When you first enter into a small business, you are well aware of the fact that a high percentage of start ups wind up failing.

As a result, your first objective is going to be to work tirelessly to make your business start turning a profit as soon as possible. It is likely that asking yourself how you are going to exit the business someday is among the furthest things from your mind when you first get started.

However, when your business is in fact on firm footing after you do some celebrating it is time to consider the future. People who are employees have a particular estate planning scenario that they are looking at. They are receiving income in most cases without having any particular stake in or responsibility for the ongoing operation of the business after they retire or pass away.

On the other hand, small business owners are in a different position. They have to consider how the business will be handled after they retire, become incapacitated, or die.

Your vision for the future is going to impact your decisions in the present as you are running the business in a number of different ways.

If you are going to hand the business off to the next-generation you may proceed differently than you would if you plan on selling the business. If the viability of the business is solely dependent on you as the owner as it may be with a professional practice you are faced with another type of situation.

Intelligent long-term planning is key. If you are a small business owner, the wise course of action is to discuss your succession planning options with a licensed and experienced San Bernardino estate planning attorney.

The Elder & Disability Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Medicaid is a program that is funded by both the federal government and the states, and the details of how the program is implemented vary on a state-by-state basis. It should be noted that in California the program is called “Medi-Cal.”

Theoretically Medi-Cal is intended to provide people with financial need who are not insured access to health care. It comes into play in the field of elder law as a way to pay for long-term care because Medicare does not pay for assisted living expenses.

It is possible to qualify for Medi-Cal without truly being financially indigent in spite of the $2000 upper resource limit. A lot of your property does not count towards this figure, including some valuable personal possessions, your motor vehicle, and your home.

Plus, if you are married and you need to enter into a long-term care facility but your spouse does not he or she may keep his or her half of community assets up to a certain limit. This limit is subject to change on an annual basis, but right now it is $113,640.

There is what they call a five-year  or 30-month “look back” period to take into consideration when you are angling toward Medi-Cal eligibility. Some people will “spend down” in an effort to qualify for Medi-Cal, but when you do this within five years of applying you could be subject to a penalty that delays your eligibility.

Medi-Cal can be a big help, but you have to plan ahead in advance in an effort to obtain eligibility in an informed and intelligent manner. The best way of doing this is with the assistance of a licensed and experienced San Bernardino elder law attorney.

The Elder & Disability Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

One thing to keep in mind when you consider the subject of estate planning is the fact that circumstances are constantly changing. So when you initially devise an estate plan with the assistance of a licensed Redlands CA estate planning lawyer you should be mindful of the fact that revisions may be required.

Sometimes the updates become appropriate because of events that may take place within your own life, and one of these would be a change in marital status. And at other times your existing estate plan needs to be revised because of something that takes place that is out of your control such as a change in the tax code.

We are facing such a change at the end of this year. As the laws currently stand the estate tax exclusion is going to be reduced from the $5.12 million that is in place as of this writing all the way down to $1 million when 2013 arrives. The maximum rate of the tax is scheduled to rise as well. Right now it is 35%, but at the end of this year it is rising to 55%.

It should be noted that the powers that be could pass legislation to alter these parameters between now and the end of the year. Since tax matters are a politically volatile subject and this is an election year it is likely that any moves that may be made won’t take place until after the election.

Given the hazy future of the estate tax it is a good idea to keep in touch with your attorney and be prepared to make changes to your existing estate plan if they become necessary.

The Elder & Disability Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Putting away money with retirement in mind is something that you should begin doing as soon as possible. If you are diligent about creating a retirement plan and sticking to it you should be able to accumulate the necessary financial resources over time.

One way to go about it is to contribute into the 401(k) plan that is offered at your place of employment. With a 401(k) retirement account your contributions are made with pretax earnings. So while you are saving for the long-term you are also getting a slightly larger paycheck because your taxable income is reduced by the amount of your contributions.

