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Recent Blog Posts
Later in Life Marriages Reduce Rate of Divorce
The status quo of 50% divorce rate in America is slowly decreasing - 40% actually is the new number and considered to keep going down. Why? Due mostly to people making marriage decisions later in life, tackling all their inner demons, questions and immaturity to their younger days and becoming committed adults in their later years. This is why late-in-life marriages last longer.
According to Yahoo! being older and wiser does have truth to it. All the past situations you were entangled with enlighten you to the importance of a true relationship. The things that tempted you before are no longer important because you are more stable in your life (emotionally and job wise) and can make healthier decisions. You can wisely tell what is good for you and what isn't - and who is or isn't good for you. Knowing what is out there in the world gives you incentive to work harder at what you have - from crazy people to realizing money is not the only quality you are looking for. The ability to compromise and have consistency are attractive qualities. A person who has similar character qualities to your own makes it easier to move through life together because it gives you a solid foundation. Truth prevails.
When Planning Your Estate, Don't Fall off Fiscal Cliff
The Southern Business Journal recently posted an article giving advice on planning for the second half of your life in a way that will avoid serious financial troubles.
We've all heard of the infamous fiscal cliff and the always-increasing intensity about the impending doom the United States will face if the deficit and debt are not reduced immediately and without regard to the promises we have made to our retirees, veterans, elderly, etc.
If long-term care insurance companies have their way, you or your loved one may soon fall off your own personal fiscal cliff. Lobbyists have been bombarding Congress with the idea of dismantling the social and medical safety nets currently available to eligible seniors, veterans, and disabled persons through the federal Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and VA programs.
The Most Cost Effective Way to Give Money
Birthdays. Christmas. Showers. What do all three have in common? The ability for the giver to enjoy seeing the receiver's reaction and joy to the gift given to them and knowing what they just gave made someone else happy. What a feeling. It is true that it is better to give than to receive in that regard.
If your love language is gift-giving, look into giving your financial contributions and gifts NOW instead of after your death. Wills are great and so is making sure people and organizations get what you worked a lifetime for, but, there are opportunities for you to see your hard earned money bless others today.
There are two very easy ways to go about this. First, is to pay either medical or educational bills - unlimited expenses! Just make sure you give directly to the institution on behalf of the person you wish to help. That means college, doctors, hospitals, medication - expenses anyone would appreciate the help with! Second, is to give no more than $13,000 per person per year. Yes! That means you can select as many people you would like to give each $13,000 a year to! Just remember that you do have a lifetime to give $1 million without paying taxes.
Bad Communication Habits That Wreck Relationships
Communication problems-especially the lack of communication-are the most common reason for divorce, according to studies. An article in the Huffington Post lists several bad communication habits that put pressure on relationships and may eventually lead to divorce. Here are some of them:
- Inauthenticity. Saying "yes" when you really mean "no" just won't work in the long run. If we constantly do things that are against our will, we end up resentful and angry. Not trusting our partner to understand us is not going to work. If you are not ready to discuss or do something right away, you should say so but make sure you stay true to your word.
- Incongruence. Communication is mostly non-verbal. If we say one thing while rolling our eyes or shrugging shoulders we may send mixed messages. Maintaining eye contact is one way to avoid this and ensures that you listen actively what your partner is saying.
5 Reasons to have an Estate Plan
When people begin to think about their families, eventually they think about when they won't be around anymore to protect them. That desire to provide is evident in all of life's big plans regarding education, jobs, housing, and healthcare. Having an estate plan can protect your family once you aren't able to.
Before thinking that you don't have enough assets to need an estate plan, consider these 5 reasons to reconsider your decision.
1. Protecting your Family
With the proper planning, assets can be sheltered from unforeseen circumstances. A conservator is required to handle assets for minor beneficiaries to look after their best interests; the conservator can be chosen in your plan. Estate planning can be used as a safeguard for an adult beneficiary from losing their inheritance through mismanagement, bad decisions, or even divorce.
Potential for Child Support Reform in Illinois
The Illinois Child Support Advisory Committee recommended to Illinois that it change the way to calculates child support about two years ago, but it has not yet happened. So far, 38 other states have reformed their child support calculations model since the 1980s, but Illinois has not budged.
