Managing personal finances is not an easy task for most. Each year millions of dollars are spent on books and seminars with the hopes of getting rich and out of debt.

Helaine Olen, author of the new book “Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry”’ and former editor of the Money Makeover series in the Los Angeles Times warns Americans of being fooled by the short-sighted money decisions of even the best-known personal finance experts.

(Read more: Technology Companies and the Deceased)

In an interview with The Daily Ticker, Olen claims these financial gurus offer either platitudes or dreadful advice that don’t apply to most people’s lives or situations.

“The idea that anyone can give specific advice to millions of people first of all doesn’t really work,” she says. “We’re not archetypes.”

(Read more: 8 Life Stages of Estate Planning: Part 1)

The average American suffers from serious financial strain and the advice parroted by these alleged experts is “easier said than done,” Olen argued.

The author uses alarming stats to draw the picture of a typical American:

Americans possess less than $100,000 saved in dedicated retirement accounts and 43% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. Salaries have stagnated and Americans’ net worth has fallen nearly 40% between 2007 and 2010.

Thousands of dollars in credit card bills due to unexpected medical emergencies, divorce or long bouts of unemployment are the main reasons American find themselves drowning in debt.

(Read more: Living Together and Property Agreements)

Olen takes great distaste in the assertion that an individual can become a millionaire by investing all of one’s savings in the stock market. Suze Orman is among the “experts” that has promoted this suggestion before on CNBC and in her multiple books, yet Orman has admitted that she rarely invests in stocks and prefers the safety of municipal bonds, according to Olen. Equities are extremely volatile and rarely provide the 12% annual return that Orman and Dave Ramsey tout for people looking to quadruple their income, Olen adds.

Olen agrees with most personal finance experts that Americans should pay off high-interest credit cards and reduce their overall debt burdens.

Olen purposely avoids making her own personal finance recommendations in “Pound Foolish” but does proffer one tip she’s learned over the years as a personal finance journalist: invest in market index funds. They won’t make one rich but they offer the best return with the least amount of risk, she says.

Read more: http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/don-t-money-advice-suze-orman-dave-ramsey-122754956.html

Marc H. Wander is a partner of the Bloomfield Hills law firm of Witzke, Berry, Carter &Wander, PLLC. Marc has been licensed to practice law in Michigan since 1992. Marc’s practice is devoted to estate planning and business succession planning.  Marc is a member of the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the State Bar of Michigan and is a prior Chairperson of the Oakland County Bar Association Tax Committee. He is a frequent continuing education speaker to insurance agents, financial advisors, CPA’s and financial industry organizations. He has also been heard on WJR Radio. Follow Marc on Twitter @MarcWander

With so much of our lives online these days, many are curious as to what exactly happens to your digital stuff when you die? Currently, neither the U.S. nor Canada have consistent laws that treat digital data and accounts like physical goods, to be distributed via an estate plan after death.

Too often families are caught between estate laws (which grant them access to digital data) and privacy laws (which would forbid it). Some people create “social media wills” or share their passwords with a trusted person, while others use commercial services like LegacyLocker.com and SecureSafe.com, which allow people to store their account information in one place.

(Read more: Why Your Clients Should Be Concerned With the Federal “Death Tax”)

Without access to passwords and account details for the deceased, families must work within the guidelines of each individual tech company to gain access to their loved ones’ data. This can be a difficult process because most companies approach these situations differently.

This is a guide to navigate how some major internet companies handle the accounts of the deceased as of the end of 2012.

Google

• Won’t disclose passwords for Gmail or for its social network, Google+, or transfer ownership of an account.
• Won’t deactivate an account without a court order.
• May provide contents of a dead user’s account if family mails or faxes proof of the death and family connection, and family meets additional legal requirements such as an order from a U.S. court.
• Doesn’t offer Facebook-style “memorialization” for Google+ accounts.

(Read more: Estate Tax On the Rise, Don’t Panic, Plan)

Facebook

• Won’t disclose passwords or transfer ownership of an account.
• Will remove an account upon request of the family
• Will “memorialize” accounts if notified (not necessarily by a family member) that the user has died. Memorialization prevents anybody from logging into the account but allows friends to post remembrances and memorials to the deceased person’s account.
• Won’t disclose the contents of a deceased user’s account without a legal process.

