LivingReal

You have rights. Rights, privileges and choices. And yet for many of us, the day to day grind of the here and now distracts us from taking the simple steps to insure our choices are of our own making.

During our lifetime we invest heavily. We invest in our careers, we invest in our material possessions and we invest in our relationships. We accumulate stuff, mementos of special times, art and music. We purchase vehicles and homes. We build relationships, friendships and partnerships.

And yet, with the things we consider ours – the laws of the state can step in and dictate their dispensation at the time of our passing – unless we act upon our legal rights.

Rules, laws and regulations have long been in place to protect the privacy and rights of individuals and families. These ruls grow stronger as the fear of litigation permeates almost every aspect of society. One segment of the population that benefits from this protection are those that are vulnerable due to age or infirmity.  When we become sick who will care for us? Who will advocate on our behave? Who has the right to speak with the medical professionals and to make decisions regarding your care?

If you are part of a non-traditional relationship, the old adage Blood is Stronger than Water holds very little truth. And yet it might be said that certain laws base the rights of decision and ownership upon this questionable axiom. These same laws allow for personal choices – But Only If one takes the proper legal steps to establish and declare their own wishes and decisions.

A Catastrophic Illness or a simple accident can land us in a hospital or nursing home, and these serious incidences are not strictly reserved for the elderly.  More and more often medical facilities will only discuss the condition and care of the patient with the patient’s ‘legal guardian’. If the patient has not taken the simple legal steps, prior to the unexpected illness or accident, to appoint whom they want to serve as their legal guardian in matters of health care, and they are unable to make decisions due to their condition, the courts may now have to intervene. A court appointed  conservator or a costly court proceeding by a relative is often the next step. But what if the undocumented choice would have been someone other than a blood relative? Would the domestic partner of the patient have a better idea of what choices need to be made, what the patient would want to have done? In many cases this may be true, but lacking the required legal paperwork, the domestic partner has no say in the medical care or decisions that will need to be made.

When the medical facility directive is that no one other than family can visit the patient, what previously documented steps could allow for the presence of a domestic partner? Failing to prepare for this possibility could find a person sitting in the waiting room hoping that a sympathetic family member will be willing to share information.

The passing of a loved one is difficult enough. In a non-traditional partnership where a residence is shared, assets are mingled and possessions are held in common, life becomes difficult as the blood relatives step in to exercise their legal responsibilities and rights.

Think about that last sentence. “Their legal responsibilities and rights”. You need to carefully consider that statement. Today you control what happens to your assets and possessions. Do you want to sell, buy, trade, make a gift of, donate, invest or hang onto the things you have worked hard to acquire. This is your legal right, which we easily take for granted. Of course with these rights we understand that there are also responsibilities and obligations.
But we can not be naive about the inevitable. Your legal rights and responsibilities, at some point in the future, will and must be transferred to another person. Illness, incapacitation, incompetency, old age or death require that someone step in to manage your business affairs, make decisions about your care and eventually administer the assets that make up your estate; home, car, cash & investments and all your material possessions. Who will that be?

If you have planned ahead, taken the necessary steps and acquired the proper legal documents – your wishes will and must be honored. This is not a difficult undertaking, but one that requires a certain commitment and maturity. A commitment to those people you love and care about and a maturity to face up to the reality that all of us will at some point in the future face illness and / or death. The fact that you are reading this now is an indication that you still have time to take these important steps, but procrastination can be your enemy here just as our inability to face up to our own mortality. We all know people who died way too soon, unexpectedly. Living well includes leaving behind your affairs in an orderly manner that honors your friendships and relationships.

So what are your choices when it comes to Proper Legal Documentation?  At this point I will restate that any and all information here is for informational purposes only and what documents and planning is best suited for you and your situation will be determined in a personal interview with your qualified estate planning attorney.

There are only two documents that are recognized by the state when a person passes away. The deceased either has a Will or a Trust. If they have not taken the steps to acquire one or the other of these, the state will give them a will and lets just say it has a very good chance of falling short in reflecting the true wishes of the deceased.

