Steven Mnuchin, the U.S. Treasury secretary, reportedly said at a July meeting of the Group 20 summit meeting in Argentina that the Treasury Department was reconsidering the definition of “cost” to allow taxpayers to adjust the initial base (value) of an asset for inflation when...
As fewer companies offer long-term care insurance since people are living longer (and insurance companies miscalculated increased life expectancy) and fewer policyholders dropped their policies, a new alternative has been developed for those who have poorer health – short-term care insurance. The trend in recent...
An ancestor of client received a Spanish land grant for what is presently client’s homestead with the acreage surrounding it. The property has been passed from generation to generation for almost 200 years (well before Texas became a state). One of client’s ancestors was even...
Several years ago, a local financial advisor recommended that his client (a married man who is retired) invest his entire traditional IRA worth $300,000 in an annuity (within such IRA). The IRA is the largest asset of the client (he and his wife have $80,000...
Most people are unaware that if your spouse was receiving social security at the time of his or her death, then you are entitled to $255 from Social Security. If you lived with your spouse at the time of his or her death, then you...
While researchers have known for years that there is a link between high blood pressure and Alzheimer’s, this new study shows that medication not only mediates blood pressure but can reduce risk for Alzheimer’s. In a recent Johns Hopkins Medical School study, researchers have found...
U.S. House GOP members released a budget proposal in June entitled “A Brighter American Future” to slash Medicare and Medicaid spending to reduce the nation’s deficit recently increased as a result of the tax law that became effective this year. Since mid-term elections are just...
Recent studies show loneliness can reduce life expectancy by eight years – not to mention quality of life. It is estimated that Medicare spends an extra $6.7 billion annually on seniors as a result of social isolation. Recognizing this problem, a California healthcare provider, Care...
Texas has increased the value of estate assets, excluding a homestead (if there is an exemption such as a surviving spouse or unmarried child living in the home and using it as their homestead) and other exempt property, to $75,000.00 which can pass to heirs...
Husband and wife (2nd marriage for each and both having children of prior marriage) purchase real estate together, but they fail to deed it into their joint revocable trust that they signed twenty years ago. Since the property wasn’t deeded into the trust, there was need...