Yahoo

• Won’t disclose passwords.

• If a user wants his family to have access to his account and after his death, Yahoo recommends he provide consent and his account information (username, password and/or answers to challenge questions) in his estate plans. Otherwise Yahoo won’t provide families data from the accounts of dead people.
• Will deactivate an account if the estate provides a death certificate via fax or email.

(Read more: Why You Need to Put Your Living Together Agreement in Writing)

Microsoft

• Won’t disclose passwords or transfer ownership of a Hotmail/Outlook.com account.
• Doesn’t consider it a violation for surviving family that gets a court order or otherwise has authority from the deceased to use his or her password to log into the account.
• Will deactivate an account upon the request of family.
• May provide contents of a dead user’s email if family contacts Microsoft via email and provides other documentation, which depends on location.

Twitter

• Won’t disclose passwords.
• Doesn’t disclose account data without a court order in the U.S.
• Doesn’t offer Facebook-style “memorialization” of accounts.
• Will deactivate an account if a family contacts Twitter with a copy of death certificate, a notarized statement, and other details.

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• Won’t disclose passwords or transfer ownership of an account.
• Will remove an account from public view if requested by immediate family.
• Won’t disclose account data without a court order in the U.S.
• Doesn’t offer “memorialization” of accounts.

LinkedIn

• Won’t disclose passwords for accounts, or transfer ownership of an account.
• Allows others (even beyond family members or executors) to report the death of a member, which causes the account and its data to be hidden from public view. People reporting deceased members usually must know the email address associated with the deceased person’s account.
• If a family specifically requests it, will delete an account and all of its data.
• Will not provide account data to others, including family members, unless required by a court.
• Doesn’t offer Facebook-style “memorialization” for accounts.

Read more: http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/01/04/what-to-do-online-when-a-loved-one-dies/

Marc H. Wander is a partner of the Bloomfield Hills law firm of Witzke, Berry, Carter &Wander, PLLC. Marc has been licensed to practice law in Michigan since 1992. Marc’s practice is devoted to estate planning and business succession planning.  Marc is a member of the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the State Bar of Michigan and is a prior Chairperson of the Oakland County Bar Association Tax Committee. He is a frequent continuing education speaker to insurance agents, financial advisors, CPA’s and financial industry organizations. He has also been heard on WJR Radio. Follow Marc on Twitter @MarcWander

Your estate plan should account for the many stages of life that you experience. Below is a rundown of the estate-planning tools you should have if you’re just beginning your life’s journey, halfway through, or approaching the homestretch.

Ch. 1: Planning for life

• 8 life stages for planning
• The basics of estate planning
• Estate-planning Q&A
• Should you have a will?

(Why You Need to Put Your Living Together Agreement in Writing)

Young, single and carefree

Parents make financial decisions for children by law, until they reach 18, and that legal right is vanquished. Consider the worse, if something happened to you, it is in your best interest for your parents to have access and control to your health care and financial decisions. Access to your medical providers, and more importantly, a say in your health care decisions protects you in the event of the unforeseen.

(A Risky Lifeline for the Elderly Is Costing Some Their Homes)

If you’re over 18 and unmarried, execute four documents to ensure  your loved ones can carry out your wishes:

1. A general durable power of attorney enables you to designate who will control your finances if you become incapacitated, whether it’s your parents or another loved one.
2. A health care proxy allows you to designate who will make medical decisions on your behalf in the same situation.
3. A living will lets you lay out your wishes regarding life-sustaining medical treatment.

Estate planning life stages

1. Young and single.
2. Single, but committed.
3. Engaged.
4. Just married.
5. Parents.
6. Divorced.
7. The middle years.
8. The golden years.

(Sandbagging In M&A Deals: Silence May Not Be Golden)

4. Finally, a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, release enables your designated agent to discuss your medical condition without violating patient privacy laws. Without those documents, loved ones may have to resort to seeking guardianship over you in court at a time when it is the last thing in the world that they want to be doing.

Single, but committed

A will or trust can ensure your life partner inherits your possessions if you’re in a long-term relationship but unmarried. Otherwise, state law deems that they go to your closest relatives.

