Reposted for our newest readers:
6 costly estate-planning minefields, and how to avoid them
Over the years many celebrities have provided cautionary estate-planning lessons, and actor James Gandolfini, who died in June 2013 at age 51, is no exception. The actor, known for portraying mob boss Tony Soprano, left a portion of his estate, widely estimated at $70 million, to relatives and friends through his will, which became public and was criticized as being badly constructed.
For one thing, it exposed some of his wealth to probate, the time-consuming and potentially costly process a legal court takes to administer financial affairs. In addition, his estate could owe millions of dollars in federal estate tax alone.
At least Gandolfini had an estate plan; fewer and fewer Americans do. In 1998, 61 percent of Americans 55 and older had a will or trust. In 2012, only about 54 percent did, says a study by Texas Tech University.
Failing to take action or making the wrong moves can be costly for you and your heirs. Here are six blunders experts told us they see most often, and what to do instead:
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Note: All Dinarians should read this.....So it will NOT happen to you!
InvestorChick: Lotto Winner Loses It All
I had the pleasure of meeting a very charming senior in the last few weeks. It's my friends mother and this lady is in her 70's.
She won 5 million dollars in the year 2000. I saw a copy of the cheque on the fridge at her son's house. I did a double take because I've never seen a cheque that large.
Of course me being a Dinarian and riding this crazy ride along with all of the others, I have been fortunate enough over the past 5 years to have been educated by people like Tony etc and I have done my research about this kind of thing.
All of us have been told the statistics and I do realize that all of this waiting has been hard, although the real challenge comes after our blessing arrives.
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