Life Done Right™

Imagine being the grandfather of Paris Hilton and watching her daily antics play out around the world. Would it bring a smile to your face or make you want to hide in a hotel closet? The answer, my friends, is blowing in the cash: Barron Hilton just announced he’s leaving 97% of his $2.3 billion [...]

One day someone will hopefully sit me down and explain why it costs $50,000-$80,000 per year to live in a nursing home. I mean, c’mon. The resident is usually sharing a room the size of a shoe box and remains in bed for a good portion of the day in many cases. What costs so [...]

Anthony Marshall is 83; Brooke Astor died at 105. Let’s say for argument’s sake Anthony help himself to some of her estate for whatever reasons. Does it matter? I guess only to the next generation who might stand to inherit some of that dough. Like Anthony’s son, Phillip, who cried foul. How it all pans [...]

Ladies, pay attention. If you’re married to a wealthy millionaire, or with better luck, a billionaire, please, be sure to snoop around and find the old man’s will. It’s imperative that you know how much he loves (values) your relationship to him BEFORE he dies, because once you’re in the room listening to the executor [...]

What do you get when you mix a corporate billionaire with a car mechanic? Answer: A high concept movie about two guys itching to live before they kick the bucket and discover the ashes inside belong to them. The movie is called The Bucket List. It’s directed by Rob Reiner. It opens on Christmas, December [...]

People have a way of accumulating stuff over the years, so much so, that the self-storage business is booming and the quaint tag sale has been supplanted by the mania of Ebay auction sales. There’s nothing like the thrill of stalking a treasured item on Ebay and snagging it in the final precious seconds of [...]

The problem: “My mom needs home care and it costs a lot of money.”
The setup: Hilly Kristal, the owner of CBGB club in New York, died and left his daughter, Lisa Burgman, as executor of his will. Hilly’s mother, Kara, 82, was president of CBGB but signed over her shares in the company to [...]

Dancing on red hot coals requires special feet, namely ones shod in steel-toed shoes. Preparing a will, especially if you’re living beyond the average lifespan, is quite similar to this experience. Once your heirs get wind of your intentions about divvying up your estate, beware of dancing fools who devise the most elaborate routines to [...]

When a private equity firm like the Carlyle Group buys a nursing home chain like Manor Home, you know there must a set of financials that make Niagara Falls look like a piker when it comes to earning money on the investment. The motive for this deal comes from your beloved government; you know, the [...]

People have too much money when they can afford to take care of their pet instead of donating their money to people-based charities. If you can spend thousands on vet bills, I guess it makes sense to hire a lawyer to draft a pet will in the event that you should die before your cat [...]

Colleges these days seem more like endowment whores than educational mistresses. Their cry for more and more money, though, makes them sound like a wolf-pimp in disguise. Now that campus real estate sprawls for miles, why not turn all that lawn into a memorial for alumni, literally. You have to chuckle at this college brand [...]

For those of you who thought paying for your grandkids’ college education was frightening, you better bail on donating money to that cause and put all your dough into a savings account, because the cost of retirement is starting to look like the Iraq War budget.
Or, might we suggest retiring abroad to a foreign [...]

There’s a touching entry in Anna Nicole Smith’s diaries that were just sold on Ebay. It’s the plea of a caregiver who lacks the ability to change her love’s deteriorating condition. Her love, of course, was no ordinary relationship. Billionaire James Howard Marshall II married Anna at the ripe age of 89. No harm, no [...]

If you plan on dying any time soon, you might want to consider how much of your money is going to your heirs versus how much is going to the IRS. Currently you’re allowed to pass down $2 million to anyone you damn please, but anything over that amount is subject to the death tax, [...]

As you move closer to the nightmare of ending up in a nursing home, which costs a fortune and may suck every last dollar out of your pocket, you might want to consider ditching some cash into a College 529 plan for your grandkids.
While you’re allowed to give away up to $12,000 per year [...]

Timothy Leary: The Art of Dying
Directed by: A.J. Catoline, O.B. Babbs
Cast: Jerry Garcia as himself, O.B. Babbs as himself, Ken Kesey as himself, more…
Produced by: David Herman
Synopsis
Dr. Timothy Leary, the Harvard psychologist who became the LSD guru of the 1960s, who popularized the phrase - Turn On, Tune [...]

Congress being this Congress, you have to question motives whenever it involves such important things like pension plans. To date, pension plans have NOT been allowed to have funds invested overseas. In less than 60 days, a new rule goes into effect that makes this possible. If you thought getting a refund was tough, wait [...]

The Retirement Nightmare: How to Save Yourself from Your Heirs and Protectors : Involuntary Conservatorships and Guardianships
by Diane G. Armstrong Ph.D.

The Los Angeles Times has just finished up a 4-part series on the issue of guardians and conservators. Planning for a time when your mind might not be all there is crucial.
For Most Vulnerable, a [...]

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Wills and Estates (2nd Edition) (Paperback)
by Stephen Maple

A will tells a seemingly simple story. It informs those mentioned in it what they are entitled to receive from a deceased’s estate. If you are not in the will, you get nothing. Period. While a person can change their will at anytime, [...]

If you thought spending down your estate in order to qualify for Medicaid was limited to the United States, just take a glance at the above Daily Mail newspaper out of London. We suggest donating to the homeless you see on the street. They may one day be your best friend.
Half of people nearing retirement [...]