Updates in the Special Needs Planning Area

The special needs community and its advocates are making headway as of late. Last month, the IRS proposed regulations for the new state-sponsored ABLE accounts. In addition, the Special Needs Trust Fairness Act was reintroduced to Congress earlier this year and appears to be making...

“Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.”
Alan Lakein, American author and Time Management Expert

We plan to go on vacation.  We plan to have dinner with friends.  But when it comes to planning for how we will be taken care of as we...

Introduction

Most Americans do not know, or refuse to accept, the facts surrounding their potential need for long-term care and the costs associated with it. This was reconfirmed recently in a telephone survey of 1,735 Americans over the age of 40, funded by the SCAN Foundation and conducted by the Associated Press...

Divorce can be complicated, frustrating, disappointing, expensive, along with a whole range of other emotions, as anyone who has endured this type of proceeding can attest. As difficult as the issues can be in a divorce proceeding, can you imagine what happens when divorce involves a child with a disability?

This focuses on...

No one likes to think about the possibility of their own disability or the disability of a loved one. However, as the statistics below demonstrate, we should all plan for at least a temporary disability. This issue examines the eye-opening statistics surrounding disability and some of the common disability planning options. Disability planning is...

The benefits of a highly detailed, comprehensive power of attorney are numerous. Unfortunately, many powers of attorney are more general in nature and can actually cause more problems than they solve, especially for our senior population. This issue highlights the benefits of a comprehensive, detailed power of attorney, including some of the provisions that...

No one likes to think about the possibility of their own disability or the disability of a loved one. However, as we'll see below, the statistics are clear that we should all plan for at least a temporary disability. This issue of The ElderCounselorTM examines the eye-opening statistics surrounding disability and some of the...

This month's issue of The ElderCounselor™ examines the unique planning requirements of families with children, grandchildren or other family members (such as parents) with special needs. There are numerous misconceptions in this area that can result in costly mistakes when planning for special needs beneficiaries.  Understanding the pitfalls associated with special needs planning is...

According to a recent study, elderly drivers who stop driving and have no transportation alternatives become less socially active and risk isolation. This can lead to a decline in both physical and mental health. Teja Pristavec, a sociology researcher at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ, sought to determine the effect of driving mobility on...

During the month of March, and after much debate, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 and the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010 were signed into law. This new legislation, commonly referred to as "health care reform," made sweeping changes to health care as we currently know it,...