There are no easy answers when dealing with aging loved ones.  There are also limitless topics we could discuss.  Here, I only address one: the need for communication.  There are so many issues that are difficult to discuss as families and loved ones age.  Old patterns of communication, old rivalries, assumptions can all get in the way.

But, even though these discussions will be hard, it is so vital to try your best to have them.  If you are young (or young-ish) and there is an aging person close to you, do you know things like:  

-  who are all of their professionals (their doctors, lawyer, broker, home health aid, etc.)
-  where do they keep important things (such as wills, lists of medications, contact numbers, keys, combinations, etc)
-  who has signing authority (on checks and invoices and other financial stuff, who can sign?)
-  what are their preferences (regarding health care, end of life care, etc.)

You can't get to all of this, and other, information all at once.  It takes time.  Maybe years.  But the sooner you and other family members can have open discussions about these types of things, the easier your lives will all be down the road.

Good luck and peace!

It's hard to save money.  There are so many claims on so few resources.  It can sometimes seem like it's hopeless to even try.  Not true!  Here's an approach that, over time, can work. 

Begin by opening an account that you don't have ready and easy access to. This account can be a savings account at a bank you don't often use, or an IRA or some other type of investment account.  The main thing is that it should be an account that you don't constantly tap into (like with a debit card).  If you want a tax deduction and can leave the money be for a long time, then look into an IRA.  If the tax deduction isn't so important to you, then look into a savings account. 
 
Then, begin to make deposits or contributions to this account each and every month.  The easiest way to do this is to have your bank or employer set it up so the monthly amount is electronically transferred over to the new account.  Don't transfer a huge amount at first.  Transfer just a bit, whatever you can comfortably afford.


Now, here's the trick:  every six months, ratchet up the amount of your monthly transfer by a little bit more, depending on what you can afford.  So, if you started with a monthly transfer of just $20 or $50 or $100, then in six months, ratchet that  monthly amount up to $25 or $75 or $125.  And then let it run for another six months.

After another six months, ratchet the monthly amount up again.  And then again in another six months.  Keep doing this for three years or so.

Before long, you'll find that you are saving quite a bit of money each month.  But you won't have to have a drastic adjustment process.  Over time, you'll be able to save a lot of money each month, but you won't feel the impact upon your lifestyle and expenses in such a dramatic way.

I hope this helps for you!
 

Patience.  Patience.  The stock market (as measured by the Dow) has been doing great.  But of course the job market still stinks for a lot of people.  And the housing market?  Well, depends where you are.

But, a lot of people look at the surging stock market and want to get in on the fun.  My best advice to you is to be patient and beware.  The stock market is going up for a lot of reasons: decent corporate earnings, investors moving out of bonds, poor alternatives to stocks, etc.  And most of all, the Fed's actions help make stocks attractive.

This can go on for a while longer, maybe a lot longer.  But this cannot go on forever.  Markets rise, and fall.  If you are not invested in the market right now, and you wish you had gotten in a couple of years ago, well tough.  You didn't and you can't go back.  So you have to think about what might be your best move from here.

If you have money to invest, I'm going to assume you'll use mutual funds, maybe a blend of different types of stocks (large and small and domestic and international).  And I'm going to assume you have a long term time horizon for this money you want to invest (like, 10 years or more).  

Be patient with how you move this money into your portfolio of chosen funds.  If you put everything you have into mutual funds today, what if the market tanks next month, you'll wish you'd waited, right?  

My guess is that the market will have some sort of a nasty turn at some point during this year.  It can't go up every day, every week, all year, right?  And you'd like to invest at better prices than are available right now, today.  

So, move your money into the market slowly, bit by bit, over several months.  Like, 12 or even 18 months.  Either automatically or manually, set it up so you invest a small portion of your money each month, for 18 months.  Then, if the market tanks, keep investing on the way down.  Even if the market goes down for a whole year, if you invest each month, think of the prices you'll get.  

But be patient.  And don't try to chase this market.  It's gone up a lot.  It's got momentum.  But remember, when everyone around you thinks the market is a sure thing, be very very concerned.  When it looks like there's no risk in the stock market, that's when we're near a top, and people are going to be taught another lesson about the risks involved in investing.

Good luck, ask questions, be skeptical.  And, peace!

IRA - This stands for "Individual Retirement Account."  There are many different types of IRAs: some are used for small businesses (SEP IRAs or SIMPLE IRAs) and some for individuals (Traditional IRAs and ROTH IRAs).  What each of these have in common is that they are accounts that a person can put money from income into, and receive a tax benefit in return. 

An IRA is a tax deferred account.  For tax deferred accounts (Traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs, 401Ks, 403bs), money invested is then deducted from the contributor’s income in the current year, so the contributor pays lower taxes in that year. Then, contributions can grow and no taxes are owed on the gains or income until distributions begin in retirement (indeed there are penalties if a person tries to take money out of a retirement account before age 59.5). When distributions occur in retirement, the account owner will have to add the distributions to their income, and pay income taxes on the total amount. 

ROTH IRAs are different in that contributions are made with after tax dollars, so there is no tax break in the year of the contribution. And, no taxes are owed when the account owner goes to take distributions in retirement. In summary, for a Traditional IRA, taxes are deferred until retirement. For a ROTH IRA, distributions in retirement are tax free.

Make sense?  Ask me questions if you want more info.