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In This Issue

PLANNING for Today’s Concerns

R u s s o L aw G r o u p, P.C .June 2016

phone 800-680-1717Garden City | Islandia | Lido Beach | Manhattan

web www.vjrussolaw.comBy Appointment Only:

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Are You Prepared For The Unexpected? Avoid Stress And Cost By Planning Ahead

• Are You Prepared For The Unexpected? Avoid Stress And Cost By Planning Ahead

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• Aggressive Moves You Can Make In Your Forties To Reach Long-Term Financial Goals

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• Planning For High-Risk Professionals

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• News From Russo Law Group, PC

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Are you and your family prepared for the unexpected? In the event of a sudden illness or injury, advanced directives can save you and your family time, money, and emotional distress.

The four advanced directives everyone should consider are health care proxies, HIPPA release, living wills, and powers of attorney, yet these precautions are often overlooked by married couples.

In addition, we also recommend that you complete a burial designation and guardianship designation. These documents help to guide your family when making decisions on how you would like your remains handled after your passing (i.e. which funeral home and whether you want to be buried or cremated). Additionally, the Guardianship designation helps the courts understand who you would want to make your financial and medical decisions in the case that a guardianship is needed.

This year I have had the pleasure of working with a married couple who suffered an unforeseen and life-changing event: the wife suffered a debilitating stroke while undergoing a simple medical

procedure, and she needed the type of care that is only available in nursing homes.

Unfortunately, the couple had not completed a power of attorney or healthcare proxy while the wife was still competent enough to sign legal documents. As a result, her husband had to contend with costly and emotionally difficult decisions regarding his wife’s care.

He needed to take immediate action to access his wife’s assets, while also making decisions for his wife’s medical care. While this couple was married and shared property, the husband was only able to access the joint bank accounts.

By: Deanna M. Eble, Esq.

Deanna M. Eble, Esq. became a Partner at Russo Law Group, P.C. in March 2016.

Aggressive Moves You Can Make In Your Forties To Reach Long-Term Financial Goals

He was unable to do anything with any of the real property that they held jointly.

The only way for the husband to obtain Medicaid coverage for his wife’s nursing home care was to be appointed as her guardian. Unfortunately, guardianship proceedings are roughly ten times the cost of setting up a power of attorney, healthcare proxy, or living will. In order to gain guardianship, the husband was required to testify under oath that his wife’s condition was causing him undue emotional suffering.

This type of emotional turmoil and aggravation can be avoided by planning ahead with a trust and estate attorney.

The process starts with a consultation to assess the unique set of circumstances that each client is facing and explain to the

client the importance of advanced directives, as part of the estate plan.

Our law practice drafts comprehensive power of attorney, living will, and health care proxy documents. These services generally costs between $1,500 and $1,750. This is in stark contrast to a guardianship hearing, which typically costs between $10,000 and $20,000.

Be prepared for the unexpected. Schedule a meeting with us to discuss drafting documents that will provide you and your family some peace of mind in the event of unforeseen circumstances.

A recent article in Kiplinger discussed an aggressive approach to financial planning in your forties. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights.

Make saving for retirement a priority and beef up your investments.You’ll want to start by making the largest possible contributions to your employer’s retirement plan. This year, people in their forties are allowed to contribute up to $18,000 to a 401(k) or similar type of employee savings plan (when you turn 50, you can contribute up to $24,000). At the very least, you should put enough into your company’s retirement plan to take full advantage of its contribution matching program.

A word of caution—if you put all your retirement savings into tax-deferred accounts, you might get hit hard by taxes when you retire. That’s because withdrawals from

401(k) plans and traditional IRAs are taxed at the retiree’s ordinary income tax rate. This makes contributing to a Roth IRA a good idea. Your contributions are after-tax, but your withdrawals are tax-free as long as you are over 59½ and have owned the Roth IRA for five years or more. In 2016, you and your spouse can contribute up to $5,500 in a Roth IRA if you have an adjusted gross income of $184,000 or less. If your adjusted gross income is between $184,000 and $194,000, you are allowed to contribute a lesser amount.

