Let's Talk Money readers get the same top financial advice sought by the national press. The book's authors comment regularly in The Wall Street Journal, Money, Fortune, Forbes, Smart Money and Kiplingr's Personal Finance >.

Will your estate plan fail? If you don't understand how it works, you could dismantle it yourself! Are you tempted to take free advice about planning? Do you avoid reading the fine print? Will joint ownership simplify or complicate your plan? What happens to assets left directly to a minor? Know it or blow it. Let's Talk About Estate Planning defogs estate planning through invented, but true to life, conversations between friends, or between clients and fictional lawyer Rebecca Dalton. Some of these exchanges expose major errors, not all of them fixable. This entertaining and informative treatment of estate planning, wills, trusts, probate, beneficiary designations, titling of assets, powers of attorney, and gifts illustrates how these pieces fit together. Read it, and you will say "NOW I understand my estate plan!" Let's Talk About Estate Planning also discusses managing your lawyer, the usefulness of tabular and pictorial representations of your estate plan, and how to ease estate administration for your heirs and beneficiaries when you are gone. A glossary and some handy websites are included.

Learn to start open, productive talks about money with your parents as they age As your parents age, you may find that you want or need to broach the often-difficult subject of finances. In Mom and Dad, We Need to Talk: How to Have Essential Conversations with Your Parents About Their Finances, you’ll learn the best ways to approach this issue, along with a wealth of financial and legal information that will help you help your parents into and through their golden years. Sometimes parents are reluctant to address money matters with their adult children, and topics such as long-term care, retirement savings (or lack thereof), and end-of-life planning can be particularly touchy. In this book, you’ll hear from others in your position who have successfully had “the talk” with their parents, and you’ll read about a variety of conversation strategies that can make talking finances more comfortable and more productive. Learn conversation starters and strategies to open the lines of communication about your parents’ finances Discover the essential financial and legal information you should gather from your parents to be prepared for the future Gain insight from others’ stories of successfully talking money with aging parents Gather the courage, hope, and motivation you need to broach difficult subjects such as care facilities and end-of-life plans For children of Baby Boomers and others looking to assist aging parents with their finances, Mom and Dad, We Need to Talk is a welcome and comforting read. Although talking money with your parents can be hard, you aren’t alone, and this book will guide you through the process of having fruitful financial conversations that lead to meaningful action.

Discover the ins and outs of planning your own or your loved one’s last wishes with this easy-to-understand guide to estate planning. No one likes to talk about death, but being prepared for any unexpected tragedy can help your loved ones navigate your loss more easily in the long run. From creating your advanced medical directives to designating your beneficiaries, estate planning can ensure that your wishes are carried out when you are no longer around. With Estate Planning 101, you can get your affairs in order before any unfortunate incident occurs. This easy-to-understand guide comes with detailed information on what needs to be done to protect your estate. With information on creating a living will, minimizing estate taxes, choosing an executor, and more, you will be prepared for the future, no matter what it brings. Estate Planning 101 offers you step-by-step instructions and checklists to keep you organized for whatever life throws your way.

Caring for an aging parent can raise a host of tricky questions, but these conversation-starting scripts, plus expert advice, will help you and your parent find answers. Age-proofing an older relative’s living space, figuring out powers of attorney, spotting and dealing with signs of dementia, asking them to give up the car keys or consider assisted living . . . the first step toward tackling these concerns and more is an honest, informed discussion. Here are prompts and road maps for twenty-seven essential conversations—with your parent, other family members, and health care providers—including: Does my parent need help around the house? What kind of medical issues should we look out for? Do I really need to help my parents if they’re toxic? How can my family share the caregiving load? How to approach these topics is just as important as what needs to be said, so each chapter has tips for navigating complex emotions and finding shared ground when everyone has different ideas. You’ll get informed, have a productive discussion, and make a plan—so you can get back to making the most of your time with your parent.

This casebook introduces students to the principles of estate planning and challenges them to analyze simulated client scenarios. Featuring a case-study and problems approach in which the principles of estate planning are first introduced and then demonstrated through student analysis of short exercises and simulated client situations. A forms supplement on a CD is an additional tool for giving students practice with drafting exercises.

Written in clear, conversational English, this book can help anyone understand how a living trust avoids the complications, expenses, and delays of probate at times of incapacity and death.