(The Global Logic of Strategic Alliances)

We’re engaged!

A prenuptial agreement isn’t only for people who have a lot of money. It’s essential for everybody. A lot of people divorce because they’ve never had conversations about money. A prenuptial agreement forces people to engage in this financial conversation.

Just married

Edit your durable power of attorney, health care proxy and HIPAA release if you want to eliminate any question that your spouse should control your financial and medical decisions if you become incapacitated. Think of Terri Schiavo, referring to the woman whose parents and husband battled publicly for seven years over the right to make health care decisions on her behalf after she became incapacitated. She didn’t have a health care proxy.

(Lesbian Couples’ Marriage Rights)

If you do not have a revised durable power of attorney, your spouse also can’t administer property solely in your name or property you hold jointly with your spouse. Also, indicate the person you’d like to make financial and medical decisions on your behalf in the event an accident incapacitates you and your spouse.

If you don’t already have one, this is also the time for a will or trust. In a lot of states, if you die without a will and have a spouse but no children, your spouse will inherit some of what you own, but your parents will also inherit. Avoid the risk of a fight between your spouse and parents over who should inherit, and have a will or trust definitively state who should receive your assets. Also, if you own a home, purchase life insurance that will pay off your mortgage if one spouse dies.

(The Paperwork Mountain at Veterans Affairs)

Finally, change your beneficiary designations in terms of health insurance and investment plans so they pass to your spouse. A lot of people think when they get married, those things change on their own, but that’s not the case. Visit your human resources department and ask which documents include a beneficiary. Health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts sometimes have a beneficiary, as do bank accounts payable on death.

Contact Michigan Estate Planning Lawyer Christopher Berry to ensure your estate plan is secure and in place.

Read more:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/8-life-stages-estate-planning-080013261.html

Attorney Christopher J. Berry is a Metro Detroit estate planning and elder law lawyer who helps families, seniors, veterans and business owners with their important legal needs. Oakland County estate planning lawyer, Christopher Berry is a partner in the Bloomfield Hills law firm of Witzke Berry PLLC. Mr. Berry practices in the areas ofestate planning, business, probate, veterans benefits & Medicaid planning. Follow Christopher on Twitter@chrisberryesq.

In the event of death or breakup without a cohabitation agreement, you and your partner may be treated as legal strangers.

If you have chosen cohabitation over marriage – you aren’t alone. Cohabitation between married partners has increased 1,150 percent in the last 40 years. The fact remains that, unless you define your partnership through a legal contract, the law may see you as strangers in the case of a breakup or death.

What is Cohabitation?

The concept of cohabitation has expanded to include any two partners who have integrated their residence, property and daily lives. It can be viewed as a starting point for people considering marriage down the line, but can also be the ideal arrangement for couples who don’t want the social, personal and legal commitment associated with marriage. Other reasons individuals cohabitate include:

• Reduction of living expenses.
• Inability of a union of same-sex individuals to be recognized by the law.
• Choice by older individuals who don’t want to upset family or friends through remarriage.

The need for Cohabitation Agreements.

By choosing cohabitation, couples forego certain rights and protections that would be provided for them in a marital union. Married couples accrue legal rights, including the right to receive a property settlement and/or support in the event of divorce; file joint tax returns; receive distributions from estates free of estate tax; receive survivor’s benefits from retirement plans and Social Security; obtain “family” health insurance, dental insurance, and other employment benefits; and automatically share in his/her partner’s property in the event he/she dies without a will. Unmarried couples, generally acquire similar rights by expressly securing their benefits in cohabitation agreements (also referred to as cohabitation contracts). A cohabitation agreement is a private contract between cohabitants, which typically tries to establish contractually for the parties the rights and obligations that married people obtain by custom, statute, and agreement.

Why a Cohabitation Agreement?

Even if you regard your partner as family, the law usually does not. As a result, your partner may not be provided for in the manner you desire. For example, if you die without a will, your property generally will pass to your next-of-kin and not your partner. Paradoxically, the law may provide certain benefits for your partner that you had no intention of giving to him or her. Today, some courts are using equitable doctrines to apportion assets between cohabitants to prevent hardship and injustice. Because these doctrines are vague,proving them is both difficult and expensive. Therefore, you should be proactive and define your own partnership through a legal contract. Below are additional benefits of entering into cohabitation agreements:

• To guarantee the financially less secure partner an equitable settlement.
• To properly compensate a party for his or her role as a caretaker

• To allow the financially more secure party to limit exposure in the event of a breakup.
• To disclose expectations of the relationship, both financial and personal.