Another advantage that comes along with 401(k) accounts in many cases is an employer match. A lot of employers will match the contributions that you make into the account up to a certain amount. San Bernardino retirement planning lawyers will generally recommend that you make contributions into the 401(k) account that are at least equal to the maximum that the employer is willing to match.

You may wonder what would happen to your account if you were to get laid off. You have some choices available to you should this take place. You could cash out the account but you would have to pay a 10% penalty and a 20% tax.

Another possibility would be to simply keep the money in the same 401(k) account.

And the third option, which may be the best choice if you want to stay on track for a comfortable retirement would be to roll the account over into an individual retirement account or the 401(k) account that is offered by your new employer.

401(k) accounts can be a useful part of a comprehensive retirement plan, and if you would like to learn more about them simply take a moment to arrange for a consultation with a good San Bernardino retirement planning attorney.

The Elder & Disability Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Developing a good relationship with a licensed, experienced San Bernardino estate planning lawyer is very important so that you can be certain that the information that you are working with is correct and current.

With this in mind, tax laws that could have a significant impact on future generations of your family are always changing. So, if you just believe anything that you hear or read you may be buying into outdated notions.

There are also some widely held myths out there that your attorney will guide you away from. One of these is the idea that only rich people need to concern themselves with the possibility of estate tax exposure.

At the end of this year the estate tax exclusion is going to be reduced to $1 million, and the rate is going up to 55%. (The current estate tax rate is 35%.) This means that the portion of your estate that exceeds $1 million in value would be subject to a 55% federal tax.

According to CNN Money, there are in excess of 10 million households in the United States who are in possession of resources exceeding $1 million in total value. They expect this figure to double over the next eight years. So, there are a whole  lot of Americans who are in taxable territory, and many of them would say that they are not by any means rich.

Communication with your attorney is key because false assumptions can prove costly. The estate tax is something that everyone should be aware of on an ongoing basis as laws change and your financial situation improves over time.

The Elder & Disability Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

San Bernardino estate planning lawyers are always going to try to make their clients aware of the fact that there are different ways to arrange for the transfer of assets to your loved ones. The best way of going about it is going to vary on a case-by-case basis, and the exact form that the assets are in is part of the equation.

We are all aware of the enormous financial success that has been enjoyed by Facebook founders Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz. Clearly, when you have more money than you are going to need during your lifetime you have to arrange for asset transfers. Because of the reality of the unified gift/estate tax it takes careful planning to preserve wealth for future generations without losing extraordinary amounts in the process.

The Facebook founders were well aware of the above and they apparently received some good financial advice. According to a piece that is appearing in Forbes, back in 2008 both individuals placed shares in the company into grantor retained annuity trusts.

With these trusts the grantor receives annuity payments annually but he or she names the beneficiary who would assume ownership of any remainder that exists after the trust term expires. Funding the trust is considered to be an act of taxable gift giving, and anticipated interest is accounted for using the Section 7520 rate that is in place when the trust is created.

The point is to “zero out” the trust by taking annuity payments equal to the total taxable value of the trust. But, if the resources placed into the trust appreciate beyond the taxable value that was derived by the utilization of the Section 7520 rate there will be something left in the trust after the term expires. The beneficiary receives these resources free of taxation.

In the case of the Facebook founders their shares were placed into the trusts in advance of a much-anticipated IPO and this is an ideal utilization of the zeroed out GRAT strategy.

The Elder & Disability Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

If you were going on a trip to a place that you had never been to before, perhaps a foreign country, you would have a lot of research to do. Nobody wants to enter into the unknown without making the proper preparations, and if you have never been somewhere before you have to take the time to gain an understanding of what to expect.

This is the type of mentality that you should take into planning for your retirement years. There are a lot of details to consider, and knowing what your Social Security benefit is going to be is part of the equation.

The Social Security Administration sends out statements periodically that should give you some idea of your projected benefit amount and this is a big help. You should take the statement seriously and be realistic about where you stand.

