Estate Planning Blog Digest

Moving elderly parents into your home can bring daunting challenges and unexpected closeness. Over the past 20 years, parents living with their adult children has become increasingly common.

The muscles and joints are not the only parts of the body to be worn down by physical work. The brain and heart suffer too. A new study from the University of Copenhagen shows that people doing hard physical work have a 55% higher risk of developing dementia than those doing sedentary work. The figures have been adjusted for lifestyle factors and lifetime, among other things.

The heirs of Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Lee Kun-hee, who died Sunday, could face billions of dollars in inheritance taxes. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll have to cede control over the group by selling shares.

Steve Bing — who inherited $600 million from his real estate developer grandfather at the age of 18 — only had about $300,000 left to his name at his death, leaving him relatively broke.

It’s hard to plan for next week, let alone the future, when our environment, the advice from the experts and indeed the outbreak itself, seems to change on a daily basis.

Estate planning generally focuses primarily on lifetime protection and post-death distribution of assets. Special needs planning focuses primarily on the individual beneficiary’s lifestyle and care needs.

We are now in a global pandemic in which many family caregivers will likely experience the same kind of shock, uncertainty and fear that I did. We worry that COVID-19 may sicken our loved ones or as caregivers that we may somehow bring the virus into our homes. We also fear that we might fall ill and leave our care recipients in need.

Medicare beneficiaries would get a reprieve on higher Part B costs next year in the coronavirus relief package proposed by Republicans in the Senate on Monday.

Most people become eligible for Medicare during the months around their 65th birthday. If you don’t sign up for Medicare during this initial enrollment period, you could be charged a late enrollment penalty, for as long as you have Medicare.

Immediate annuities (also known as payout or income annuities) require you to pay to an insurance company. The insurer will send you a stream of payments, starting right away.