A Will is the most common document of which we are aware. Most of us had not considered nor thought there was any other option – a person gets a will and when they die………….??
Well what does happen when a person who has a will dies? First we need to understand that a will only has provisions for after a person dies. Legal guardianship and power of attorney which become of great importance if Illness occurs, are handled in separate documents, which can be loosely tied together with the will.

A will is a simple document that can be prepared by an attorney or an individual. With proper witnesses and unambiguous language you can express your wishes on how your possessions will be distributed after your death. But these are only your wishes. The final decision of how your estate is settled lies with the judicial supervisor in whose court room your estate will be probated. Probate is the required legal process through which all Wills are taken. The probate process is difficult to describe since every one’s experience with it differs. Some will say it was not a big deal while others will tell you of the nightmare they went through dealing with attorney’s, relatives, forms, fillings and fees. In most cases, time, money and emotions are heavily invested and the potential for disagreement and disappointment can be high.

Since probate is carried out in the public courts – it is a matter of public record and therefore falls under the rules of open records, allowing anyone to access all the details of your will and distribution of your assets. In studies conducted by AARP, Elder Law Solutions and in the book Beyond the Grave by Gerald Condon, it has been estimated that the cost of probate can deplete an estate of between four and seven percent of its total value.

What will it cost to probate your estate? – no one can say. Will the cost of probate be increased by family members who wish to contest your will and your wishes? “Contestable” means someone disagrees with the provisions of your will and goes in front of the judge to complain. By law it is up to the judge to decide the merits of the complaint and to alter your will if they deem the merits of the contest are valid. So – your will and your wishes may not be honored using this document choice.

In addition since a will is contestable and the final decision on how assets will be distributed happens within a court of law, there is great uncertainty. The full implications of this uncertainty are ones we must be aware of as we plan for our future. This is especially true if we are involved in a non-traditional relationship and our wishes are that our possessions be distributed to people other than blood relatives. What will happen to my home and financial assets? Who will be allowed to live in my home? Can my family of origin simply pack up my belongings and sell my home? Addressing these questions and concerns is an important part of good planning.

In summary – the probating of a will takes time, costs money and is a public affair. It is often contested and the final decisions rest with the courts.

What other options do we have?

(Again let it be clear that any and all information here is for informational purposes only and what documents and planning is best suited for you and your situation will be determined in a personal interview with your qualified estate planning attorney.)

The only option aside from creating a will as your estate planning document or ignoring the reality of the issue and doing nothing – is a Trust. For the purpose of this discussion we will speak in general terms of a Revocable Living Trust. There are multiple ‘flavors’ of trusts and which would be the best for your situation will be determined by you and your attorney.

Unlike a will which is a document and stipulates what will occur after death, a Revocable Living Trust is an entity providing living benefits as well. As an entity it can own and hold property. It specifies who controls the assets it holds (the Trustor, that’s you); who manages the assets (the Trustee, that’s you also) and who benefits from the assets held in the trust (that’s you again). It clearly specifies who takes over in managing the assets within the trust when you no longer can, due to illness or death and of course it spells out who will receive the assets when you are gone.

By making changes to the ownership of our assets from you to the trust (a process called ‘Funding’) you now own nothing and the trust owns everything. Who controls and manages the trust ? – You do. The legal concept is that at your death whatever assets are in the ownership of the trust avoid the probate proceedings. By assuring that all of our assets remain in the trust our successor trustee (the person you choose to take over at your death) can settle the trust without having to go through the courts. The reduced amount of time needed for this process and the privacy involved allows a trust to be handled free from being contested. Your wishes are honored.

Revocable Living Trusts, by name, can be altered and changed by the trustor (you) any time prior to death. Once a person passes away the trust becomes irrevocable and can not be changed. A properly drafted Revocable Living Trust should also include provisions for guardianship and power of attorney if the owner of the trust becomes ill and needs help with medical or business affairs.

Non-traditional couples will often find a Revocable Living Trust to be the best method to assure that in a relationship not recognized as binding by the laws of the state, that their assets and possessions are distributed according to their wishes and avoid costly and time consuming heartaches. The Revocable Living Trust also stipulates who will be in attendance and in charge in medical matters, another important benefit for the non-traditional couple.