What to cover in a Cohabitation Agreement?

A cohabitation agreement is a flexible, laissez faire document that is less subject to regulation than a marital agreement. These contracts typically cover the following key points:

• Distributing property in case of death or breakup.
• Obligating financial support during the relationship or upon its dissolution.
• Handling the payment of debts.
• Dividing the principal residence upon breakup of the relationship or if one of you dies. Setting up the property ownership as ‘joint tenants with rights of survivorship’ will allow your partner to stay in your shared home. You’ll also want to be sure both of your names are on the deed.
• Defining support, custody or visitation rights for minor children (although nonbinding).
• Specifying health insurance coverage. Create a ‘health care proxy’ that will allow your partner to make decisions about your health care in case of emergency.
• Determining the right to serve as guardian/conservator in the event of incapacitation.
• Establishing the right to make medical decisions.

What’s the difference between a Cohab and a Prenup?

Prenups and cohabs compare like apples and oranges. A cohab will NOT have the same force and effect after marriage as a prenup. Most states have adopted legislation prescribing specific requirements for prenups, while very few states have adopted laws dealing with cohabs. As a result, cohabs are governed almost exclusively by general contract principles. Please remember that while a prenup goes into effect only upon marriage, a cohab usually isn’t valid once the parties marry.

The Commitment Conversation:
Are you in a long term relationship or do you know someone who is building one? In an effort to help individuals and couples feel more comfortable in discussing their lives together, we’ve created a guidebook to help you and your partner navigate through conversations that will strengthen your lives together.

AN IMPORTANT NOTE:

Living together does not automatically entitle either one of you to the rights and protections afforded to married couples. That is why you and your partner must state your rights and obligations in a legal document in the event of a breakup or death. A cohabitation agreement will insure that you and your partner are protected at the same time that it clarifies your understanding of the relationship.

Contact attorney Marc Wander to set up a cohabitation agreement.

Read more:
http://www.equalityinmarriage.org/bmagreements.html

Marc H. Wander is a partner of the Bloomfield Hills law firm of Witzke, Berry, Carter &Wander, PLLC. Marc has been licensed to practice law in Michigan since 1992. Marc’s practice is devoted to estate planning and business succession planning.  Marc is a member of the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the State Bar of Michigan and is a prior Chairperson of the Oakland County Bar Association Tax Committee. He is a frequent continuing education speaker to insurance agents, financial advisors, CPA’s and financial industry organizations. He has also been heard on WJR Radio. Follow Marc on Twitter @MarcWander

When it comes to next-of-kin laws and managing digital assets, each service functions differently insofar as notifying designated beneficiaries upon death or serious illness or injury. One example, is AssetLock, where beneficiaries can unlock an account by signing in to confirm the death. After the account is unlocked, information and instructions that were created by the user are delivered to the designated beneficiaries.

Price range of these services vary based on the amount of data stored and the number of beneficiaries designated. Services can cost between $1.50 per month to $30 per year to a $300 one-time fee. Like anything, it is important to find a plan that suites your individual needs. If you your estate is straightforward, a simple inventory stored in a secure place may suffice; but those with a more complex estate or with online businesses might consider an online service.

Shelley Walters-Walker, estate settlement services manager at Northern Trust, suggests referencing the digital assets inventory in estate planning documents such as a will or trust. Ask your attorney about including specific language that authorizes an executor or trustee, or in the case of disability, whomever has the power of attorney, to have access to your digital assets.

As it stands, the law is falling behind the fast-moving digital space, resulting in services that maintain their own sets of rules in terms of digital account access. In time, it is likely that the coverage of estate law will grow to include these assets as part of the estate planning process. But until then, address your online assets with your estate planning lawyer while you create or update your will.

