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.

Estate planning is one important aspect of the area of elder law, and the fact is that there are many elder law issues emerging at this time due to the explosion of the senior population. The mainstream media has been reporting that there are some 10,000 new applicants for Social Security each day due to the fact that the “baby boomers” are reaching their sixties. Senior citizens already make up the largest age demographic in the United States, and those who are at least 85 years old are the most rapidly growing portion of the senior population.

With this in mind we would like to shine a light on the issue of elder financial abuse. This is a big problem in our society today, and though there are some statistics out there they don’t tell the full story because it is estimated that perhaps one out of every 25 instances of elder financial abuse are reported to authorities.

Why is this? Firstly, there are seniors who are ashamed of the fact that they have been taken, and secondly, there are those who don’t realize that they have been bilked or that the abuse is ongoing. Thirdly, many cases of elder financial abuse go unreported because the victims are trying to protect family members, who are widely considered to be the most common perpetrators of elder financial abuse.

Aside from the cases when elders are financially abused by family members, caregivers, “advisers,” and people otherwise known to them, senior citizens are also frequent targets of all sorts of scammers and con artists. Identity theft is ubiquitous across all segments of society, and seniors frequently have great credit and own their own homes outright, which makes them very appealing to identity thieves.

Clearly, elder financial abuse is a very real danger, it is something to be acutely beware of, and it is a topic that you may want to discuss with your estate planning attorney the next time you schedule an appointment to review your estate plan.

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

When you are preparing for the latter stages of your life it can be challenging because there are so many variables involved. How you position your assets is going to vary depending on your liquidity needs and other factors. Since you can’t peer into the future all you can really do is keep yourself informed, know your options, make intelligent projections, and act accordingly.

One of the things that you need to keep your eye on is the rising cost of long term care. The MetLife market research statistics for 2010 told a profound tale that is required reading for those who are making plans for their twilight years. The national average cost for a year in an assisted living community rose by 5.2% to $39,516. A year in a private room in a nursing home would run you $83,585 on average, and this is a 4.6% increase over 2009 numbers. Of course as you might imagine the costs in Connecticut are even higher than the national averages.

These costs are attention getting and the upward trending is expected to continue, but the good news is that there is help available for some veterans. The VA offers something called the Veterans Aid & Attendance Pension, and many people who are eligible for this benefit are not aware of it. Qualified single veterans who need help meeting their day to day needs can receive up to $1,632 per month to help with these assisted living costs; married couples may be eligible to receive $1,949 a month; and surviving spouse benefits can reach $1,055 each month.

Anyone who has served at least 90 days on active duty with even just one of them taking place during a time of war meets the length of service requirement. If you think that you may qualify, the best course of action would be to contact the United States Veterans Benefits Administration.

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

Selecting a long term care facility can be an arduous task. We all want the best for our loved ones, and finding the nursing home or assisted living facility that meets your family’s needs is paramount. Fortunately there are resources out there that make this process much easier.

For instance Medicare.gov offers state by state information on long term care facilities. You can enter the state of Connecticut and you will find many facilities listed. You will also find that each facility is measured under a star rating system. The parameters include Overall Rating; Health Inspections; Nursing Home Staffing; Quality Measures; Program Participation (i.e., Medicare, Medicaid); Number of Certified Beds; and Type of Ownership (i.e., non-profit, for profit, church related). The rating system ranges from “Much Above Average” to “Much Below Average”.

Another resource is ucomaparehealthcare.com. This site allows the user to enter the desired state and select from multiple cities. Some of the criteria listed about each facility are how many residents live in the nursing home; how many beds exist in the facility; and the percent occupancy rate in the nursing home.

Although many resources are available for each state, you will still need to do your own research into the facility. When you are ready to start the process of choosing the facility that best suits your needs, you can use the Internet and websites such as the ones listed above to compile a list of options. Next you will want to call the facilities and ask questions. Having a list of questions ready when you make the calls will help you to stay on track.

Next, arrange a visit to the facilities that you are interested in. Meet the staff and observe the residents. Do they seem happy and content?

If you do your the research, engage in some legwork and employ a bit of patience you should be able to ascertain which of the many choices is best for your family.

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

In estate planning circles people sometimes throw around terminology without explaining it thoroughly because they are so used to these terms they become second nature. Yet, the layman may or may not know what is being referred to, so we endeavor to explain some of the core terms that are commonly utilized in the parlance of estate planning from time to time. With that in mind let’s take a look at the durable power of attorney and why it is relevant to estate planning.

The fact that the population is rapidly aging is making incapacity planning all the more important. People who are at least 85 years old are the fastest growing segment of the society, and around half of people who reach this age suffer from dementia. Dementia can prevent people from making sound personal and financial decisions.