Is a Revocable Living Trust right for your situation? This is a choice you need to make. Doing nothing, avoiding the issue, only causes our loved ones problems and anxiety in the future.

Obtaining a Trust to protect your estate and your loved ones is only the first step. Properly funding the trust (retitling all of your possessions into the trust) can be a complicated process. Assuring that the trust stays current also is important, as your life, assets and tax laws change. Most importantly is arranging that assistance is on hand for the time when you are no longer here and the task of settling the Trust is given to the person you have chosen to be your Successor Trustee. Arranging for this needed assistance can mean the difference between a long and costly settlement and a quick and cost free process for those you leave behind.

I congratulate you for persevering through the reading of this information. It probably has brought up many additional questions for you. It would be my pleasure to continue educating you on this subject and tell you how I coordinate protecting you, your estate and your loved ones with professional and legal experts.

Please contact me at

Steve Fine
608 / 225 -7314

Are you beyond thinking about coaching and ready to jump in?  Not everyone is actually ready to be coached or even ‘coachable’.  Not everyone is serious about creating a life of their own design, to make deliberate and conscience decisions that will make major +positive + changes to how they live and enjoy who they are and how they interact with the world around them.

“There’s a difference between interest and commitment.  When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstances permit. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.”  Art Turock

If you are ready – use the coment section below to contact me and we’ll set up a free phone session to give you a sense of where we can go together!

Do It Now!

I have a great employee. She almost never complains, at least not about the work, does the little work I have for her after about the third time I remind her and although most folks would say I am paying her too much – it all works out for the best. At 12 years old she is the youngest employee on our staff of two, but she has been with the firm for almost 6 years and that gives her some seniority.  Since her food and lodging is completely covered I know she is making good use of her paycheck, putting it toward clothes, school supplies and a growing college fund.

And that is only one of the many benefits of my home based business. Hiring my daughter, and previously my son, are part of the benefits of owning my own business. Home based or not family members can be employees of your business and you can avoid certain rules and paperwork requirements needed for regular employees. While the salary I pay my children can not be outrageous the IRS rules are perfectly okay with this hiring practice. Whether emptying the garbage, sweeping the floor, filing or making bank deposits it is both a good learning experience for them and a great way to transfer profits out of the business and into the hands of deserving family members. Since these dollars are now removed from the net income for the business they are not taxed and staying within the limits of income for your child can make them tax free to him or her also.

In order to set up a relationship like this – (no tax advice being given here – please check this over with your accountant)
you must actually have work that your child will perform.
your child must actually perform the work
set up a written schedule of worked performed and hours worked(good for them and good paper trail for taxes)
Open a bank account for your child. While a savings account is all that is really necessary we found that by opening a checking account and getting a debit card we were now ready to help our children spend their tax free dollars on clothing, school supplies and other parent approved items
And the most important – you must actually pay them. You can only claim salaries that were actually paid. And it would of course be best if you paid those salaries on a regular basis throughout the year. This is not an end of the year tax reduction idea. Make regular paychecks out to your employee for actual work performed. This is good for their learning the value of work, it is good for your business and it is good for the IRS.

This is only one of the many benefits in owning your own business. But for many of us the idea of opening a business is both scary and over whelming. It is also a concern about where to open the business, what type of business and who has the time for such a thing as business ownership.  Fortunately  there are a lot of good answers to all those good questions.

The cost of opening a business can be anywhere along a wide spectrum – from little or nothing to hundreds of thousands of dollars.  On one end of the spectrum is the lemonade stand and on the other is a manufacturing plant. Since my guess is that you are closer to the lemonade stand of thinking  we’ll address a few points here and more in later articles.

A lemonade stand is usually set up with items you usually already have around the house. A table, some chairs, markers and paperboard for signs, pitchers, water, sugar, disposable cups and frozen lemonade. If you care to upgrade to a classier clientle the investment into real lemons is a possibility but lets assume we are working on a shoe string budget for capital expenditures.

