The economic downturn that started in 2007 had some wide-ranging impact as we all know. However, one of the things that you may not think about is the effect that this debacle had on the inheritances that baby boomers will be receiving.

From June of 2006 to June of 2010 the amounts of the inheritances that were earmarked for members of the baby boomer generation went down by 13% according to research that has been conducted by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

Even people who are relatively comfortable have been damaged by the altered economic playing field. Merrill Lynch conducted a survey that found that 41% of people with $250,000 or more in assets said that preserving inheritances was a priority for them. This figure was 54% in 2009.

Aside from the economic downturn there is another reason why baby boomers should be expecting lower inheritances. Due to advances in medical science and other factors people are living longer lives. According to the United States Census Bureau the group comprised of people 85 years old and older is growing the fastest.

Once an individual reaches the age of 65 there is a statistical likelihood that he or she will live to the age of 80. A 65-year-old woman has a 53% chance of living to the age of 85.

Someone who is planning for retirement should take these statistics to heart. If you have always been confident that you will be inheriting a significant sum of money someday you may want to reevaluate given the statistical trends that we are seeing.

We are grateful you follow us and value your comments and input.  You Can Also Find Us Online: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn Thanks again.

Ryan M. Denman and Dennis D. Duffy

Duffy Law Office

Duffy Law Office is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Though you don’t want to rely on Social Security exclusively, to be realistic it is going to be a factor for almost everyone who is planning for retirement.

You have some serious decisions to make when it comes to your Social Security application. If you make the right ones given your situation and your goals you will be able to enjoy your retirement all the more.

Should you make the wrong ones you may find yourself living a diminished quality of life as a senior citizen.

The amount of your benefit can vary widely. Some people choose to retire early, applying for Social Security at the age of 62. This may sound like a good idea, but your monthly benefit will be significantly reduced as a result.

Another option would be to wait until you reach the age of full eligibility as it is defined by the Social Security Administration. For people born between 1943 and 1954 this age is 66.

If you retire early you are penalized if you earn money above a certain amount on a job. There is no such penalty if you wait until you reach full retirement age.

You may also want to consider earning delayed retirement credits. You do this by choosing not to apply for Social Security as soon as you become eligible for your full benefit.

You can increase your benefit by 8% for every year that you delay your application. However, it should be noted that this accrual of credits ceases once you celebrate your 70th birthday, so there is no incentive to delay your application beyond this point in time.

In the end the choice is yours, and there is something that could be said for all of these options. However, delaying your retirement is a way to maximize your Social Security income, and for many this is the preferred choice.

Duffy Law Office is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

If you are closing in on retirement, there are many important matters to handle to have complete peace of mind.  We find most people do not know what they do not know.  Retirement presents that exact problem.  Spending some time effort and energy planning will allow you to achieve your retirement goals.  Here is a list of 8 important matters to consider in preparation for retirement. Checklist.   Call us and schedule a “preretirement consultation” so we can show you how we can help with all 8 of these issues on the list.

We are grateful you follow us and value your comments and input.  You Can Also Find Us Online: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn   Thanks again.

Ryan M. Denman and Dennis D. Duffy

Duffy Law Office

Duffy Law Office is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

If you want to be prepared for retirement and have the ability to actually enjoy your free time as a senior citizen you must plan ahead intelligently and stick to the plan over an extended period of time.

There are those who like to say that other people who are in a better position have been “lucky.” In fact, you create your own luck and if you are fortunate enough to be traversing a consistent career path it is likely that you do have the ability to prepare yourself for the future.

One thing to take into consideration when you are evaluating your future expenses is the possibility of needing long-term care as a senior citizen. There is a 40% chance that someone who reaches the age of 65 will require nursing home care eventually. Others will spend time in an assisted living community.

Both of these types of facilities are very expensive. The average annual cost for a semi private room in a nursing home in 2012 was $81,030; a private room averaged $90,520.

The average annual charge for a stay in an assisted living community was $42,600. This represented a 2.1% increase over 2011 figures.

Clearly, the statistics are indicating that long-term care costs are high and they are actually on the rise.

To be prepared for the eventualities of aging you would do well to discuss everything with a licensed and experienced elder law attorney. Your lawyer will gain an understanding of your financial situation, apprise you of your options, and devise a plan that will lead to financial security during the latter portion of your life.

