When you are working and planning for your active retirement years it can be a lot of fun to envision the future. You will finally have the spare time to do all of the things that you always wanted to do. The key is to plan ahead intelligently so that you have the financial resources to do so.

This is why it is wise to develop a relationship with a retirement planning attorney at a relatively young age. The longer you have to achieve your goals the more likely it is that they will come to fruition. When you have a professionally formulated road map to follow there is little doubt that your visions will become a reality if you diligently stick to the plan.

This having been stated, comprehensive planning should include all of the eventualities of aging. If you take a close look at the statistics and apply some simple common sense to the equation, there may come a time that follows your active retirement years when you are not fully capable of tending to your own personal needs. Statistics that have been provided to us by the United States Department of Health and Human Services indicate that some 70% of individuals who reach the age of 65 will someday require some form of long-term care. This is a pretty profound number, and if you want to be prepared it is wise to plan ahead.

There are many different nursing homes and assisted living facilities out there and some have better reputations than others. It is important to do your research and identify the facility that serves your needs. Asking friends, family members, and business associates for referrals is one way to garner helpful information. Another is to do research on the Internet, and there is a Nursing Home Compare portal on the Medicare.gov site that is very useful to this end.

Another thing to consider would be the costs associated with long-term care, which can routinely exceed $200,000 for an average stay in a nursing home. To explore your options with regard to addressing these costs, simply arrange for a consultation with an estate planning attorney.

Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Elder law attorneys are tightly focused on all of the concerns that senior citizens have, and many of those who are reaching an advanced age have concerns about ongoing income. When you think about governmental programs that provide income for senior citizens Social Security is going to come to mind first.

Full retirement age as it applies to Social Security varies depending on the year during which you were born. For people born between 1943 and 1954, full retirement age is 66. You do have the option of taking an early retirement when you are as young as 62, but your benefit will be reduced. Conversely, you can delay retirement and earn delayed retirement credits that increase your benefit by 8% per year that you delay retirement up until the age of 70.

The amount of your Social Security benefit is calculated based on how much money you earned throughout your working career. There is a minimum requirement, and if this requirement has not been met you are not eligible for Social Security. However, people who reach the age of 65 who are in this position may qualify for Supplemental Security Income or SSI.

SSI is potentially available to the disabled and blind people as well as those who are 65 years of age and up. As of this writing the maximum monthly SSI benefit that one can receive as a single individual is $674. It should be noted that this is on the federal level; there are states that will supplement this federal SSI benefit with an additional boost.

When you’re planning for the future it is important to be fully aware of all of the potential benefits that are out there. The average layperson is probably not going to have taken the time to research all matters relevant to senior citizens. For this reason, it is always going to be a wise idea to consult with an  elder law attorney so that you have a plan in place that addresses all the eventualities of aging.

Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

The field of elder law involves all of the matters that are of interest to senior citizens, and one of the issues that is getting a lot of attention these days is that of elder financial abuse. This is a subject that is difficult to get a handle on because of the fact that a lot of the cases of elder abuse go unreported. According to the National Council On Aging only around 17% of cases of elder financial abuse are brought to the attention of the authorities.

For this reason statistics surrounding the matter are going to be educated estimates, and to that end the MetLife Mature Market Institute recently conducted a study in conjunction with the National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (NCPEA) and researchers from Virginia Tech and the University of Kentucky. The formal title of the study is The MetLife Study of Elder Financial Abuse: Crimes of Occasion, Desperation, and Predation Against America’s Elders.

The reason why so many cases of elder abuse are unreported is because the victims often times know the perpetrator because elder financial abuse is commonly perpetrated by family members and others who are close to the senior being abused. The MetLife study used published scholarly papers and a news feed from the U.S. Administration on Aging’s National Center on Elder Abuse to compile their statistics.

Their study indicates that 34% of the cases of elder financial abuse that they were able to identify were perpetrated by family members, friends, and people in the neighborhood. Other studies suggest that this number is much, much higher. These people don’t want to incriminate their family members and “friends” so they keep quiet about the victimization.

To learn more about this very serious problem and how you may be able to take legal steps to protect yourself, take a moment to arrange for a consultation with an elder law attorney.

Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

We probe into the subject of estate planning frequently here, but estate planning is just one of the things you must consider when you are planning for the future. There are some elder law issues that must be addressed as well if you want to be comprehensively prepared for all of the eventualities of aging. We live during interesting times when we know more than we ever have in the past about healthy lifestyle choices. This coupled with the steady advances in medical technology has resulted in increased longevity. And though it is great to live a long and robust life, there are some challenges that our elders face at times.