Now that you have your products and location set up it is important to set up a marketing department. This would usually consist of a few friends who take your carefully designed marketing signs, stand close to the curb and yell at passing cars.  If business doesn’t take off according to plan you can increase marketing by getting more friends, yelling louder or send them down to the corner where traffic is heavier.

In all seriousness – it is possible to set up just such a business in the adult world. Internet marketing has a lot of similarities. You can start with items you already have at home. A computer, a place to work, an internet connection and a glass of lemonade. When it comes to marketing, rather than yelling at folks to stop and see what you have to offer, you can move your lemonade stand to a place where a lot of thirsty people are looking for something to drink and have them come to you, money in hand.

And once your lemonade stand is up and running the kids can  work around you, emptying the garbage, filing the papers and making bank deposits. Want to put up a lemonade stand?

Reality is that in our post modern western world carrying a little debt is almost unavoidable – so we believe.  But when whole industries are created to separate us from our hard earned money – well,  something is just not right.

Banks make money on Mortgages – and the more often they can convince us that refinancing is a good thing the more money they can make. Just like when financing an automobile our focus is drawn to the monthly payment by the lender. Imagine how different it would be if we as a population simply re focused our  paradigm to the Total Payments  section of the lending agreement.

A 30 year mortgage equates to paying the bank twice the purchase price of the home and then a little more.  Does the interest rate or the monthly payment really matter? It does if you are only a shortsighted person, but as long as you plan on living in a home (as opposed to your car, a tepee or a retirement home) your cost of putting a roof over your head is a long term financial obligation.

Too good to be true is the constant phrase used by folks who have begun the process of getting 100% out of debt, mortgage and all, using the Money Merge Account.  You owe it to yourself to find out more.  Click Here to learn more about the company United First Financial and to get your F*R*E*E personal analysis.  My family will be out of debt in 6.2 years as opposed to the way we were going which would have kept us paying the lenders for 17+ years.

I have been in the financial services industry for 27 years, testing and researching debt since 1996.  While many other methods can be used – the Money Merge Account is the surest way to experience true financial freedom.

Go to www.MyLifeIsDebtFree.com and click on the free analysis button right now.

A not too often used phrase but one with as much meaning today as it was long ago is Making Your Nut. Simply put it means that a person has the money that will be needed to pay the bills that are due. But where do terms or phrases like this come from? Here is the accepted version of the origin of this one:

Back in old England is the origin this phrase. There were gypsy circuses that would travel from county to county entertaining the townspeople. Before the city fathers would allow them to set up camp, they would come to an arrangement as to how much the circus would pay the city in taxes for the privilege of setting up. Once this amount was agreed upon, the city sheriff would take the large nut that secured one of the wagon wheels on the biggest circus wagon.

Until the circus was able to pay the amount, they would not get their nut back. This way the traveling entertainers could not sneak away at night without making payment.

Today this phrase is used when discussing whether or not there is enough cash coming in to pay your bills. As in ‘Because of too little work this month, it will be difficult to make our nut.’

Although we don’t often hear this phrase being used the situation is probably more common to most of us than we want to acknowledge. While taxes are inevitable (Another common phrase even today: ‘Only two things are certain  Death and Taxes’) we do have control over our other financial obligations: bills, loans, credit cards etc.

Here is the question Would you be willing to pay more taxes if you didn’t have to? I can’t imagine anyone answering Yes to that question.

Question Two  Would you be willing to pay more to your credit cards and loans (auto, student, personal) than you have to? Again  who would say Yes? And yet so many of us do pay more, everyday, month after month.

While the things that make up taxes are sometimes hard to break up (schools, city, county,etc) and we have no choice but to pay what we owe, the same is not true with our loans. Any loan mortgage, auto, student, personal  is made up of principal and interest. The principal is a true obligation that needs to be met. But the interest is money we agreed to pay in order to stretch the payments out over time. Now I am not telling you something that you didn’t already know. And yet it is all a matter of focus.

