I have a lot of clients retiring this year, and many are asking about estate Planning Basics. Everyone should have at least these four items: a Will, a Living Will, Durable Power of Attorney, and Florida Medical Surrogate. What are these things? I will tell you.

A Will is basic. It states who gets what of your belongings. A will also invites Probate, which is the public record of your Estate. If you have a successor owner named on all of your financial assets, they will pass without going through Probate, I strongly recommend that everyone does that.

A Living Will is what I refer to as the “feed me – don’t fed me” document. This gives power to whomever you name to decide how much medical help you would receive such as CPR or a ventilator.

Durable Power of Attorney: This document allows you to appoint someone who will speak on your behalf if you cannot speak for yourself.

Florida Medical Surrogate: This will allow someone to approve medical procedures, surgical, or diagnostic procedures for you. Hopefully, you will discuss the level of care you are willing to go to with this person.

A qualified Estate Planning Attorney can put all of this together. I suggest doing this while you are happy and healthy so there is no emergency in making these decisions.

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When I meet with new clients, I always have them take of Risk Tolerance Quiz to help me determine the best mix of equity and income investments for them to have a long, successful retirement. A common mistake that many people make when they retire is moving a sizable percentage of their investments to cash or income investments. They think that they need to be safe as they start their retirement journey. What I remind them of is; they will hopefully live 25 or more years in retirement, and they will need growth from equity investments. Mutual funds invested in quality stocks can provide growth with more protection than buying individual stocks. Growth is what helps us stay ahead of inflation. Inflation can take a big bite out of our purchasing power.

No one wants to have to think about how every dollar is spent on retirement. If you want to take our risk quiz, contact me at n.hecht@financialgroup.com.

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I have had a number of clients questioning their RMD for this year. Why is it so much more than last year? Why do I have to withdraw the funds if I do not need them?

Here are some answers:
2024 was a particularly good year for the markets across the board. The end of year balances in most retirement accounts were percentage wise, more than in 2023. Your end of year balance is one factor in what your RMD will be, the other is your age. Here is an example of withdrawals for RMD based on a balance of $500,000:
Age Life Expectancy Factor Required Minimum Distribution
73 26.5 $18,868
74 25.5 $19,608
75 24.6 $20,325
76 23.7 $21,097
77 22.9 $21,834
78 22.0 $22,727
79 21.1 $23,697
80 20.2 $24,752

From this example you can see that even if your balance is the same each year, the factor for what you have to withdraw increases, so you take out more each year. This explains the how much. As for the why, the government wants its taxes, if you do not take your RMD by the end of the year, you will pay a penalty.

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Recently I had a client come in wanting to rollover an old 401k that he just found a statement for, he had left that job over 6 years ago. I am constantly telling people not to leave money at their old employer. Changes that can occur with a 401k that you no longer contribute to are:

The funds may change.
The charges may increase.
The provider managing the account may change.

This last point is how people end up losing track of their retirement accounts. My advice is: as soon as you change jobs either roll your 401k to a Rollover IRA, or into your new employers’ 401k.

If you think you may have lost an account, I recently read of a site in USA Today called National Registry of Unclaimed Retirement Benefits. Here is the web address for that site:

https://unclaimedretirementbenefits.com

Check it out, you never know what you may find.
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Summer vacations are a time to relax and have fun. We do all types of things, take a lot of pictures, put things out on social media, did you leave yourself open for identity theft? Since I was a victim of identity theft, I have become diligent about protecting myself. When I travel, I have a bag that has sections that zip and clip closed so nothing can be pulled from it. I have heard many stories of people being victims of pickpockets lately. My bag is also RFID protected. RFID is the information imbedded in the chips of your credit cards and passports that has your identification information.

I know this may sound a bit paranoid, but I only want to come back from vacation with great pictures and fond memories, not have to reclaim my life.

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None of us like debt but it is a fact of life. Try these three tips to help you get past the debt and have more money for your retirement. These include not living outside of the means of their paycheck, making sure that 15% of their annual income goes directly to savings, and unless something meets the emergency criteria, savings should not be used under any circumstances.

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Many people in the late 20’s to early 30’s group are taking on the trend of Revenge Saving due to what they have lived through in the past 5 years. This is a group of young adults that have been supported by people like me while they were in college and then just starting out on their own.
They have their first jobs and apartments and have been spending like mad, then life happened. Now we have this new fad which is described as follows:

Revenge saving marks a shift from the previously popular trend of revenge spending, where individuals splurged on goods and experiences after periods of deprivation, such as during lockdowns. In contrast, revenge saving reflects a proactive approach to financial security, where individuals focus on building their savings as a response to economic anxiety and uncertainty. *

Fads come and go; this is one fad that I hope stays around for a long time.

*CNBChttps://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/08/how-to-get-started-with-revenge-savings.html?msockid=17884cad07a56442270a5aa706d4656d

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When it comes to Estate Planning, a lot comes down to the titling of assets to avoid Probate. No one wants to pay the probate tax on any assets if that can be avoided.

A Lady Bird deed, also known as an enhanced life estate deed, is a legal document used in estate planning, particularly in Florida, to transfer property to beneficiaries upon the owner’s death without going through probate. It allows the property owner to retain full control and ownership of the property during their lifetime, including the ability to sell, mortgage, or even revoke the deed, while designating beneficiaries who will automatically inherit the property upon the owner’s death, provided it hasn’t been previously sold.

An additional reason to use one is an estate planning tool that enables a Medicaid beneficiary to protect their home from the Medicaid Estate Recovery Program. It allows the home to go to a loved one as an inheritance, rather than go to the state’s Medicaid agency as reimbursement of long-term care costs paid.

*https://www.medicaidplanningassistance.org/lady-bird-deeds

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I have had a number of clients changing their beneficiaries lately for a variety of reasons. Whenever they name an adult child as a primary or contingent beneficiary, I ask if they want to add Per Stirpes? I am often greeted with a questioning look on their face, what does that mean?
Technically it means: “by branch” or “by roots.” When adding this designation to your beneficiary, when they pass their share of your account will pass down their family line, or to their kids vs. to your other beneficiaries.
It is something to think about when naming beneficiaries.

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Many of my clients split their retirement investments between traditional pre-tax 401(k) or IRA contributions and the Roth option. While adding to the Roth will not do anything to reduce your current taxes, the idea is that you can withdraw tax free in retirement. Here is the rub, what if you are in a lower tax bracket in retirement? Sure, the withdrawals from the Roth are tax free, but you may end up with more spendable using the traditional route if you are in a lower tax bracket during your retirement years.

It is a hard call to make while you are still working as we have no idea what will happen with taxes, which is the biggest unknown we have to deal with in planning. My advice is to do what makes you feel most comfortable, Roth or Traditional, at least you are saving for your retirement.

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