There are some things that are out of your control when it comes to your financial health. It is possible that your income can fluctuate due to no fault of your own, and of course there are market factors that come into play.

But at the same time, there are some things that are well within your control and you should take advantage of them to the utmost if you want to be financially secure and eventually leave a robust legacy.

Some of these are rather obvious such as creating a cogent long-term financial plan and sticking to it over the long haul. But another thing to consider would be the extent to which you have control over your future medical expenses.

It is not your doctor’s responsibility to keep you healthy. Yes, if you fall ill your physician will do everything possible to help you. However, chronic illnesses are preventable for the most part, and the way that you live your life is going to have a lot to do with the health care expenses that you may face as a senior citizen.

Obesity, smoking, lack of exercise, and a poor diet are all contributors to chronic diseases, and these diseases are responsible for seven out of every 10 deaths and a very large portion of the health care expenditures of Americans. Clearly, you have some control and you would do well to exercise it intelligently.

If you make wise lifestyle decisions and stick to a cogent financial plan you should be able to step into different phases of life comfortably. Should you be interested in mapping out a comprehensive strategy for aging, don’t hesitate to pick up the phone to arrange for a consultation with a good Hartford retirement planning attorney.

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

When you pass away your loved ones will be forced to deal with the emotional grief that will inevitably accompany your passing. Given the circumstances they certainly will be in no mood for hassles and red tape. Unfortunately, if you use a last will as your primary vehicle of asset transfer there may be some delays and they can be quite lengthy in some cases.

Probate is the process of estate administration, and it is conducted under the auspices of the probate court. Your will is going to be examined by the court, and if anyone wanted to contest it they would come forward during probate. Clearly, if this takes place a lengthy legal struggle could ensue, and no one is going to receive inheritances until everything has been sorted out and the estate has been closed.

Even in simpler cases where there are no disagreements probate can be time-consuming. Creditors and claimants have an opportunity to seek satisfaction during the probate process, and the executor is going to have to inventory the assets and prepare them for distribution. This can include things like appraisals and liquidation of real and personal property. As you might imagine all this can take a good bit of time.

A more streamlined way of distributing assets would be to create a revocable living trust while you are still alive. And, this is just one of multiple different probate avoidance options that exist.

The best way to arrange for the transfer of your assets is going to vary on a case-by-case basis. To be sure that you are proceeding in the optimal manner, the intelligent course of action is to sit down and discuss your vision for the future with a licensed and experienced Hartford estate planning lawyer.

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

When you are planning your estate you do indeed need to prepare your assets for eventual transfer to your loved ones after your death. And, you need to to do it without losing anything in the process, and this is something that is easier said than done in many cases.

This is why it is important to retain the services of an experienced estate planning attorney who understands the tactics that can be employed to preserve your wealth and enable your legacy to be passed to your heirs intact for the most part.

However, if you want to be comprehensively prepared there are some additional things to consider. One of these would be the preferred handling of your body after your death. If you don’t let your family members know your preferences a couple of challenges present themselves.

For one, they will be forced to run around trying to make final arrangements at a time when they will be grieving and in no mood for it. And there are also sensitive details to be addressed, and family members can sometimes disagree. This can make a very difficult and emotional situation that much worse for all involved.

So, you may want to be proactive and state your wishes in this regard when you are drawing up your estate planning documents.

Simon Cowell, the sharp-tongued Brit who was a judge on the popular American Idol television program, has recently stated his intentions and they are interesting indeed. He wants his body to be cryonically frozen in the hope that someday the technology will exist to bring him back to life.

When he discusses this objective with his estate planning attorney, there will surely be a lot to take into consideration. And one wonders if his ability to evaluate musical talent will be as profitable to him in 2323 as it is at present, but…time will tell.

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

Why should you retain the services of an estate planning attorney? There are multiple different valid answers to this question, but perhaps the most comprehensive one is the simple fact that an estate planning lawyer will make sure that you are comprehensively prepared and that nothing is left undone.

More specifically, there are many different approaches that you can take with regard to transferring assets, and the optimal course of action is going to be different from one family to the next. Your estate planning attorney will gain an understanding of your wishes, evaluate your assets, and craft a plan that is specifically devised for you and your family.

Though the possibilities are diverse, there are some musts when it comes to estate planning. Of course preparing assets for transfer is at the top of the list and everyone is aware of this. There are however many ways to go about it and this is where the expertise of your estate planning lawyer comes in.