A power of attorney is a legal instrument that is used to empower someone to act in your behalf legally. There is the general power of attorney that gives your appointed attorney-in-fact sweeping authority, but there is also a limited power of attorney. For example, if you were engaged in an out-of-state real estate transaction you could execute a power of attorney that enabled your agent to sign the paperwork in your behalf for just that single purpose.

Originally a general or limited power of attorney would no longer be recognized if you became incapacitated. A durable general or limited power of attorney does remain in effect in the event of your incapacity. You can execute a durable medical power of attorney appointing someone to make health care decisions in your behalf, and a durable financial power of attorney empowering an attorney-in-fact to make financial decisions.

If you were to become incapacitated without having executed durable powers of attorney, the court may appoint a conservator to manage your affairs. Most people would prefer to make this choice themselves, and this is why these documents have become staples of the modern incapacity plan.

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

Those who work in the field of estate planning and elder law must address all of the eventualities of aging. Preparing for these matters involves confronting the reality of death, and in many cases death is preceded by a period of full or partial inactivity and ill health. So it can be natural to consider aging to be synonymous with physical limitations, and it is true that you don’t see any senior citizens lining up in the starting blocks at the Olympic sprints. However, age alone does not prevent an individual from extraordinary physical accomplishments.

We will be passing some inspirational stories along to demonstrate the fact that opportunities for personal growth and achievement exist throughout your elder years. When you are planning your estate you are making sure that your affairs are in order so that your assets can be distributed according to your wishes when you die; but you are not planning to die. There is plenty of living to do, and this is the attitude that Bill Burke of Costa Mesa, California took with him when he started off toward the top of Mount Everest in 2009 when he was 67-years-old.

It was not the first time that Burke had attempted to reach the summit. In 2007 he made it to within 100 yards before turning back. He tried again in 2008 but had to be airlifted off the mountain due to a bout with pulmonary edema.

But he didn’t quit. He was not one to accept the notion that his age made it impossible for him to accomplish his objective. He went back to the mountain in 2009 and became the oldest American to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

You may or may not have goals this lofty, but when you are planning your estate and preparing for your elder years remember people like Bill Burke and don’t hesitate to pursue your dreams.

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

When you are engaged in the process of estate planning the objective is to prepare your assets for distribution after your death. Of course, when you are considering these details you can’t help but think about the last stages of your life as well. This is natural on a personal level, but the matters of estate planning and end-of-life planning are inextricably intertwined on a financial level too. Unless you are in the highest reaches of the upper financial stratosphere how you spend those last years can have a noticeable impact on your legacy.

The fact is that about 60% of senor citizens will need long term care at some point in their lives, with the average length of stay being about two-and-a-half years. As people continue to live longer the odds that you will be unable to take care of all of your day-to-day needs at some point are invariably going to increase. Plus, the costs are getting higher all the time, and this is big news in the elder law community.

In the United States as a whole the average cost of a year in an assisted living facility rose 5.2% to $39,516 in 2010 over 2009 numbers. A year spent in a private room in a nursing home in 2010 would cost you $83,585 on average; in Connecticut that average cost exceeded $137,000. The national annual average represented a 4.6% increase in 2010.

These costs are high, and they are clearly trending upward. One way to be prepared for them is to purchase long term care insurance. The premiums can be rather expensive, but when you do the math this insurance can save you a great deal of money under certain circumstances. The younger you are when you obtain the insurance the less expensive it will be, and you may not be able to find coverage if you wait too long. It is a good idea to do your research, get some quotes, work the numbers, and give the matter some serious consideration.

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

Comprehensive, holistic estate planning takes every possibility into account and this includes addressing the realities of aging in addition to the distribution of assets after death. The fact is that senior citizens are the most rapidly growing segment of American society, and people are indeed living longer than ever before. It is not the most pleasant thought in the world, but the fact is that many of us go through a period of incapacity before we pass away, and it is important to address this fact of life when you are planning your estate.

This incapacity can be physical of course, but it can also be mental and it is not uncommon for some seniors to lose the ability to make sound personal and financial decisions. Should this become the case, the court can be petitioned to appoint a guardian and conservator. The guardian would be charged with the responsibility of making personal decisions for the incapacitated individual, who is known as the ward. These would include medical decisions along with things like where they live and what type of social and recreational activities that may engage in.

The conservator is also appointed by the court, and this would be an individual or entity who manages the property and other financial assets of the incapacitated person. The conservator can invest funds and distribute assets used for the care and support of the protected person. The individual who is to be protected or any other interested party can petition the court to appoint a conservator.

If you don’t feel comfortable with having the court step in and make decisions about who will handle your affairs you can make plans to avoid the appointment of a guardian and conservator. If you include a durable medical power of attorney and a financial power of attorney in your estate plan, the people that you choose will make decisions in your behalf in the event of your incapacitation instead of a person or entity appointed by the court.

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