Tips to Find the Right Certified Financial Planner Fiduciary for your Parents

As your parents age, they might need additional assistance from a trustworthy family member to manage their finances. However, due to a variety of reasons. this might not be always possible because of which the need for a certified financial planner & fiduciary might arise.

In addition to ensuring objectivity and prioritizing the needs of your parents, a professional fiduciary also help in leveraging their assets to enhance their financial health. Naturally, because of the nature of the job, hiring one can be pretty complicated.

In this blog, we offer a few tips that will help you to hire the right person to oversee your parents’ finances:

Hiring a Certified Financial Planner & Professional Fiduciary

1. Do your research

Look for professional fiduciaries in your local area. Ensure that you look for reviews and also do some background research when you find someone eligible to know whether they have been subjected to disciplinary actions in the past.

2. Seek references

After you find someone who fits the bill and has an impeccable record, feel free to ask them for references from past or current clients or their partners. Talk to these references and also other professionals who can provide you with valuable insights regarding how good the professional fiduciary is at his or her job.

3. Interview

So, the reviews are great and now you are seriously thinking about hiring the professional fiduciary. However, do remember that the fiduciary will be in charge of guiding your parents when it comes to making the right financial decisions without having to be supervised all the time. Therefore, it should go without saying that the professional must be empathetic, patient, and of course, have comprehensive knowledge pertaining to the management of finances in an ethical and legal manner. In addition to this, it is important to ascertain whether your parents will be comfortable with the professional in question.

To put these concerns to rest, interview a minimum of 3 professionals before you zero in on the right one. Prepare a list of questions before you meet them. Ideally, you should ask them their succession plans, confidentiality measures, and whether they work directly with their clients or have a team to do it for them.

These are just some things that one should take into account while hiring a certified financial planner & professional fiduciary in San Diego, California. If you require the services of a reliable expert who offers services such as property management and oversees household management matters on behalf of your senior parents, get in touch with Chris Cooper today.

Your Guide to Caring for a Parent with Parkinson’s Disease

Caregivers of a parent or spouse with Parkinson’s Disease often find themselves overwhelmed and burned out because of the new role they are entrusted with: taking care of a loved one who isn’t mentally or emotionally well. Caring for a loved one with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) — a progressive nervous system disorder that affects movement — is different from caring for a senior with restricted mobility or dementia, which makes it all the more challenging. But with a few expert recommendations, you can help your parents with PD live the best possible quality of life.

Learn how to care for your parents with Parkinson’s Disease:

Support during the diagnosis

Diagnosing PD and deciding the best treatment option generally requires several visits to the doctor. This can be overwhelming for the person, which is why your support is critical during this time. Your support will make sure that they keep up with their appointments, never miss follow-up visits, and get their every question answered.

Encouraging treatment

Many times, seniors with doctor-diagnosed PD feel discouraged and decide to leave their treatment halfway. As a caregiver to a parent or spouse with PD, it’s your job to support them in every way possible to keep them motivated and ensure that they follow through the treatment.

Day-to-day life

As Parkinson’s Disease progresses, people often require help with activities of daily living and staying active during the day. Besides, they most likely need a safer home space to minimize the risk of slips and falls, which is prevalent among seniors with PD. You may have to ensure that they are able to manage their daily living activities and remain safe in the comfort of home. You can also seek help from a home health professional to take care of their daily errands and personal needs.

Emotional support

Parkinson’s Disease may impact a person’s mental health, resulting in anxiety and depression. It can also take a toll on their thinking and communication. As a caregiver of a parent or spouse with PD, you should provide them with much-needed support to help them combat all the challenges the PD brings.

If your parent or spouse has Parkinson’s Disease, consider getting in touch with Chris Cooper to know more about how you can care for them. You can also buy his best-selling book “Eldercare Confidential,” which is a candid guide for caregivers to help them care for the elderly in the best manner possible.