In addition to financial matters there are some other things to take into consideration. One of these is the creation of a living will. With this document you state your preferences regarding medical procedures. Would you want to be kept alive via the use of feeding tubes or some other type of artificial life support if you were in a terminal condition? This is a sensitive question, and it is not something that should be left in the hands of anyone other than the individual involved. Since people who are in this situation generally cannot communicate in real-time, you can put your choices in writing through the execution of a living will.

The last estate plan component that we would like to highlight here involves making preparations for possible incapacity. It is important to execute durable powers of attorney naming representatives of your own choosing who would make medical and financial decisions for you should you become unable to make them for yourself. If you fail to do this interested parties could petition the court to appoint a guardian to act in your behalf and as a result you could spend the final years of your life as a ward of the state. Clearly, it is best to choose your own representatives in a legally binding manner to avoid this eventuality.

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

Estate planning does indeed involve making preparations for the distribution of your material assets to your loved ones after you pass away. But when you look at the broader picture there is more to it than that. Of course it is very possible that there will be a period of time preceding your death when you’re not in the best of health and possibly incapable of making your own medical, financial, and personal decisions. If you want to be comprehensively prepared you need to plan for this eventuality, and if you are proactive about it you will gain a great deal of peace of mind.

The majority of people are going to need long-term care at some point in time, and with this in mind you may want to explore the specific facility that you would prefer to stay in if it did become necessary. There are a wide range of assisted-living facilities that offer different amenities at varying price points. If you were to explore your options in advance and identify the specific facility that you would prefer to reside in you are insuring your own comfort while taking this sensitive decision out of the hands of your loved ones.

The funeral is something you may also want to consider seriously. There are a lot of choices to be made, including whether you want to be buried or cremated. If you want to be buried a casket must be selected, and a burial plot must be identified and purchased. The exact nature of the memorial service, if there is in fact going to be one, is another matter to address. You can make these decisions in advance while you’re still alive and if you so choose you can even make arrangements with a funeral home of your choice.

By being proactive in this manner you maintain control of your own affairs “through the finish line,” as it were, and you circumvent any possible disagreements between family members while making things easier on them during a difficult time.

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

Many people do not think about estate planning until they start to get a bit older with retirement starting to appear over the horizon. Although it is advisable to have an estate plan in place as soon as you become a responsible adult, better late than never, as they say. But when you do start to think about the future there is more to consider than simply sitting down and writing out a will, which is what many people think estate planning is all about.

A will is only one of the ways that you can transfer assets to your loved ones after you pass away, and it is not always the best way. When you utilize a will as your primary vehicle of asset transfer your estate must pass through the process of probate. Probate does provide certain protections, but on the other hand it can be expensive, time-consuming, and it is public. Many people would prefer to keep their final affairs private and do what is necessary to prevent will challenges.

Estate planning attorneys have a number of different tools at their disposal that they can use to transfer assets in the most efficient way possible. The correct combination of these vehicles of transfer vary depending on the nature of the assets involved and the specificity of your wishes. This is why it’s so important to retain an estate planning attorney when you’re planning your estate. He or she will listen as you explain exactly what you want to accomplish with your legacy and then recommend the appropriate course of action.

There are many different areas of specialty within the law, and it takes a lot of time and acquired experience to become an estate planning expert. Passing along your assets to your loved ones is an extremely important matter, and it is something that should only be entrusted to a licensed, focused, and dedicated legal professional.

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

It is really surprising when you see the statistics regarding how prepared people are for the future. There was a Harris interactive survey conducted back in 2009 that shed some light on the subject.  Only 35% of the people that they communicated with had executed a last will, and a paltry 29% had signed a living will. This is really unacceptable because you are putting your family at risk when you go through life without an estate plan.

The survey indicated that people are often deterred from engaging in estate planning because they are under the impression that it is only important for people with extraordinary wealth. Many of the respondents also mentioned the fact that they were reluctant to incur legal expenses and this was one of the reasons why they had failed to executed any estate planning documents.

In reality, estate planning is important for people of all income brackets. You could say that it is even more important for people who don’t have extraordinary means to make sure that their loved ones will have some resources to draw from should the unthinkable take place. One of the aspects of estate planning that would be relevant in this regard is income replacement. Having an income replacement vehicle in place such as adequate life insurance coverage is key when you have people depending on your income.

As for legal expenses, the relatively modest cost of representation is going to far outweigh the costs of a lack of preparation. There are sources of asset erosion out there and your estate planning attorney will evaluate your assets and do what is necessary to keep them intact as you are passing them on to your loved ones.

