Author Archives: Jay Butchko
What You Do With Your Valuable Personal Property Now Is As Important As Who Inherits It
Estate planning checklists tend to be very specific when it comes to official documents, money, and real estate. They will tell you to write a will, designate a personal representative, and include instructions for the final disposition of your remains. They will advise you to keep as many assets as you can out of… Read More »
Laws That Protect New York Seniors From Fraud and Financial Abuse
Elderly people represent a disproportionate share of victims of financial crimes such as fraud and theft. The vulnerability of seniors to financial crime comes down to several reasons. In some cases, the victim does not notice that the money is missing because the victim is in such poor health that he or she cannot… Read More »
Can New York State Inherit Your Money?
The idea of the state inheriting your money instead of your family inheriting it is enough to scare a lot of people into getting started on their estate plans. Having an estate plan is better than not having one, but your fears that the State of New York will end up with the inheritance… Read More »
In Order to Avoid Ruffling Feathers, Snowbirds Should Develop Their Estate Plans Carefully
Now that you are retired, you get to decide how to spend your time. You no longer have to base your plans around your boss or your kids. If you want to go to Florida and just stay there, that is your prerogative. As every New Yorker knows, though, there is no place like… Read More »
Is Optimism an Overrated Estate Planning Strategy?
Writing your will when you are young is a much better idea than not writing one. If you have minor children, the last thing you want is to leave open the possibility of your parents and your in-laws fighting in court for years over which family should get custody of your children if both… Read More »
3 Situations Where an Annuity Might Be Right for You
Annuities are not the world’s most glamorous estate planning tool. It would make sense to brag about your revocable trust, the way that people might boast about BMWs. Instead, think of products whose partisans are much less outspoken about their favorite products, but their love is obvious, anyway. Your neighbor who loves Hondas does… Read More »
Swedish Death Cleaning Isn’t Really About Death, but Neither Is Estate Planning
There are numerous good reasons to declutter your house. Some people declutter in order to have a tidy environment where they feel less stressed than they do when surrounded by clutter. Others find motivation in donating items they no longer need to secondhand stores where people who do need them can find them at… Read More »
Estate Planning For Late Bloomers
Happy birthday, sweet 49. This time next year, you will start receiving birthday greetings and a big pile of other correspondence from the AARP. Of course, you are probably wondering if you will ever be able to afford to retire. The financial struggles of millennials and Generation Z have been dominating the news headlines… Read More »
Instead of Spending Down Your Assets to Qualify for Medicaid, Spend Them on Long-Term Care Insurance
The picture of retirement for the current cohort of working adults is anything but rosy. It is getting harder to find jobs that pay for retirement savings or offer pensions, so that means that anything that you save for the future has to come out of your take home pay. Therefore, if you are… Read More »
Seniors, Beware: Uncle Sam Is The Worst Landlord
No matter how high your income is, retirement means giving up the possibility of the bonuses and promotions that made some years more exciting than others during your working years. If not employment income, though, then what? Many current members of the workforce do not have the luxury of choosing among ways to diversify… Read More »