3 Crucial Tips for Family Caregivers to Provide Better Care to the Elderly

When your senior loved one is aging in place, you may want to provide them with the best care possible. In that pursuit, you will most likely become their full-time caregiver, but without training and experience. And this is where things can get a little overwhelming for you, especially if you don’t have answers to questions or resources regarding caregiving. However, Eldercare Confidential — a candid guide for caregivers — is always there to your rescue, answering all the questions about senior care and guiding you to provide seniors with much-needed care. 

Here are the top 3 tips derived from the best-selling candid guide for caregivers, Eldercare Confidential by Chris Cooper, to help you care for your senior loved one in the best manner possible:

Take care of your health

Before you can take care of someone else, you need to take care of yourself. And this is all the more important when you are caring for the elderly, as it involves investing yourself not only physically but also mentally and emotionally. Make sure you eat healthily, follow your exercise routine, and seek help if you feel run down by the new responsibilities. 

Remember what’s important for your loved one

Family caregivers often feel overwhelmed when caring for a loved one. And in that stressful situation, they tend to make bad decisions, affecting the quality of life of the care recipient. But when you know what’s important to them and you do what’s best for them, you are unlikely to make bad decisions. Plus, to avoid feeling overwhelmed, try to get involved with them and pull them into their care. This way, they will also feel more useful around the house and make better relationships with other family members. 

Be open to new technologies

Caregiving is a full-time job that can stress you out. You will be helping your senior with daily errands, scheduling doctor appointments, taking care of their hygiene, providing transportation, and whatnot. To make the process easier, you would want to welcome technologies that not only make caregiving easier for you but also improve the quality of your care for the elderly. And luckily, there is no shortage of such technology today. 

If you have become a family caregiver and want to provide much-needed care to your loved one, get the best-assisted living advice and support from Eldercare Confidential, which is a candid guide for caregivers practicing either at home or in assisted living facilities.

3 Retirement Decisions for Baby Boomers to Have a Comfortable Retirement Life

The majority of baby boomers haven’t saved enough to fully retire at 65 while having their pre-retirement living standard, says recent studies. Because of this, they either need to work longer, reduce their living standards, or do a mix of both. This means that they need to make some critical decisions in regards to retirement planning, which may even include getting retirement planning and advice in California.
Here are the three decisions that are likely to have the most impact on baby boomers’ retirement:

When and how to retire

Decisions about when to retire and how to retire can have a significant impact on your life after retirement. For example, if you choose to retire at 62 and immediately start collecting your social security, you may begin drawing your retirement savings and have a reduced quality of life because of fewer retirement savings. On the other hand, if you choose to retire at 70 while working full time, not only will you have an edge regarding social security benefits, but you would have saved more for improved retirement life. You can also choose to retire at 62 and work part-time to cover your living expenses while not contributing to the savings. However, it can be overwhelming to decide the right time to retire, which is why getting the best retirement planning and advice is critical.

When to start taking Social Security benefits

The decision of when to begin collecting social security benefits is largely dependent on your circumstances. You can either begin taking them as early as age 62 or wait till you have reached your full retirement age. While there’s no correct age to do it, retirement planning and advice experts in California suggest delaying your social security, as doing so will pay you off over a long retirement.

Which expenses to reduce

As we enter into retirement, our needs change, and so do our expenses. However, we often need to cut back on expenses that we considered essential five or ten years before retirement. If you have enough savings to support your expenses, you should not have to worry; nevertheless, if your savings are less than the average retirement savings, you may need to analyze all your income sources and expenses, and based on that, you should think of the expenses without which you can spend your later years comfortably. It can be challenging to decide, which is why retirement planning and advice in California can be of big help.

If you or your senior loved one is going to retire soon and want to have a comfortable retirement life, get in touch with Chris Cooper today for the best retirement planning and advice.

