Legal, Money & Family
The practical and the consequential — wills, taxes, care planning, housing, and the money conversations that the 55-and-better community can no longer postpone.
What We Cover
- Estate planning & wills
- Taxes & retirement income
- Care planning & long-term care
- Housing & downsizing
- Working with professionals
Recent Wednesday Reads
Four Moves You Have Until December 31 to Make
Tax planning happens in the fall; tax preparation happens in the spring. Required minimum distributions, qualified charitable distributions, Roth conversions, and loss harvesting — plus the new senior deduction and why its phaseout ties all four together.
The Envelope You’re About to Throw Away
Your Medicare plan is required to mail you an Annual Notice of Change by September 30, and it lists every way your coverage is different on January 1. Most people give it four seconds and a wrist flick into the recycling. The five questions worth thirty minutes — and where to get help that isn’t selling you anything.
Medicare, Explained Once and Properly
Medicare’s Annual Enrollment Period opens October 15, and most people drift into the biggest decision inside it without realizing they made one. The four parts without the alphabet soup, the honest Advantage-versus-Original scorecard, and the one fact about switching back that almost nobody explains.
The Beneficiary Audit: The Hour That Quietly Overrides Your Will
Your 401(k), IRA, and life insurance don’t pass under your will — they go to whoever is named on a form you may have filled out decades ago. The ex-spouse problem, why naming a minor grandchild directly backfires, the difference between per stirpes and per capita, and the trust-as-beneficiary tax trap almost nobody sees coming.
What Long-Term Care Insurance Actually Costs — and the People Who Should Skip It Entirely
The real premiums at 55, 60, and 65, why women pay 40 to 60 percent more, and the inflation rider that roughly doubles the price. The rate-increase history the industry would rather not discuss, and the three groups who should walk away from this product entirely.
Are 55+ Active-Adult Communities Worth It? The Honest Math
The brochure is genuinely seductive — pools, pickleball, someone else shoveling the snow. What the monthly fees actually cover, what they don’t, and the question to ask before signing anything.
Unretirement, by the Numbers: Going Back to Work by Choice
What returning to work does to your Social Security, your Medicare premiums, and your tax bracket. The earnings test explained, and the IRMAA surcharge nobody sees coming.
The Retirement Tax Bomb: How to Defuse It on Your Terms
The tax-deferred savings you spent decades building come with a bill attached, and required distributions decide the timing unless you decide it first. Roth conversion windows and bracket management.
Paying for Long-Term Care: The $100,000 Question Medicare Won’t Answer
Roughly seven in ten people turning 65 will need long-term care, and Medicare covers almost none of it. The four ways people actually pay.