The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Estate Planning 3-2-1 – Part 3: One task that can make – or break – your estate plan

By Lauren A. Pitman, Attorney

Founder and Author of the Side by Side Planner

Imagine this: a person goes through the trouble of hiring an attorney, making an estate plan, and keeping the plan accessible to their loved ones in an emergency. Then, their loved ones discover a glitch. The deceased’s life insurance policy is payable-on-death to only one of the three children, as it was created many years ago when the family only had one child.

Now, it‘s up to that child to decide: was this my loved one’s true wish for this money, or do I have to share it? What happens now?

Estate Planning 3-2-1, Part 2: Two ways to ease family tension by personalizing your estate plan

By Lauren A. Pitman, Attorney

Founder and Author of the Side by Side Planner

If I have learned anything in more than 15 years as an estate planning attorney, it’s that there’s really no such thing as a “normal family.” That’s because every family is beautiful, whether your “family” is your children and grandchildren, beloved nieces and nephews, or a network of close friends.

That’s why online estate planning tools don’t work: they aren’t customizable enough to work for a real-life family. Real families are too important to risk. I have seen too many sibling relationships fall apart after the death of a parent over what’s “fair.” In extreme cases, contests or disputes lead to permanent family fall-out.

A good estate plan can do more than just preserve relationships: it can even heal old wounds or set things right within a family. Only you know what you think is fair for your beneficiaries.

Estate Planning 3-2-1 – Part 1: Three key lists to keep with your estate plan

By Lauren A. Pitman, Attorney

Founder and Author of the Side by Side Planner

An estate plan is meant to make life easier for the people you love. You make it for yourself – so you maintain control over your medical decisions and the way your assets are distributed, to protect the legacy you’ve built – but really, it’s about the people you love.

It’s about lightening the load for them. If something happened to you, like an accident or injury, your loved ones would already be under a great deal of stress. The last thing they want to worry about is bureaucracy and paperwork.

That‘s where an estate plan comes in. You have done the work ahead of time, so your loved ones can focus on what is important: taking care of you and each other.

Two mortgage companies that sent deceptive loan ads to servicemembers and veterans settle with CFPB

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a consent order Friday against Sovereign Lending Group Inc., a mortgage lender in about 44 states and the District of Columbia.

Sovereign offers mortgage loans guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Sovereign’s main advertising is through direct-mail campaigns targeted mostly at U.S. military servicemembers and veterans.

Sovereign sent consumers hundreds of thousands of mailers for VA-guaranteed mortgages that contained false, misleading, and inaccurate statements or that lacked required disclosures in violation of federal laws and rules.

Cars, home improvement top the list of consumer complaints for 2019, survey shows

Problems with car sales and repairs and home improvement and construction once again topped the list of complaints reported to state and local consumer agencies across the country, according to an annual survey by the Consumer Federation of America.

“When the used car you just bought breaks down or your new roof leaks, who are you going to call? asked Susan Grant, director of consumer protection and privacy for CFA. “It’s your state or local consumer agency.”

Grant conducted the survey, which included participation by 31 agencies from 19 states this year. It asked about the most common, the fastest-growing, and the worst complaints agencies received in 2019.

Top 10 complaints in 2019

These are the complaints most frequently cited as the top problems reported to state and local consumer agencies last year:

Use Zillow for best realtor reviews, consumer group advises

A report comparing information about individual real estate agents provided by widely used online information sources – Zillow, Realtor.com, HomeLight, Yelp, Facebook, and the websites of the agents themselves – concludes that Zillow agent profiles are the most useful source of information.

The report – "Choosing a Real Estate Agent: An Evaluation of Information Sources About Quality of Service" by the Consumer Federation of America– says Zillow profiles cover a large majority of active agents and include current listings, past sales and their price history, customer reviews, and other information for most of these agents.

“A home represents the most expensive purchase consumers will ever make,” said Stephen Brobeck, a CFA senior fellow. “Consumer selection of an agent strongly influences whether they receive good value from the sale. Zillow agent profiles represent a valuable source of information for making this choice."

Baby boomers still dealing with the pandemic

The baby boomer bloggers in our group are located all over the United States so we’re dealing with the pandemic in different ways depending on where we live.

In Washington state where I live, things have opened up somewhat, but cases are going up. They aren’t spiking, like in Texas, Louisiana, and Florida, but are enough of a concern that the state has paused the reopening. The governor announced Thursday that groups would be limited to 10 in Stage 3 counties.

Young people going to bars, the beach, and parties are causing case numbers to increase, Gov. Jay Inslee said in a press conference.

Keeping on, boomer bloggers are writing about:

Lighting fixtures recalled by Cooper Lighting due to injury hazard

Cooper Lighting Solutions is recalling about 39,000 All Field and Prism RGBA light fixtures

The lenses on the fixture can loosen, separate from the fixture, and fall, posing a risk of injury to people below.

Cooper Lighting Solutions has received three reports of lenses falling from All Field fixtures at indoor facilities in the U.S. No injuries have been reported.

How to choose an income tax preparer

If you have someone prepare your income taxes, make sure you choose wisely.

A paid tax return preparer is largely responsible for the accuracy of your return and, by law, is required to sign the return and include their preparer tax identification number or PTIN on it.

Although the preparer always signs the return, you're responsible for the accuracy of every item. Anyone paid to prepare tax returns should have a thorough understanding of tax matters and is required to have a PTIN. Ask friends, co-workers, or your employer for recommendations.

Department of Education’s latest idea for student loan relief is deeply flawed, consumer groups say

A Trump administration rule that denies loan relief to many students cheated by their schools is deeply flawed and should be overturned, Public Citizen and the Project on Predatory Student Lending told a court Tuesday. The groups represent student borrowers in a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Education’s new “partial relief” rule.

The rule details how the department will decide whether and how much relief to give borrowers who have demonstrated that they were cheated by the schools they attended. Under the rule, most borrowers whose claims are approved receive only partial or no relief on their student-loan debt.

The lead plaintiff, Sammia Pratt, attended a Corinthian-owned Everest school in Florida for accounting, based on the false promise that she’d be able to transfer credits to the University of Central Florida.