howeenterprise.com
Monday, April 15, 2019
Tips for late life estate planning Hey Taylor - My husband and I both turned 40 recently, and that sent us into a panic about our estate planning (or lack thereof). We’ve essentially Taylor Kovar done nothing and are wondering where to start. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. - Jessica Hey Jessica - First off, you’re in good company. Most people your age haven’t started estate planning, and a good chunk of them don’t even know what it is. It’s definitely worth doing now - the earlier you start the better, and the more peace of mind you’ll have.
expecting an estate transfer any time soon, is a durable power of attorney. You can give authority and responsibility to the person you and your husband trust most, ensuring that decisions will be made as you see fit if something should happen to you. By stating unequivocally who you want in charge of your estate, people will have less room to raise legal questions about what you would have wanted after you pass. You may also want to establish a healthcare proxy to make your medical decisions in the event that an accident or condition renders you unable to make those choices for yourself. This is another way to make sure someone you trust is in charge of making decisions when you cannot.
It isn’t fun to think about estate planning, but it’s a huge blessing Before diving all the way in, I to have the work done and recommend getting life insurance. I remove the anxiety of not think 20-year term life insurance knowing. Start with life plans work best, as they’re insurance and then think about affordable and easy to get. This sitting down with an attorney to plan won’t fund your inheritance, learn more about your options. but it will provide for your Wishing you and your family all dependents. A term worth the best, Jessica! somewhere around $500,000 should work, but the amount is Taylor Kovar, CEO of Kovar something you and your husband Capital. Read more about Taylor can discuss. at GoFarWithKovar.com After that, it’s time to think about the nitty gritty of your estate. If you want to get started on a last will and testament, it’s nice to get some of those details squared away. It doesn’t feel very pressing at 40, but there’s never a particularly convenient time to do a thorough inventory of your assets. Wills change all the time and it’s much easier to edit this document in the future than it is to put it together the first time.
Disclaimer: Information presented is for educational purposes only and is not an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. Investments involve risk and, unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial adviser and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed herein. To submit a The will is what most people think question to be answered in this of when imagining estate planning, column, please send it via email but it often isn’t the most important to Question@GoFarWithKovar.com, part. Just as important, especially or via USPS to Taylor Kovar, 415 when you’re in good health and not S 1st St, Suite 300, Lufkin, TX 75901.
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Living with children Julie Jargon is a reporter with the Wall Street Journal. Heretofore, she has written about food companies like Starbucks and McDonalds. As of April 2, however, Ms. Jargon is John Rosemond writing a WSJ column titled “Family and Tech,” described as dealing with “the impact of technology on family life.” In her inaugural column (April 2, 2019), which could have been written by public relations folks at Sony and the American Psychological Association, Ms. Jargon strives to convince her audience that simply because a child has difficulty putting down the game controller and finding creative, productive things to do does not mean he’s a videogame addict. Given that addiction is defined as being obsessed with and having great difficulty ceasing the use of a harmful substance or involvement in a non-productive or pathological activity, I fail to see anything but contradiction in Ms. Jargon’s thesis. We’re talking about kids who will not stop playing videogames unless a parent or the imminence of a bodily function forces them to stop. How’s that not an addiction? The manager of a large west coast convention hotel once told me that when his property hosted a “gamers” convention, his staff had to threaten attendees with pulling the plug on their devices to get them to drink water or eat even a cracker. Many of the attendees wore adult diapers so they wouldn’t have to stop playing. That, by any other name, is addiction. It’s also sick. It’s also where a child or teen’s obsession with videogames may lead if parents don’t pull the plug before some hotel manager has no choice - that or risk a lawsuit from a gamer who becomes dehydrated and suffers a cardiac episode. Ms. Jargon seems loathe to call a spade a spade. After relating two horror stories that clearly describe addiction, she refers to psychologists who advise parents to stop worrying about whether their kids are addicted and figure out instead if they’re using videogames to cope with depression, anxiety or stress. She cites a study finding that teens who played videogames four or more hours a day on average showed more signs of depression than kids who played less than four
hours a day. Note that the psychologists in question (unidentified) posit that depression and other mental health issues cause obsession with/addiction to videogames as opposed to the other way around. That’s a clever means of covering ineptitude while at the same time claiming rights to treatment (keep in mind, dear reader, I am a psychologist). Besides, it’s so much easier to tell parents their child needs a daily dose of a drug than it is to get them to do something that will cause their child to hate them and act deranged until cured, not to mention something that may cause them to never make another appointment. I once persuaded parents to “disappear” their 15-year-old son’s console while he was at school. He was so “into” videogames he would not come down to dinner or participate in any family activity and was usually up well past midnight every night. When he discovered that his supply of videopioid had been terminated, he went nuts. He all-but destroyed his room, for example. Two weeks of silence and self-imposed seclusion later, he admitted to his parents that he felt much, much better and was going to try and help other boysconquer their addictions. To prevent an addiction from developing, Ms. Jargon passes along such hackneyed tips as creating rules around playing and following them consistently. Okay, but that assumes parents who have no difficulty establishing limits that cause their kids distress. The problem is that all too many of today’s parents have an abundance of said difficulty, meaning Jargon’s advice is moot out of the gate. Thankfully, there are still parents who will stand up to child-rearing challenges and face them head-on; parents who are not trying to be their kids’ friends; parents who understand that children, including most teens, know only what they want, which is precisely why they require adults in their lives who know what they need. Family psychologist John Rosemond: johnrosemond.com, parentguru.com. John Rosemond has worked with families, children, and parents since 1971 in the field of family psychology. In 1971, John earned his masters in psychology from Western Illinois University and was elected to the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society.
