dinner he had every day to pass through that long field of his neighbor’s. I advised him to buy it, and it would never seem long again.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson “Everyone says buying your first apartment makes you feel like an adult. What no one mentions is that selling it turns you right back into a child.” – Anderson Cooper
A condominium association can’t adopt a rule that prohibits owners from displaying religious objects outside their unit entrances. That’s the word from a federal appeals court in Chicago, which allowed a Jewish family to bring a lawsuit after their condo association removed a mezuzah from their front door. (A three-judge panel of the court had earlier sided with the association, but the full court reconsidered and sided with the family.)
The amount that homeowners can borrow with a reverse mortgage has been reduced by 10% by the Federal Housing Administration. The new rule applies only to reverse mortgages obtained after October 1, 2009. If you took out a reverse mortgage before that date, you won’t be affected. But if you want to take out a new FHA-insured reverse mortgage, the maximum amount you can borrow will be 10% less than it was. In a traditional mortgage,
The Federal Housing Administration, which insures up to a third of all new mortgages, has adopted some limits on the mortgages it will insure. The FHA doesn’t make loans, but it insures loans made by other lenders in order to encourage lenders to give mortgages to people with shaky credit or little in the way of a down payment. The new restrictions will make it somewhat harder for such people to get mortgages.
When a couple buys a home, they often simply put both names on the deed. When a homeowner gets married, he or she often adds the spouse’s name to the deed. And when a single person shares a home with an elderly relative, they often put both names on the deed. This may be common, but it’s not necessarily the best idea. Here are some things to consider: Capital gains. Under certain circumstances, if you add
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