In today’s world our focus is directed to the monthly payments. Buy a car and the salesperson asks what you can afford monthly. Qualifying for a home loan is based upon your monthly payment ability. Can you make the Nut? What is just as important to our financial well-being is another number we have chosen to not focus on is the total cost of ownership  or the total amount you will have paid by making the monthly payments as they are laid out in the loan agreement Principal plus Interest.

Most loans allow prepayment of the loan without penalties which simply means pay it off early and reduce the overall total cost of ownership. Pay less interest. After all if we would not voluntarily pay additional taxes why are we so willing to pay additional interest. It is money you will never see again, your hard earned dollars going into someone else’s pockets and it just makes it harder to Make Your Nut each month.

Recently recognized by Forbes Investment Guide as one of the Leading Providers of  Wealth Management in the Central Region of the United States, heres what Wealth Expert Terry C Kingsberry, Owner of Financial Counseling Services, had to say about the Money Merge Account

One of the main reasons my clients validate my recommendations is because of the success they have concerning the Money Merge Account system, which they are using to reduce their debt, especially their mortgage debt. I spent numerous months conducting due diligence on United First Financial and the MMA software before actually producing an analysis for my own home. Since that exercise revealed the strength of the UFF
organization and the positive effects the program was having on consumers, I finally enrolled into the MMA program myself. To date, my 30 year mortgage has been reduced to around 8.7 years. Even though I am not the most proficient user of the software, I am still very pleased with the results and I look forward to always sharing them with people who question the validity of the MMA.  5/22/09

Picking up from a previous entry - let’s provide an explanation of the commonly marketed methods for a person to get out of debt.

One method offered by companies that earn their income through the sale of mortgages is consolidation. The premise here is to roll all your unsecured debt (such as student loans and credit cards/things that have no collateral covering them) into your home mortgage. It has also been suggested to roll secured debt, such as a car loan into this consolidation.

This assumes your home has equity to borrow from. The theory here is that these funds, the money you previously paid to the credit card companies you will now pay to the mortgage companies, which is okay because then you can write it off on your taxes. The problem with this method is that while it may drop your monthly payments a little, and save you a small amount in annual taxes, you are no closer to being out of debt.

In addition, your student loans, credit cards and car loans are now part of a payment schedule that may actually have you paying them off longer than before, or longer than the car lasts. You have also given up the equity in your home, which is not a bad thing if it is part of an overall strategy to reduce the time in which you are in debt, but not a good thing if it is used as a quick fix to have more money to spend each month.

Another method highly marketed is settlement or negotiation. In this case you enlist the services of a company that contacts your creditors for you and negotiates lower interest, a smaller monthly payment, freezing fees or any other method to help you to not have to pay. This method has fault on many levels.

There is no doubt that debt settlement with any company does hurt your credit it is the downside to the process of reducing your total debt using this strategy. an email response from a debt settlement company

Of immediate concern is how this affects a persons credit score. Any company that agrees to a negotiated payment will enter this information into a persons credit history. This information is now there for all other potential creditors to see. Landlords, retail stores, auto loan companies etc now know that you failed to pay back your debts as agreed. This can haunt you for many years to come.

In addition – negotiation may not work. Companies may not agree to new terms, they may agree to terms that are less than desirable, and this will still become part of your permanent credit history. The settlement company is also not in business to lose money and your fees to them must still be paid. I have heard horror stories of unscrupulous companies who were supposed to pay a client’s bills for them and just kept the money or held it for a time before paying it to collect the interest for themselves.

Lastly – where is the morality of not paying your debts? While there are instances of ridiculously high interest rates, and yes – today’s world seems to suck us into buying more than we need or can afford – how can we as adults accept an agreement to purchase something under certain terms and then squirrel our way out of paying for it? I came across a company which claims to have found a loop hole in banking laws and is using that as a way to help their clients end all payments to bank provided credit cards.

When I asked what lesson he was teaching his children by sitting on a couch watching a television, both of which were purchased on a credit card which he now feels he does not have to pay back – he had very little to say.

In summary – consolidation, settlement and negotiation, while maybe the last resort for some, fail to effectively eliminate debt for ethically minded families.

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