Author Archives: Jay Butchko
How To Fly Under Medicaid’s Radar When Spending Down Your Assets
When estate planning lawyers ask new clients about their financial goals for retirement, the clients sometimes say that they want to be able to afford to live off of the interest from their savings. Some say that they want to have enough money saved to last them for 25 or 30 years past retirement. … Read More »
How To Make Your Family Respect Your Memorabilia Collection, Even If They Don’t Love It
Your collection of Dungeons and Dragons miniatures has been a source of enjoyment since you were a child. To people in the know, it is an impressive collection by objective measures. Some of your friends share your enthusiasm for your collection, but your family does not. Welcome to the world of memorabilia collecting, where… Read More »
Life On The Medicaid Personal Needs Allowance
When it comes to the generosity of publicly funded programs, Floridians usually get the short end of the stick. Companies and government entities penalize people for being poor in so many ways that you would think they were competing to find the most clever way to do it. Florida is one of only 11… Read More »
Estate Planning Goals: Home Ownership For The Next Generation
If you have children, then sharing your prosperity with them in one or another way is probably one of your goals. Not wanting to spoil your adult children is an admirable goal, but if you have any money left in your own savings account, then you probably have not been spoiling them. Bill Gates… Read More »
The Caregiver Burnout-Proof Estate Plan
Estate planning lawyers advise clients to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Therefore, your estate plan has a built-in best-case scenario, in which you enjoy many years of good health living within the budget you can afford with your retirement income, as well as a worst-case scenario, in which your health… Read More »
If You Relocate For Retirement, Should You Sell Your Old House Or Keep It As An Investment Property?
Homeownership is an essential component of generational wealth, but how you use your house as a source of prosperity for yourself and your descendants varies from one family to another. The families that are so wealthy that they can afford to buy one or more real estate properties in each adult family member’s name… Read More »
What Are The Most Environmentally Sustainable Methods Of Disposition Of Remains?
The beginning of a new year can provide the incentive to write or update your will, and so can your marriage, the birth of a child or grandchild, or the acquisition of a valuable asset through purchase or inheritance. Even if you are single and broke, if you need a reason to write a… Read More »
Reality Check: Your Children Need Your Money Now, But So Do You
“Who cares? I’ll be dead” is a reasonable response to some questions about estate planning. It would be nice if your children could inherit some money from you after you die, but you care a lot more about enjoying your time with them while you are alive. It is naïve to think that money… Read More »
The Cash Gift That Can Come Back To Haunt Your Family Decades Later
What is the worst thing that can happen to a family when a recently deceased relative’s estate is going through probate? Is it a long-lost sibling, the product of a long-ago romantic relationship that Dad never told anyone about? Such events are rare, even though estate research firms sometimes try to tell people who… Read More »
Investing For Retirement Does Not Have To Be Boring
Some people count the days until retirement and then retire as soon as they are eligible, relishing their withdrawal from the rat race and enjoying the sweet days of idleness. You might even know someone who kept his promise to do virtually nothing after he retired. Idleness is not for everyone, though. You are… Read More »
