A growing number of Americans are choosing to spend their golden years abroad. Living overseas offers a sense of adventure and, often, a reduced cost of living. Yet most people–and their advisors–don’t realize how much planning is needed to make the move a success. It’s hard to say how many Americans have retired abroad. The State Department doesn’t keep track of the numbers, and the U.S. Census Bureau doesn’t count Americans overseas. The Social Security Administration sends checks to more than 260,000 retired workers abroad, but this represents only a […]

My students ask me all the time what a trust is and “do I need one?” The answer is generally yes but with one caveat, “not yet” What in the world is a trust? Think of a trust as a holding pen, a place where you put your assets before they are released to the people or organizations that you designate to eventually receive them. A trust is a legal entity and so are you. Because you and the trust are separate legal entities, anything you transfer from you to […]

A new retirement study provides further evidence that a growing number of Americans are at risk of a diminished standard of living once they stop working. The Center for Retirement Research shows 43% of working households were in danger in 2004 of having too little income to fund their retirement. But the study probably understates the proportion of retirees at risk. Its projections assume that people retire at age 65, cash in on their home equity through a “reverse mortgage” and exchange their assets for a stream of income by […]

There are many things to consider when purchasing a new home. Too often individuals seem to rely on what a mortgage broker tells them what they can afford when buying a home. There are some serious considerations to think about regardless as to what you here from everyone else. The thing that I have noticed among many of my young clients is that they get into the largest house possible without consideration as to the over all costs that will be required to be paid. According to the American institute […]