Duffy Law Office is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Sometimes you hear advice given to you by older people when you are young and it just doesn’t resonate. You are in a particular phase in your life and you may find it difficult to step outside of the moment and consider these conservative notions.

However, when it comes to retirement planning younger adults would do well to heed the advice of elders who may have made mistakes that they cannot recover from.

The baby boomer generation is reaching the age at which people typically retire. Various surveys have been conducted, and a significant percentage of these people are saying that they are never going to be able to retire because they simply don’t have the necessary financial underpinning.

If you start to get a bit weary of the work world when you reach your 50s and you recognize that you may never be able to retire this realization can certainly land with a profound thud.

On the other side of the coin, if you exercise some uncommon wisdom as a young adult you can avoid this fate. Time is your friend when you are planning for retirement when you get started early enough. Even modest contributions into retirement accounts can add up considerably over the decades.

Smart investments can also be a part of a comprehensive long-term financial plan that leads to the fruition of your retirement goals.

What separates those who retire comfortably from those who must continue to work throughout their entire lives? Two things that immediately come to mind are intelligent planning and financial discipline.

If you are serious about your future contact us for a free consultation. You can get in touch electronically through this link: Retirement Planning Consultation

We are grateful you follow us and value your comments and input.  You Can Also Find Us Online: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn Thanks again.

Ryan M. Denman and Dennis D. Duffy

Duffy Law Office

Duffy Law Office is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Our culture involves people trying to do business at every turn. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, but you do have to be aware of the fact that not everything that is dangled in front of you is necessarily going to be advantageous to you as a consumer.

This is why expert advice is so important when you are making big financial decisions. If you speak with a financial planning attorney before you take any action that is going to have significant consequences you can either go forward confidently or take a step back with more information in hand.

With the above in mind if you are at least 62 years of age and you are a homeowner (or if you are possession of significant equity in your home) you may qualify for a home equity conversion mortgage. This is a reverse mortgage. The lender pays you either in the form of a line of credit, monthly payouts, or a combination of both.

In return for these payments the lender acquires equity in your home.

This is not an act of generosity on the part of the lender. This entity will charge interest, and there will be loan servicing fees. Reverse mortgage insurance premiums must be paid, and there will be closing costs and appraisal fees.

If you find yourself looking for some liquidity later in your life this may seem like a good option on the surface. But when you consider all the costs involved you may want to think twice.

When you discuss your situation with a good financial planning lawyer he or she may be able to apprise you of some options that may exist other than the rather costly reverse mortgage solution.

Duffy Law Office is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Now that the election is over, investors are wondering what the future has in store for their portfolios. The reality is that while elections may have short term impacts on the markets, over the long run, the impact is minimal. A Free Market System is based on capitalism, which always finds a way to thrive.

A structured portfolio based on a long-term investment philosophy will be more efficient than active management if and when taxes increase. Your portfolio should rebalance if necessary, to ensure you maintain your expected risk tolerance level.

So what should you, as an investor do now?

Stay positive. Nothing beneficial has ever come out of being negative.

Get educated to break the investor’s dilemma.

Fear of the future leads to trying to find someone who can predict the future.

Since nobody can predict the future accurately, investors look to track record investing, which academically has proven to be disastrous.

Trying to find the right answers leads to information overload, which leads to frustration and emotion-based decisions.

Since we as humans gravitate toward pleasure and retreat from pain, we break the rules of prudent investing and sell investments that are doing poorly and buy what’s increased in value.

This, in turn, leads to performance losses, which leads to more fear of the future. The investor’s dilemma starts all over again in a never-ending cycle.

The best way to break the investor’s dilemma is to get some basic education.  This will not come from cable financial channels and traditional news.   You must tune out all the media hype of doom and gloom.  Learn the basic rules that are grounded in academic principles and you will be successful.  Own equities, Diversify and Rebalance!

Call us to find out when the date of the next educational session is and reserve your seat!

Your peace of mind is worth taking the time to become an informed consumer.

Duffy Law Office is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Once the election is over.  What is an investor to do?

I meet with clients every week who have been devastated by losses, frustrated by lack of returns and feel anxious by the lack of knowledge they have about their investments.  I often tell clients “what good is a great estate plan if you are financially bleeding to death while you are alive?”

