While we often focus on having a Power of Attorney in regards to aging, the fact is that a Power of Attorney is an assurance that you always have someone whose duty it is to act with your best interests in mind should you be unable to do so, regardless of your age.
AgingOptions
Choosing your Medical Power of Attorney
If an accident or illness left you unable to provide the kind of input needed for your care, a durable Power of Attorney for Health Care (DPAHC) would allow you to give a health care agent as broad or as limited powers as you like.
The tax implications of an annuity when the trustee dies
On an AgingOptions Radio Show, Vi from Olympia asked what the tax implications were for the beneficiaries if the trustee of a family trust that contains an annuity dies. Here’s a basic summary of tax considerations, however, you should consult your tax professional, lawyer or a financial professional.
May is Better Hearing and Speech Month
“Blindness cuts us off from things, but deafness cuts us off from people.” Helen Keller
Social Security benefits for minor children
Last week on the AgingOptions radio program, Rajiv Nagaich, elder law attorney and several callers to the show discussed Social Security benefits for minor children if the parent (or in some cases the grandparent) of a child is collecting Social Security. Here’s the Social Security posting about that benefit. Here is the original story that I posted about families … Read more
Know what's behind a senior designation to avoid financial fraud
What’s in a name? There’s power in a name but according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) there’s also confusion if your name has anything to do with dozens of special designations for financial advisors who work specifically with seniors.
A moving story: finding housing that fits
When you first moved out of your parents’ home you may have lived in an apartment or lived with roommates. The point is, wherever you lived you didn’t live in the house you lived in when you eventually got married and if you are like most Americans, that wasn’t the house that you lived in when you began to have a family.
Why bother hiring a geriatric physician?
Rajiv Nagaich, a Federal Way based elder law attorney frequently asks clients and listeners to his radio show that if it made sense for them to hire a pediatrician for their children’s health doesn’t it make sense to hire a geriatrician for the health of a geriatric?
Educating doctors about the cost of medical care
Try to find out how much it actually costs to get an MRI at the local hospital and the first thing you’ll discover is that it’s usually not as simple as getting someone to check a list.
When your parents outlive their savings
Usually wealth transfer goes down the generations, meaning that the older generations transfer wealth to younger generations. But the longer life the majority of our elders are living today means that a significant portion of them will outlive the resources they’ve set aside.