Financial Planning

Qualifying for Medicare hardly means free health care -- there are still premiums and deductibles. However, people who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid (called “dual eligibility”) receive help with paying their out-of-pocket costs.  ...

Medicare prescription drug (Part D) plans can have a coverage gap—called the "donut hole" which limits how much Medicare will pay for your drugs until you pay a certain amount out of pocket. Although the gap has gotten much smaller since Medicare Part D was introduced in 2006, there still may be a difference in what you pay during your initial coverage compared to what you might pay while caught in the coverage gap.  ...

This July marks the 56th anniversary of Medicare. If you’re eligible for Medicare at age 65, your initial enrollment period begins three months before your 65th birthday and ends three months after that birthday. The official Medicare website at Medicare.gov offers many online services where you can find answers to your questions. ...

Too many times, adult children struggle – not only with the grief of losing a parent – but also in putting together the financial puzzle their parents may have left for them. Unlike a puzzle that comes with the picture to solve, children often are left with pieces that don’t seem to fit together and are both frustrating and costly to manage. ...

 Attorneys often see great trust documents that don't do all that's intended because the clients' assets are still titled in the clients' names. You can avoid probate and make sure that the estate tax protections in your trust operate as planned through retitling assets in the name of the trust ...

If you want to make a gift to family members but have exceeded the annual gifting limit, there is another way. Payments for a family member’s education or health care expenses are exempt from the gift tax. ...

While it may be tempting to just take out a pen and make changes to your will by hand, don't. Changes will not be effective unless you use the same formalities as you did when drafting the will. And depending on state law, changes made by hand on the will may void the will altogether. ...

Don't let your home improvement project like a paint job or driveway repair turn into a nightmare. It's prime time for home improvement scammers, and they've got their sights set on unwary consumers. The Better Business Bureau has suggestions for beating these fly-by-night contractors at their own game. ...