One of these that many people will have to address is the high cost of long-term care. Contrary to what many people believe, Social Security does not cover long-term care so you must keep this in mind when you are planning for the future. At any given time one out of every four individuals who have reached the age of 85 are residing in a nursing home, and the average length of stay is about two and a half years. In 2010 the national average cost for a yearlong residence in a nursing home in the United States was $83,500 so we are talking about a very significant expense.

In addition to long-term care costs the possibility of dementia should be taken into consideration. Alzheimer’s disease strikes approximately 40% of those who reach the age of 85, and there are other causes of dementia as well so upwards of half of the oldest old suffer from dementia. Dementia can rob its victims of the ability to make sound medical, personal, and financial decisions. To avoid a court-ordered guardianship in such a case legal preparations must be made in advance, and this is something that you would want to discuss the next time you meet with your estate planning attorney.

Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Perhaps the most profound story in the elder law community at the present time is the high and rising cost of long-term care. As of the end of 2010 the national average cost for a year in a private room in a nursing home was close to $85,000, and the annual fee for residence in an assisted living community was in the neighborhood of $40,000.

There are those who hear about these costs and let the information go in one ear and out the other because they’re under the impression that Medicare will cover all their health care needs once they reach the age of 65. The truth is that Medicare does not cover long-term care costs, so it is something that you need to plan for on your own.

Though Medicare does not cover these expenses Medicaid will pay for long-term care if you qualify, but to do so you must have limited financial resources. For this reason many people engage in the practice of “spending down” in an effort to reduce their assets to qualify for Medicaid.

There is however a five-year Medicaid “look back” period. Any gifts that you have given within five years of applying for Medicaid will result in a penalty that precludes you from receiving benefits for a period of time that is calculated based on the value of the gift or gifts and the average cost of long-term care in your state of residence.

So, in the final analysis Medicaid is an option for those who would find it difficult to impossible to pay for long-term care costs out-of-pocket. However, it is important to plan well in advance and the best way to devise a cogent strategy would be to consult with an experienced elder law attorney who has a thorough understanding of the Medicaid system.

Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

There are those who think that they do not need to have an estate plan in place just yet because they don’t have significant financial resources to pass on to their loved ones and don’t have a spouse or children depending on them. And it is certainly true that estate planning becomes more and more essential as you assume more responsibilities for the welfare of others. However, as soon as you become responsible for your own affairs it is a good idea to consider visiting an estate planning attorney to talk about a long-term plan, which can include a retirement plan as well as an end-of-life strategy.

One of the things that is easy to overlook when you consider estate planning and elder law topics is the issue of incapacity. If you were to become incapacitated and unable to make health care decisions for yourself in real-time, who would make these decisions for you? The government has laws in place that dictate the answer to this question but these laws may or may not actually be resonant with your wishes. Fortunately you have the power to take control of the matter and take it out of the hands of the government by executing documents called advance health care directives.

The two advance health care directives that are commonly used are the living will and the durable medical power of attorney which is also called a health care reprenstative document. With a living will you state your preferences with regard to what types of medical procedures you would accept and those that you would prefer to deny in the event of your incapacitation. With a durable medical power of attorney you name an attorney-in-fact who is empowered to make medical decisions in your behalf should you become unable to make them for yourself.

Advanced directives are an essential part of every modern estate plan, and if you do not have yours in place, now would be a good time to arrange an appointment with your estate planning attorney to make sure that you have all your bases covered.

Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

The rising costs of long-term care are relevant to anyone who is planning for the future, but just how likely is it that you will ever need this kind of care?

In addition, once you reach the age of 65 there’s a 50-50 chance that you will live beyond the age of 85. When both a husband and wife reach the age of 65 is as likely as not that one of them will live beyond the age of 92. At any given time one in four senior citizens age 85 and over are residing in nursing homes, and the average stay is about 2 1/2 years.

So when you look at these numbers the reality is that there’s a very good possibility that you will someday require long-term care. According to a MetLife Mature Market Institute survey, the average cost of residing in an assisted living community in the United States in 2010 rose by 5.2% to $39,500 per year. The cost of a private room in a nursing home rose 4.6% to $83,500 annually.  The average in Connecticut is #120,000.

Depending on your resources expenses such as these can have a serious impact on your legacy goals and your overall financial footing during the latter stages of your life. Medicare does not cover long-term care, but many seniors can qualify for Medicaid which does pick up these costs.

