Winter break is less than a week away! Even if you do not
celebrate Christmas, like my family and many other New York Jews we know, a
festive air is upon us.
The week between Christmas and New Years is a prime time to
vacation. So, whether you bundle up your
whole brood for the ski slopes or jet off to a tropical island with your
significant other, be sure to give your family the gifts you
most need: financial security in the form of asset protection and estate
planning.
When working professionals take a vacation, we want to leave
our worries behind. Yet, as fiscally savvy
adults it is challenging not to focus on our finances. This is especially true for parents of young
children; your loved ones need you to make intelligent choices with your money
to provide for the whole family. In
order to properly relax over the holidays, we at the Law Office of Inna Fershteyn suggest you ask yourself the following questions. You will thank us later lounging on the beach,
stress-free, with a cocktail in hand.
All
the parents I know think about the welfare of their children constantly, yet a
good percentage of couples occasionally choose to leave their children at home when
they travel. This arrangement can be fun
for the whole family – parents receive much needed peace of mind and children
have the run of the house. However take
a moment to ask yourself: When was the
last time you thought about what would happen to your children if anything
tragic should befall you? Do your kids
have a legal guardian who can care for them if something happens? Or have you
given someone you trust, for instance your parents, the authorization to take
your child in for hospital treatment?
You must have a plan of legal recourse in place for your family, for disaster
strikes without bias. Any one of us,
myself included, could be one of its victims.
The
untimely death of a family member is a devastating thing to experience. I wish it upon no one, but we cannot stick
our heads in the sand and choose not to think about our death, no matter how
young we are or how healthy we feel. My
husband and I started Estate Planning when my children were still in
diapers. We wrote a Living Will that
left our twin toddlers what little savings we had and started a Trust for them
as soon as we could afford it. That was
over ten years ago, and while we have amended the documents as necessary, we
never worry for our kids’ financial futures; they are set for life.
You
too can provide for your children in this manner. I started early because of my profession,
but it is always a good time to take control of your family’s finances. Did you know that if put you assets in a
trust before the end of the fiscal year, the money you set aside will not show
up on your tax return? And that you will increase your future eligibility for Medicaid? It is likely that you qualify for more tax exemptions than you think. So find out
what they are and take advantage! My associates
and I at the Law Office of Inna Fershteyn believe everyone deserves the opportunity
to save their family money, so tune in and learn how.
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