People who are married may have some questions about their benefits after their spouse passes away. The way that it works is that the surviving spouse receives the benefit of the partner who was receiving the larger monthly payout, but the survivor no longer receives his or her benefit.

And, it is important to note that you can’t get less than half of what your partner was receiving while he or she is still alive. So if your earned benefit is less than half of your spouse’s it will be bumped up to half of his or her benefit amount.

No one expects the ordinary layperson to understand all of the ins and outs of Social Security. The best way to proceed when you are making preparations for the future is to sit down and devise an intelligently conceived plan with a licensed and experienced San Bernardino estate planning lawyer.

The Elder & Disability Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

To be able to enjoy your life as a senior citizen you need to think ahead. Of course, making sure that you have the financial resources that you need is part of the equation. This involves working with a good San Bernardino elder law attorney to develop a cogent, personalized plan that prepares you for all of the eventualities of aging.

When you are developing a holistic game plan as it were you must also consider health concerns in addition to your financial planning efforts. With this in mind you would do well to be aware of the often overlooked danger of slipping and falling.

On the surface it could seem as though falling down is not pleasant by any means but at the same time not very significant. You may scrape your knee or walk away with some type of bruise but it is really no big deal.

This may be true when you are 10 years old, but for senior citizens things are different. Believe it or not, approximately 650,000 people are hospitalized after falling down in the United States every year and falls result in over 20,000 deaths annually.

Those are some rather eye-catching statistics to say the least.

There are however some things that can be done to mitigate your vulnerability, and a very good resource to tap into is the Falls Prevention page that is offered on the National Council On Aging website. Here you can learn all the facts about falls and find out how to prevent them so that you can enjoy your elder years to the fullest with your health intact.

The Elder & Disability Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

People who serve in the United States armed forces make many sacrifices for the rest of us. However, there are some rewards that you get in return that can help you as you are planning for your retirement years.

A lot of people who spend some time in the military do not stay beyond one term and this in itself is a great service to the country. However, if you were to spend at least 20 years in uniform you could qualify for a military pension. Since most people join the military as young adults, if you chose to do so you could serve these 20 years and then retire from the military but not from working altogether.

People who embark on a civilian career after serving for 20 years in the military could potentially save their pension checks and live off of their earnings at work. By the time such a veteran reaches Social Security eligibility age he or she would have quite a nest egg saved up.

Another benefit that service members may qualify for is the Veterans Aid & Attendance special pension. You don’t have to have served for 20 years to be eligible. Veterans who have served at least 90 days with a minimum of one of these days occurring during a time of war meet the length of service eligibility requirement.

This benefit will provide you with a monthly check if you become unable to attend to your own daily needs at some point in time.

Veterans have some unique opportunities as they are planning for the future. If you would like to implement a comprehensive plan for aging as a veteran, don’t hesitate to pick up the phone to arrange for a consultation with a good San Bernardino retirement planning attorney.

The Elder & Disability Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

People who start to get serious about contemplating the implications of their mortality oftentimes think about the impact that they have had on the world as they were passing through. The mark that you leave is known as your legacy, and with the assistance of medical science your legacy can include the gift of life.

Some conditions that were previously untreatable can now be addressed via organ transplant surgery. The challenge lies in the fact that there are always more people who need transplants than there are donors. In fact, according to statistics provided by OrganDonor.gov eighteen people who are on organ transplant lists die every day because there was no organ available for them.

With the above in mind you could choose to be an organ donor in an effort to save the life of another. You can state your desire to do so when you are working with your San Bernardino estate planning attorney to execute your living Will.

In addition to letting your wishes be known in your living Will you can also sign up for the organ donor registry online and you can do so by following this link: Donate Life California.

Everyone must pass away some day, but if you could pass the baton of life to someone else as a parting act it could be extremely meaningful to you as an individual and without question, an organ donation that saved a patient’s life would certainly be greatly appreciated by the recipient and his or her family.

The Elder & Disability Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.