How to Recognize Caregiver Burnout and Prevent it

Many caregivers struggle with physical, emotional, and/or mental exhaustion — commonly referred to as caregiver burnout — when caring for the elderly. This state of burnout can often be seen in a change in their attitude towards the care recipient — from being positive and extremely caring to negative and completely apathetic as the burnout peaks.

Generally, caregiver burnout happens when caregivers try to put in more effort in their duties than they are capable of, both physically and mentally. Other times, it is a result of unavailable help to them when they need it. However, it is easy to prevent provided you know its early signs and what to do if you notice those signs.

If you are a caregiver or a family member caring for your elderly loved one, watch out for these signs that indicate caregiver burnout:

• Overwhelming fatigue
• Lack of energy
• Sleep troubles (too little or too much)
• Changes in eating habits; increased or loss of appetite
• weight gain or loss
• A feeling of hopelessness
• Losing interest in the activities you used to enjoy
• Neglecting own physical and emotional needs
• Stomachaches, headaches, and other physical problems
• Reduced resistance to illness
• Depression, anxiety, or mood swings
• Difficulty coping with everyday activities

What to do if you notice the early signs of caregiver burnout?

If you notice the early signs of burnout, take these steps:

Take a break
A break from your caregiving duties will enable you to rest your mind and rejuvenate. This will help you perform better when you get back to caring for the elderly. Go on a vacation or join a marathon day, or do anything you love to do.

Eat a balanced diet
Failure to consume a balanced diet can impact your performance in all aspects of life, including caregiving responsibilities. As a caregiver or family member providing care, you need to stay active all day long, which is monitoring what you eat and how often you eat is essential. Make sure to pay attention to your diet.

Ask for help when in need
Feeling overwhelmed when caring for the elderly is normal. You may fail to figure out what’s necessary for a given situation or stress yourself out to provide the best care. But you don’t necessarily have to experience it alone. It’s better to ask someone for help or have someone around to share your emotions and burden. It’s a good way to counter stress and the burden of eldercare.

Final note
Caregiver burnout is real and can happen with anyone caring for the elderly. However, it can be provided by recognizing its early signs and taking steps to combat it.

If you want to learn the art of caring for seniors without burdening yourself both physically and mentally, Eldercare Planning by Chris Cooper is your best caregiving guide to go for.

Financial Planning for Different Stages of Life: Marriage, Parenting, and Retirement

Couples plan every small detail of their wedding but often forget to talk about the financial aspects. We need to understand that things don’t remain the same and because money is something that people fight over, we should definitely establish short-term and long-term goals as a couple. Do you need to buy a house? Are there enough financing options available? How much should you spend and save for the future? If you two have joint insurance plans, whose plan should you be on? All these things come into play when you're getting married. You want to make sure you're setting it right from the start.

With a Growing Family, Your Goals and Priorities Change

With a growing family, your goals and priorities change rapidly and you need to plan for the future. According to recent reports, it's been estimated that the cost of a child is more than an investment of $1.45 million over 22 years. Now multiply that by 2and3. That's pretty scary, isn’t it? Being a parent brings on additional financial responsibilities. It's very important at this point to make sure you have a guardian designated for your children and also provide means in case something happens to you or your spouse. Also, you should have a will prepared. Rework your cash flow numbers, check what your budget looks like, and start saving for college in advance so you can focus on the next stage in life.

Financial Planning for Retirement is Equally Important

It may seem like it will never happen or it won't happen soon enough, eventually, you will retire. Your goal should be to plan for retirement now instead of at the time that you retire because at that point it's often too late. Once you retire, you'll be living off income that you're receiving, a pension if it's available, and maybe social security but you don't know if it will be there or not. You need to know what you would need when you retire and decide if you need to tweak the investments. Do I need to provide an income stream? Are the accounts titled appropriately? When should you start tapping into your 401 K and IRA accounts? These are some of the key decisions you need to make.

The key to financial freedom is to be prepared in advance! Let Chris Cooper help you in the process and ensure a secure, comfortable future for you!