The key to managing digital assets is to avoid being overwhelmed at the thought of it.  With a sea of hours spent online we often overlook how many different applications and systems in which we are creating a digital footprint, Walters-Walker says. Take the necessary precautions to ensure your heirs can access your digital accounts, either to collect on them, close them, or notify others of your passing.

Modern technology exists to simply our lives while we are living, but we are learning that without the necessary steps, it could complicate things significantly once we die.

Mr. Witzke practices in the areas of estate and gift tax planning, financial planning, retirement planning, charitable giving, elder law, and small business planning. He focuses on helping clients grow, protect, and transfer wealth efficiently. Mr. Witzke is a past president and board member of the Financial Planning Association of Michigan, a member of the board of directors for Leadership Oakland, and a member of the planned giving advisory committees of Wayne State University and the Community House in Birmingham. Follow Mr. Witzke on Twitter @gr8estatelawyer.

Terms and agreements for each online service vary regarding just what happens to a digital account after death. Facebook, for example, cannot be shut down completely without official documentation, such as a death certificate. Certain email services deny access to anyone without a password, however, Hotmail and Gmail have recently defined a next-of-kin process, which enables confirmed family members to access the deceased’s contact lists and close the accounts.

There are currently five states that either have or are enacting laws that will protect your digital legacy. Nebraska is the latest state to propose legislation to allow next-of-kin to control digital accounts after a user has perished. According to Adele McAlear, the creator of deathanddigitallegacy.com, the proposed bill is modeled after Oklahoma’s digital property management after death law, which passed in 2010.

Idaho passed a similar law in 2011, while Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Indiana have older legislation covering email and digital files. Sherry Walters-Walker, an estate settlement services manager at Northern Trust hopes for uniformity down the line, and that one day there will be laws that allow executors access to all accounts.

Laws are different for each service and state, contact Michael P. Witzke and discover Michigan’s next-of-kin laws regarding digital assets.

Mr. Witzke practices in the areas of estate and gift tax planning, financial planning, retirement planning, charitable giving, elder law, and small business planning. He focuses on helping clients grow, protect, and transfer wealth efficiently. Mr. Witzke is a past president and board member of the Financial Planning Association of Michigan, a member of the board of directors for Leadership Oakland, and a member of the planned giving advisory committees of Wayne State University and the Community House in Birmingham. Follow Mr. Witzke on Twitter @gr8estatelawyer.

Among the plethora of Bush era tax cut and sequester debates, Congress must also address the expiration of the current estate tax law before the year’s end. As it stands, the federal estate tax exemption is set at $5.12 million and estates valued over this amount will be taxed at 35 percent. If no action is taken by Congress, the exemption will revert to $1 million and the estate tax rate will be 55 percent in 2013. It is estimated that 52,500 estates will be affected in the event Congress fails to act.

Business and farm lobbyists are fighting to rein in the estate tax, with many hoping to have the tax eliminated. In a full-force effort, they are trying to persuade Congress that resources needed for investment are being drained due to the constant changes in the estate tax rate, in recent years.

The GOP agrees, on the basis that decreasing the exemption and raising taxes on job creators in this economy rivals common sense. On the flipside, many Democrats repeatedly assert that in order to cut the deficit, the estate tax should return to the 2009 levels of a 45 percent rate for estates with a $3.5 million exemption.

Long-term and estate planning is subject to dramatic fluctuation if the estate tax plan expires without action. Currently, the federal unused spousal exclusion is portable, meaning, if one spouse dies and does not use all of the exclusion, the surviving spouse can combine the remaining amount with his or her exclusion. Also at risk of expiration, is the portability of the federal spousal exclusion in the event that the estate tax sunsets.

Witzke, Berry, Carter & Wander PLLC is keeping a close eye on the ongoing debates and how any estate tax decisions may affect you and your clients.

Mr. Witzke practices in the areas of estate and gift tax planning, financial planning, retirement planning, charitable giving, elder law, and small business planning. He focuses on helping clients grow, protect, and transfer wealth efficiently. Mr. Witzke is a past president and board member of the Financial Planning Association of Michigan, a member of the board of directors for Leadership Oakland, and a member of the planned giving advisory committees of Wayne State University and the Community House in Birmingham. Follow Mr. Witzke on Twitter @gr8estatelawyer.