Everyone should have at least a basic estate plan in place. If you are currently unprepared, take action for the benefit of those that you love and arrange for a consultation with an experienced estate planning attorney.

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

People who are planning for retirement have to have an understanding of their projected income and expenses, so the future of programs for seniors like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are very relevant. Unless you’ve been incommunicado for the last several months you are aware of the fact that the federal budget is a matter of concern on Capitol Hill. When you look at the statistics these programs account for over a third of the annual expenditures, and as a result there are lawmakers calling for cuts in these programs.

These calls for fiscal responsibility are admirable, but there are certainly questions that many of those who would be affected by the cuts may ask. Sometimes things that are made to seem extremely complex can be simplified. Let’s say you paid into Social Security and Medicare for 40 years without receiving anything at all in return for your contributions. On the day that you receive your first Social Security check, why would this be an instance of deficit spending? This is a simple question that should perhaps be the starting point of the debate about cuts in these programs.

Yes it is true that baby boomers are expanding the Social Security roles and will be doing so for some time, but these massive numbers of Americans have been paying into the program for decades while receiving nothing in return. And, huge numbers of people pass away before they ever see a dime from Social Security or become qualified for Medicare benefits.

The Kaiser Family Foundation recently conducted a study in an effort to get a feel for public opinion with regard to spending cuts. 62% of Americans polled stated that they did not want to see any cuts to Social Security at all. 57% are against Medicare cuts, and half the respondents said they didn’t want to see any reductions in Medicaid spending.

There may well be a deficit problem in the United States, but the majority of the American people seem to feel as though it is a problem that should not be addressed through any reductions in these programs that our seniors have paid into all of their lives.

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

The debate surrounding the legitimacy of the estate tax is rather one sided from a logical perspective. Those who are against it correctly assert that it is an exercise in double taxation. They also suggest that the rate, which has variably come in at between 35% and 55% during recent years, is extreme.

The argument in favor of the tax would appear to be far less substantive to some. It seems to revolve around the idea that we should “tax the rich.” Period. So there are those who are under the impression that they do not have to concern themselves with the estate tax because it is only levied on people of wealth. Many would question the fairness of this ideology, but the reality is that you don’t have to be extraordinarily wealthy to be exposed to the estate tax.

Right now the estate tax exclusion is $5 million, so only the portion of an estate that exceeds this amount is subject to the estate tax. But when the present tax relief act expires in 2013 this exclusion will go down to $1 million. There are over 8 million families in the United States that have a net worth that exceeds $1 million, so this will impact a lot of people. If you and your spouse worked hard all your life, bought property at the right time, invested wisely, and took advantage of opportunities that presented themselves you may well have accumulated assets in excess of $1 million without ever considering yourself rich.

The point is to make sure that you are aware of the overall value of your estate and not assume that you’re not exposed to the estate tax because you’re not a billionaire. The estate tax exclusion is constantly changing, and though you may hear about how it doesn’t affect you unless you are rich you may want to pay close attention because one person’s definition of rich may differ from that of another.

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

There are those who question why they need the services of an estate planning attorney. The reality is that there are many different reasons why, and they extend beyond the transfer of assets to your loved ones after you pass away. There are other components to the modern estate plan to consider that comprehensively prepare you for all the eventualities of aging.

People are living longer than they ever have before and the oldest among us represent the fastest growing age group. Preparing for the realities that people typically face when they reach an advanced age is something that you want to consider in addition to simply preparing to pass along your legacy to your loved ones after you die.

The United States Department of Health and Human Services tells us that approximately 7 out of every 10 people who reach the age of 65 will someday need long-term care. According to the 2010 MetLife Mature Market Institute survey the average cost for a year in an assisted-living facility in the United States was just under $40,000; the same period of time residing in a private room in a nursing home cost $83,500 on average. People who reside in a nursing home typically spend around 2 1/2 years in the facility. At any given time, 25% of people age 85 and up are living in a nursing home.

When you do the math, there’s a very real statistical possibility that you will be faced with nursing home costs that exceed $200,000, and this is using the numbers as they stand right now. It should be noted that the above figures are expected to increase steadily over time.

There are strategies that can be implemented that can help you address these costs. Medicaid will pay for long-term care if you qualify. The laws are somewhat complex however, and there is a five-year “look back” period to consider.

Matters such as these underscore why it is so important to retain the services of an estate planning attorney. There is more to think about than how your assets will be distributed after you pass away, and the best way to devise a comprehensive plan is with the assistance of an experienced elder law professional.

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