I tell them that they are trapped in the Investors’ Dilemma and they need to get basic financial education to protect themselves.

Last year I read one of the best books in a long time on the topic of investing. I would tell anyone that has money to invest for their estate or retirement planning to add this book to your reading list. You will not regret it.

It was co-authored by Gordon Murray and Daniel Goldie. In less than 100 pages, it clearly tells everyday investors nearly everything they need to know about investing in the stock and bond markets to beat 95% of Wall Street’s best money managers.

Murray had a 25-year career on Wall Street that included stints at Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse First Boston. His career, like those of many in the investment community, was built around beating the markets–which many claim to do but few pull off.

Murray retired in 2001. He later met Daniel Goldie, a former professional tennis player and financial adviser, who taught him the virtues of passive investments.

While active investors try to beat the markets, passive investors are content to tie them. The irony, however, is that passive investors over time do better than the vast majority of active investors, due in large part to the excessive fees and taxes faced by people who try in vain to beat the market.

As The New York Times reported in the article called “A Dying Banker’s Last Instructions,” (NY Times article) , Murray was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2008. He ceased treatment and did not expect to live past his 61st birthday in March of 2011.

Murray decided to use his last days on earth to write about his new investment epiphany. His friend Goldie co-authored the concise paperback “The Investment Answer,” which was published in August, 2010.

It is easy to read and anyone who doe not think they understand investing should read this book. It will help.

Link to The Investment Answer

Leave me a comment after you read the book.  We are grateful you follow us and value your comments and input.  You Can Also Find Us Online: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn Thanks again.

Ryan M. Denman and Dennis D. Duffy

Duffy Law Office

Duffy Law Office is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

I meet with clients every week who have been devastated by losses, frustrated by lack of returns and feel anxious by the lack of knowledge they have about their investments. I often tell my clients “what good is a great estate plan if you are financially bleeding to death while you are alive?” Often these clients feeling victimized have started to make their now investment decisions.  Many news articles and television ads today make it sound as if this may be a prudent strategy.

When we meet I tell them that they are trapped in the Investors’ Dilemma and they need to get basic financial education to protect themselves not only from the army of financial sales people who are pushing product solutions but also to understand their own behavior and not be victimized by their own human decisions that lead into traps of investing and frustration.

I often refer them to one of the best (and easy to read) books on investing. I tell anyone that has money to invest for their estate or retirement planning should add this book to their reading list. They will not regret it.

It was co-authored by Gordon Murray and Daniel Goldie. In less than 100 pages, it clearly tells everyday investors nearly everything they need to know about investing in the stock and bond markets to beat 95% of Wall Street’s best money managers.

Murray had a 25-year career on Wall Street that included stints at Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse First Boston. His career, like those of many in the investment community, was built around beating the markets–which many claim to do but few pull off.

Murray retired in 2001. He later met Daniel Goldie, a former professional tennis player and financial adviser, who taught him the virtues of passive investments.

While active investors try to beat the markets, passive investors are content to tie them. The irony, however, is that passive investors over time do better than the vast majority of active investors, due in large part to the excessive fees and taxes faced by people who try in vain to beat the market.

As The New York Times reported in a great article last month called “A Dying Banker’s Last Instructions,” (NY Times article) , Murray was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2008. He has ceased treatment and doesn’t expect to live past his 61st birthday in March of 2011.

Murray decided to use his last days on earth to write about his new investment epiphany. His friend Goldie co-authored the concise paperback “The Investment Answer,” which was published in August, 2010. It is easy to read and anyone who invests  should read this book. You can click to go to a web site for more information about the book:  The Investment Answer.

We appreciate you following us and value your comments and input. Please provide your thoughts by using the comments section on our blog page.

You Can Also Find Us Online: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn

Thanks again.

Dennis D. Duffy

Duffy Law Office

Duffy Law Office is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

A really timeless article that explains why active portfolio managment is a mistake for any investor.

Click here to read active vs. passive investing

We appreciate you following us and value your comments and input. Please provide your thoughts by using the comments section on our blog page.

You Can Also Find Us Online: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn

Thanks again.

Dennis D. Duffy

Duffy Law Office

Duffy Law Office is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.