3 Good Financial Planning Options for the Elderly

The average lifespan of the people in the US is gradually increasing. There are more and more adult children that are caring for their elderly parents who have used all of their savings.The2014 Cost of Care survey by Genworth stated that the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment in an assisted living facility in the United States is around $42,000 a year and a private room in a nursing home is more than $87,000. Paying annually for care often requires a full understanding of the options through careful elder care planning in San Diego, California, and research. Here are some of them-

Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCI)

Long-Term Care insurance or LTCI may help to pay for the costs that are not covered by private medical insurance. This type of plan may minimize the financial impact of the need for long-term health care. Basically, LTCI covers the costs for assisted living, home care, respite care, adult day care, nursing homes, hospice care, and even Alzheimer's care facilities. Many companies will not insure anyone that has a pre-existing condition, so it is best to purchase an LTCI before any health issues begin.

Life Insurance Policy Conversions

Instead of just allowing a life insurance policy to surrender or lapse, you can often have it converted into a long-term care benefit plan. Any type of enforced life insurance policy, such as universal, whole term and group with the death benefit of $50,000 to $1million can be easily and quickly converted into a policy that is right for you. It is a very unique financial option for the elderly because it pays for immediate care needs. There are no wait periods, no cost or obligations to apply, no premium payments, no care limitations, no requirement to be terminally ill, and most importantly—all health conditions are accepted. The policy owner has the right to have the policy converted to an enforced life insurance policy to be able to enroll in the benefit plan. And they are able to immediately send tax-exempt payments to cover long-term care in senior housing costs.

Government-Funded LTC

Many US citizens are very surprised to find that Medicare isn't a universal health care plan for those who are over 65 and it doesn't cover the long-term care costs for the elderly. A home equity conversion mortgage or a reverse mortgage is a specific loan for those who are over the age of 62 that will turn the equity saved in a home into cash. When someone obtains a reverse mortgage, they can use the money from their home equity while living in and keeping the ownership of their home. There aren't any restrictions on how you can use the money as well. If you really need money for a specific purpose and are concerned about not being able to make any type of payments on an average or regular loan, getting a reverse mortgage makes good financial sense.

For eldercare planning services in Toledo, Ohio, contact Chris Cooper today!

3 Mistakes Seniors should avoid to Ensure Better Tax Planning for Retirement

Because retirees have relatively lower incomes and fewer deductions, it’s not very uncommon for them to think that they don't need to worry a lot about income tax preparation. The truth is, retirees face unique tax challenges that require effective tax planning to prevent potential problems in the future. Of course, they have certain advantages over taxpayers of other age groups, however, not planning your taxes carefully can lead you to costly mistakes and hamper your retirement income. Here are 3 mistakes seniors should avoid ensuring better tax for retirement-

Tax Loss Harvesting (Excessive) - Also known as tax-loss selling, tax loss harvesting is the act of selling a capital asset for loss in order to offset a gain realized by the sale of other investments. Though it might be a good tax-saving strategy, excessive tax loss harvesting isn’t particularly useful in retirement accounts, IRA or 401(k). The reason? The loss generated in a tax-deferred account cannot be deducted.

Not Carefully Managing their Withdrawals - A lot of retirees don’t properly manage their IRA withdrawals, as a result of what, they end up paying more taxes later. Once you turn 59, you can withdraw money from your tax-deferred accounts without having to pay an early-withdrawal penalty, however, it’s very important that you carefully manage these withdrawals, so you do not end up moving into a higher tax bracket.

Not Taking Social Security Taxability Into Account - There is a misconception among people about social security that it is not taxable. The truth is, up to 85% of it can be subject to tax. Though retirees with minimal income don’t have to pay federal taxes on their benefits, however, for any additional income, some tax is levied. Work with a financial planner to determine if any additional income impacts the taxation of social security.