There are limits to the assets that you can retain, but you may be surprised when you find out just how much you can keep while still qualifying for Medicaid. The healthy spouse is entitled to his or her half of the couple’s assets up to $109,000, and aside from that the healthy spouse’s home, car, and personal possessions are not considered to be “countable” assets.

Utilizing Medicaid as part of your end-of-life planning can provide a solution, but it is something that involves a number of legal intricacies and is best engaged in with the assistance of an experienced estate planning attorney.

Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Retirement planning can be challenging because there are many variables involved that are really out of the control of the individual. We simply cannot predict with certainty how the economy is going to go, and many people experienced retirement planning setbacks during the financial meltdown came to a head in 2008. But one thing that would seem as though it is a constant for all Americans when they reach retirement age is Social Security.

Of course we have to move forward with our retirement planning efforts with the full expectation of receiving Social Security and Medicare benefits but there is cause for concern, and it may be unwise to keep your head in the sand. Many people in Washington appear to be extremely intent on slashing budgets to reduce the deficit and Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid are very costly programs. Plus, when you add in the astounding statistic that 10,000 people are applying for Social Security every day and that this is expected to continue for the next 20 years the strain on the system can only get worse before it gets better.

We we’ll see how Social Security funding holds up over the years, but under the Social Security regulations as they stand today full retirement age is between 66 and 67 for people who were born in 1943 and later. However, if you want to make the most of your Social Security benefits you have the option of delaying your retirement.

Each year that you work beyond your full retirement age you earn delayed retirement credits that increase the amount of your benefit when you do in fact retire. For people born in 1943 and after the amount of increase is 8% per year for every year that you work beyond your full retirement age. In addition, Social Security benefits are calculated based on your 35 highest earning years. So if you were to work three years beyond your full retirement age those years could supplant three years early in your career when you were making less money and your benefit would rise as a result.

Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

When you have your finger on the pulse of the elder law issues of the day, one of things that really gets your attention is the rising cost of long-term care. According to the annual MetLife Mature Market Institute survey for 2010, the average cost for a year in a private room in a nursing home exceeded $120,000, and a year living in an assisted-living community would run you over $40,000.

Of course there are those who say “this will never happen to me,” but the statistics tell a different tale. According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services seven out of every 10 senior citizens will someday need some kind of long-term care, and around 40% will reside in a nursing home at some point. It should be noted that the average nursing home stay is between two and three years. When you look at the costs as stated in the above paragraph and do the math this can be a considerable expense to address late in your life.

The following are some of the ways that people typically address long-term care costs in the United States.

Medicaid

Medicare does not cover long-term care, but Medicaid does if you can meet the eligibility requirements. While Medicaid is theoretically intended to provide for “the poor” it is possible to qualify for Medicaid for the purposes of long-term care assistance while still retaining ownership of much of your personal property, including your home.

Direct Payment

Part of intelligent long-term planning is to identify expenses that you may face late in your life, making preparations over a period of decades in some cases to make sure that you have the resources to meet your financial responsibilities. So one way to address long-term care expenses is to simply write out a check drawn on funds you put aside for just this purpose.

Long-Term Care Insurance

You can also address long-term care costs by obtaining long-term care insurance coverage. The downside is that this type of insurance is expensive. But if you plan ahead and purchase the insurance before the premiums get too high due to your age it can be a viable option.

Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

It is true that most people who engage the services of an estate planning attorney have accumulated significant assets over the course of their lives. This leads some pundits to proceed from the standpoint that everyone who is planning an estate has unlimited resources and that their estates will not be impacted in any appreciable manner by latter life expenses. But the fact is that there is a difference between having formidable resources and endless resources, so most people are going to have to plan very carefully to be able to enjoy the fruits of their of their success to the fullest during the latter portions of their lives.

With this in mind we would like to underscore the connection between the three phases of latter life planning. Your active retirement is the first step, and we are all aware of the financial planning that is necessary to create the freedom that you need to make the most of this period in your life. But as you are planning for your retirement there are other things to keep in mind beside funding the good times. If you have specific legacy goals it is likely that they’re going to impact your budget, and you also must prepare for medical contingencies that may or may not emerge.

The point is that retirement planning, planning for the years during which you may need long-term care, and planning your estate are all intimately connected. This is why most estate planning attorneys would describe themselves in the broader field of elder law that encompasses all of the eventualities of aging. Those who want to be fully prepared will keep this in mind and work toward implementation of a comprehensive, holistic plan that allows for the flexibility that is needed to intelligently react as life’s unpredictable twists and turns present themselves.

Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.