Do you have a lot of medical bills that you pay on each month? Could those medical bills be deducted from your tax bill this year? I was helping my mother take care of all of her finances after my dad passed away. I didn't realize how many bills she had coming in each month for medical treatments that my dad had undergone months, even a year earlier. I started doing some research about medical bills and tax deductions. If you have medical bills, take a minute to read through this blog to gain some knowledge that can help you decide what you can do when tax time comes around.
All adults should engage in estate planning. Estate planning allows you to determine what happens to your assets when you die; without an estate plan established, the state will determine what happens to the things you have spent your life accumulating. Estate planning is for everyone, not just the wealthy.
Choose an Executor
Your estate plan doesn't do any good if there is no one to see it through. An executor is someone who you choose to make sure your wishes are carried out. For most people, a friend or relative can take on this task along with the assistance of an estate lawyer. If your estate is complex and contains many valuable assets and complicated designations, though, you may want to hire a professional management team to be the executor of your estate.
Appoint Beneficiaries
Certain types of assets can be passed on to someone else by appointing them as the beneficiary of that asset. For example, your life insurance policy has a designated beneficiary. Other types of investments that typically have beneficiaries are retirement accounts, brokerage accounts, and pensions.
It is essential to keep the beneficiaries up to date to reflect your current desires with accounts with beneficiaries.
Establish Trusts
Next, it can be essential to set up trusts for your assets. With a living trust, you can group your assets together and keep them from ever going through a public probate process.
You can set up a trust, and you can put your assets into the trust even when you are alive. You will make yourself the trustee of your trust, and you can determine who will succeed you as trustee if you die or can't take care of things anymore. It is a way to protect your assets and ensure that what happens with your assets, such as your home or bank account, is not a part of public record.
Medical Power of Attorney
It is important to set up a medical power of attorney as part of your estate plan. With a medical power of attorney, you determine who you want to make a medical decision for you if you cannot do so. This is important, as you could be injured in a car accident, for example, and not be capable of making medical decisions for yourself. With a medical power of attorney, you will be able to ensure that the person making those decisions is the one you want to be making them and understands your medical desires.
The four steps above are just the start of planning your estate. You will also want to establish a will, guardianship for minor children, establish financial power of attorney, and create a living will. These legal documents will help ensure that your body and your assets are taken care of in accordance with your wishes should you not be able to decide for yourself.
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