Effective tax planning is equally important for seniors as others so they can avoid costly mistakes and ensure a more stable, relaxed, and secure financial future. The process may sound simple but the nitty-gritty of it can be difficult to grasp. To plan your taxes wisely, get in touch with Chris Cooper — a professional fiduciary and expert for tax planning and advice.

Ensure a Secure Financial Future & Take Better Care of Your Aging Parents

Many adult children are used to an elderly parent handling their finances without their participation at all. The father generally earns the money and pays bills, or it's the mother who is taking care of them — until something goes wrong. After reaching a certain age, our ability to make good financial decisions, decreases. We become more forgetful, don’t remember paying bills, and are even vulnerable to scams. As adults, it’s important for us to know if our elderly parent/s can still make sound financial decisions. If not, how to care for your parents and ensure a secure financial future for yourself. For assistance on this matter, you can consult an expert in elderly care and financial planning.

It’s Important to Act Proactively

Things going wrong for your parents at an old age can be devastating and increase the financial burden on you, especially if you are not doing well yourself. So, once you have figured out that your elderly parents are not capable of managing finances on their own, act pro-actively and help yourself, so you don’t end up being in a problematic situation. If possible, talk to your parents about it, which can be a challenging task. A lot of elderly parents having problems handling money matters are not ready to accept, don't realize they're impaired or are fearful of losing their independence. So, they try to hide it. Nonetheless, you need to figure out ways to ensure a secure financial future.

Professional Fiduciary Services Can Be Of Big Help

Caring for an elderly parent is not an easy task, especially when it also involves finance. Having a professional fiduciary by your side who is trustworthy, compassionate, and experience — can be of big help and provide you with the most appropriate solution to your problem. Chris Cooper, as your professional fiduciary offers you peace of mind and ensures your parents receive much-needed care and attention. Our goal is to help older adults live independently, safely, and with dignity without having to worry about their future. From us, caregivers can buy confidential eldercare guides online — to ensure the effective care of the elderly. 

Need senior care solutions? Contact Chris Cooper today!

Different Phases of Retirement Tax Planning — the Need to Plan Taxes Wisely

People often pay more taxes in retirement than they need to because of confusing rules and surprises in the tax code. Another reason for that is simply not looking ahead and asking how their actions today will affect their tax situation in later years. Your tax exposure changes over time depending on a variety of factors. If you don't look ahead and plan for these changes, it can cost a lot of money. A professional in income tax preparation can help you look ahead and make the right decisions to ensure that you can save big on taxes, and your money lasts longer. There are basically four phases of retirement tax planning:

* Late Working Years (50 to 65) - This phase is the last few years of saving and planning, and you want to ask questions like Roth versus Traditional? Mortgage versus No Mortgage? How much you need to spend, when to take SS, PBGC, CPRP, and more. Tax planning at this stage allows you to create the probability of your financial picture.

* Early Retirement Years (65 to 70) - This phase is where your actual retirement starts. It’s the stage of your transition to Medicare and retiree medical benefits, and then a big part of this stage, for tax planning purposes, is planning for required minimum distributions (RMDs) whether you are going to consider Roth conversions during the period before your MD starts. Another important part of this stage is planning your order of withdrawals, which can make a huge impact on the taxes you pay over your lifetime.

* Mid Retirement Years (70 to 80) - At this stage, your spending generally decreases but it does not necessarily mean your tax bracket decreases because the big factor here is RMDs. Qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) are a way to potentially replace withdrawals from RMDs. You can take money out of a tax-deferred account and send that money directly to a charity. It helps you fulfill your RMD obligation.

* Late Retirement Years (80+) - Late retirement years include legacy planning and other important things to consider are elder care, long-term care (LTC), cognitive decline, and more.

People miss opportunities, deadlines, or create obstacles by not looking ahead, and then letting certain dates ages or events pass them by. And before they know it, they are stuck with a decision or a lack of a decision that cannot be undone, which can prove to be very costly. Avoid these mistakes! Contact Chris Cooper — your expert for tax Planning and advice — and plan your taxes wisely.