It is important to note that employees in lower tax brackets are typically better off diverting some of their savings to Roth IRAs and other taxable accounts because the benefit of tax deferral is not as valuable as it is to those in high tax brackets. Conversely, if you are in a high tax bracket, such as the 35% bracket, you should contribute as much as possible to tax-deferred accounts. This is because

Are You Prepared For The Unexpected? Avoid Stress And Cost By Planning Ahead

Aggressive Moves You Can Make In Your Forties To Reach Long-Term Financial Goals (Cont.)

when you take withdrawals in retirement you will likely be in a lower tax bracket.

Don’t skimp on your retirement savings to pay for your children’s college education.Why? Simple. You or your children can borrow money to pay for college, but you cannot borrow money to pay for retirement. In addition, when investing for retirement, time is indeed money. The more you can invest early on, the greater the likelihood that you’ll have more money when you retire. Also, working longer, say well into your sixties, may not be an option. Corporate downsizing and/or health problems could limit how long you can work. The fact is, saving more than you need for retirement will allow you to help pay off your children’s student loans when you do retire.

Make the most of what your employer is offering. Your employer may well be offering more than a paycheck. For example, some companies match employee contributions to health savings accounts. Others offer retiree health benefits, pensions and more. Taking advantage of employee benefits like these can help you build additional wealth and provide for a greater sense of security in retirement.

Pay off your debt logically. Sure, it would be great to retire without a mortgage. You would eliminate one of your greatest expenses, which in turn could allow you to withdraw less money from your retirement savings during market downturns to pay for unforeseen expenses. However, in your forties there may well be better ways to use your money, particularly if you have a low interest mortgage. For example, it’s better to pay off debts with higher interest rates, such as credit cards or vehicles. Then, if you have money left over, you could make extra mortgage payments. Consider this: on a 30-year mortgage, if you make one extra monthly payment a year, you will knock four years off the term of your loan.

To learn more about planning strategies in your forties, you can read the entire Kiplinger article at http://finance.yahoo.com/news/4-aggressive-moves-40s-achieve-164712615.html.

Planning For High-Risk Professionals

Every individual and family can benefit from estate planning. For some people, however, effective planning requires a higher level of asset protection. Certain professionals, such as physicians, attorneys, business owners and financial advisors, are far more likely to be sued than people working in other occupations. For example, just because a physician has medical malpractice insurance does not mean his or her personal assets are safe from a lawsuit. Many personal injury lawyers consider the entire value of the physician’s malpractice insurance to be the starting point in negotiations over damages, not the ultimate prize.

If you work in a high-risk profession, contact us today to discuss your options. We can use a wide range of proven tools and strategies to protect your assets from lawsuits and other threats.

100 Quentin Roosevelt Blvd. | Suite 102Garden City, NY 11530

News From Russo Law Group, P.C.

What Type Of Legacy Do You Want To Leave?

On May 11th, partners, Vincent J. Russo and Marie Elena Puma joined client, John Brancaccio at a ceremony in his honor at St. Francis Hospital. As part of John’s estate plan, he made a bequest to benefit the Heart

Valve Center at St. Francis Hospital. The John Brancaccio Heart Valve Center will aid in providing continued advancements through less invasive approaches to patients.

If you, like John, are interested in charitable gift giving either in your lifetime or after death, contact us today at 516-683-1717 to discuss how we can help you to create your legacy.

Have An Attorney From Russo Law Group, P.C. Present To Your Organization

Vincent J. Russo was invited to the Brooklyn Borough on May 18th to present a seminar on pooled trusts to members of the Brooklyn community.Often people understand the importance of planning for the future, however, they do not know where to start; seminars are a great jumping off point.

The attorneys of Russo Law Group, P.C. are always available as a resource.

Contact Russo Law Group, P.C. at 516-683-1717 to have an attorney present a seminar to your organization.