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Court Again Rules That Part D Recipients Must Repay Mistaken Refunds Last Updated: 6/24/2010 4:23:59 PM A federal appeals court has again ruled that 230,000 Medicare Part D beneficiaries who were erroneously mailed a premium refund do not have the right to apply for a waiver excusing them from repaying the money. Action Alliance of Read Full Article

Crummey Trusts: A Way to More Safely Give Gifts to Children Last Updated: 7/27/2010 4:19:45 PM Many parents and grandparents want to pass their wealth to their children while they are still alive. Gifts to children or grandchildren can be a good way to reduce a taxable estate. While you can give a child or Read Full Article

Estate Planning Smarts: A Practical, User-Friendly, Action-Oriented Guide Last Updated: 6/22/2010 10:55:20 AM Deborah Jacobs. Estate Planning Smarts: A Practical, User-Friendly, Action-Oriented Guide. DJWorking Unlimited., New York, NY. 2009. 352 pages. $13.57 at Amazon (click on book to purchase). Planning an estate involves fitting together many pieces. You need to think about wills, trusts, life Read Full Article

Online Legal Documents Company Sued Over Flawed Estate Plan Last Updated: 6/18/2010 11:50:08 AM LegalZoom, one of the most prominent sellers of do-it-yourself wills and other estate planning documents, is the target of a class action lawsuit in California charging that the company engages in deceptive business practices and is practicing law without a license. Read Full Article

Report Looks at What People Are Paying for Long-Term Care Insurance Last Updated: 6/8/2010 11:59:52 AM More than a third (35.4 percent) of individuals who recently purchased long-term care insurance are paying less than $1,499 a year for the coverage, according to a new report by the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, an industry Read Full Article

Many retirees look forward to traveling in their retirement, and more and more are actually retiring overseas, in part as a way to stretch savings. But what happens to retirees’ federal benefits while they are out of the country? The short answer is that although Social Security benefits are available to retirees in other countries, Read Full Article

More consumers are buying shorter-duration policies as a way to keep the cost of long-term care insurance affordable. For example, in 2009 almost one-third of individual buyers purchased a three-year benefit period policy, according to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance. But is that sufficient coverage or is the policyholder likely to run out Read Full Article

Terry Savage. The Savage Number: How Much Money Do You Need to Retire? (John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey, 2005. 256 pages) $24.95 from Amazon (Click on book to order). Having enough money to retire is an important goal for many people, and The Savage Number attempts to help people understand how to reach Read Full Article

How reliable are the ratings given nursing homes under the five-star rating system that the federal government recently instituted? Not very, according to an investigative report by the Massachusetts magazine Commonwealth. In an in-depth discussion of the rating system, the report highlights numerous instances in which facilities received above-average overall ratings despite being cited for Read Full Article

Last Updated: 5/27/2010 4:21:23 PM Although your life insurance policy may pass to your heirs income tax-free, it can affect your estate tax. If you are the owner of the insurance policy, it will become a part of your taxable estate when you die. While the federal estate tax is currently zero, the exemption will Read Full Article