Advanced doctoral student at DePaul University, who has been studying divorce and fathers' well-being, Todd Bottom, said, "I think it affects a lot of people and doesn't get talked about much. Awareness needs to be created. I think that students here at DePaul could benefit tremendously from knowing about this current form. Many of them are or were affected in one way or another by the divorce of their own parents."
The current model used by Illinois is called "percentage of obligatory net income." With this model, the noncustodial parent has to pay a flat percentage of his or her income based on the number of children. This model fails to consider the income of the parents who has custody and the amount of time that the noncustodial parent spends with the children.
Estate Planning is Especially Important for Parents
Unexpected accidents and deaths happen all too frequently. While it may seem morbid to plan for death while there's no apparent reason, doing so can help to save your family from headaches and money-aches later on. It doesn't matter your financial status—estate planning isn't just for the wealthy. An estate refers to all the property that a person, or couple, owns. This includes, but is not limited to: property, cars, businesses and stock holdings, and insurance contracts and pension benefits. If you have a claim pending against someone, such as a worker's compensation claim or a claim against a negligent driver in a car accident, that also counts as part of your estate.
The most important thing to remember about estate planning is that it can't be done after your death, or after you're impaired with some other disability affecting your capacity to wade through legal documents. The importance of having an estate plan if you have children can't be stressed enough. According to the Northwest Indiana Times, "when planning for a new child, a will is one of those things that is often overlooked." A will can sometimes make a great baby shower gift if the parents haven't yet considered executing a will.
Make Estate Planning Part of Your New Year's Resolutions
Many people make the new year the start of their new resolutions, whether they want to lose weight, save more money, or improve other parts of their lives. A recent Press & Guide article points out that one often-overlooked aspect of life is estate planning. As we move through the first part of 2013, take some time and make one of your resolutions to engage in some estate planning that will help carry out your wishes and save your surviving family members from some headaches in the long run.
You may think it is sufficient to avoid formal estate planning if you have listed another person as beneficiary on your bank accounts, life insurance policies, and 401(k) and other investment accounts. The major problem with using the beneficiary designation as an estate planning tool is the risk that a beneficiary predeceases you. If there is no beneficiary designated, and you have no will or other estate planning document in place, then state law will dictate how the proceeds of your account or other asset is divided among your heirs, whether that is what you intended or not. The bottom line is that if you want to be certain that your assets are distributed according to your wishes, then you need to take all necessary steps to ensure that your plans are carried out.
Common Issues in Divorce after 50
The phenomenon of couples who are over the age of 50 divorcing is becoming more common than it was in the past. A study from the National Center for Family & Marriage Research located at Bowling Green University found that one in four people going through a divorce are over 50, compared to one in ten people in 1990.
It might be caused by a midlife crisis or a product of the empty nest syndrome. But it is harder to plan for a divorce and the life afterwards because of various factors that are present later in a person's life.
The first concerns are medical. As people advance in age, they are more likely to have health issues. Having a partner is a comfort for sick people or those who are unable to care for themselves. If divorce is a serious consideration later in life, then it is important to consider how existing medical benefits can take care of both spouses or who will pay for continued healthcare.
Marital Property Valued at Date of Divorce- Divided Illinois Supreme Court
According to Illinois law, under certain circumstances, courts have the power to enter a judgment of dissolution in a divorce case and wait, as a part of the separate proceeding, to enter a property distribution judgment. However, sometimes that becomes a problem because the parties have a sense of urgency to get the proceedings completed once the marriage is over. Worse than that, if a business or the economy is growing or contracting quickly, one party may think he or she will do better in the property distribution by waiting.
In such cases, it has been a conflict as to which date the courts should use to date the value of marital property: the date of dissolution or the date of the trial on the property issues? Recently, the Illinois Supreme Court held in In re Marriage of Mathis that property value on the date of the grounds of the trial.
In Mathis, the husband filed for divorce in November 2000; four months later, the judgment of dissolution was entered. After many long delays, the trial court set an ultimate date for the marital property of December 31, 2010. Because of the husband's motion, the court certified a question for interlocutory appeal: in bifurcated divorce cases in which there are a "lengthy delay" between the dissolution trial and the ancillary issues trial, what date governs valuation? The Appellate Couty held that the date of the trial for the ancillary issues governs.
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