If cash is king and credit is queen, digital rewards points may just be the wildcard of your household finances. While cash represents immediate purchasing power and credit offers leveraged liquidity, rewards points function as a flexible currency that can supplement spending. But unlike cash and credit, they vanish when you die. Most people do […]
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How to Protect Your Great Ideas or Works for Your Family
Your money, home, and vehicles are not the only assets that should be addressed in your estate plan. You should also consider your intellectual property, including any rights and income associated with it. You do not have to be a famous author, painter, or inventor to own valuable intellectual property that could generate income for […]
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Dorms, Leases, and Liability: The Hidden Risks of College Housing Contracts
When a child heads off to college, it marks a major milestone on their path to adulthood. For many young adults, campus life represents their first real foray into the “real world”—complete with roommates, daily responsibilities, and legally binding contracts. For parents, supporting this transition often goes beyond emotional encouragement. It frequently involves cosigning student […]
Continue reading…Emergency Preparedness When Your Parent Is in a Nursing Home
The decision to place a parent in a nursing home or assisted living facility is rarely simple. It can feel even more fraught in hindsight when something goes wrong. Careful research and frequent check-ins can help keep a parent safe and secure in their new residence, as can preparing for a disaster that could trigger […]
Continue reading…When a Client’s Parent Is Evacuated: What Every Advisor Should Know
The decision to place a parent in a nursing home or assisted living facility is rarely simple. It can feel even more fraught in hindsight when something goes wrong. Careful research and frequent check-ins can help a client keep their loved one safe and secure in their new residence, as can preparing for a disaster […]
Continue reading…What Your Clients Have Not Done with Their Documents—and How to Bring It Up
Clients rarely think of document access as a vulnerability. The plan is in place, the paperwork is signed, and the folder or binder containing that paperwork is somewhere at home. But a disaster does not wait for someone to remember where “somewhere” is. When a client is displaced, incapacitated, or unreachable, a plan that cannot […]
Continue reading…How to Protect Your Legal Documents in a Natural Disaster
Legal documents can feel abstract when nobody immediately needs them or you have never used them, in much the same way that the risk of a wildfire, hurricane, or other emergency can feel remote until you experience one firsthand. Suddenly, the stakes are real, a plan is put to the test, and documents such as […]
Continue reading…The Advisor’s Preparedness Audit
National Preparedness Month is observed every September to encourage individuals, families, and communities to plan for disasters and emergencies. Sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), this annual campaign emphasizes actionable steps such as understanding local risks, making a family emergency plan, building an emergency supply kit, and getting involved in community preparedness efforts. […]
Continue reading…Be Ready for the Unexpected: A Big-Picture Checklist
National Preparedness Month is observed every September to encourage individuals, families, and communities to plan for disasters and emergencies. Sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), this annual campaign emphasizes actionable steps such as understanding local risks, making a family emergency plan, building an emergency supply kit, and getting involved in community preparedness efforts. […]
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Estate Planning After Remarriage
You may not be able to choose the family you are born into, but you can choose the family you build through marriage, partnership, and the life you create on your own terms. The traditional nuclear family is no longer the default, and biological family ties are no longer always assumed. Marriage remains its own […]
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