Retirement Planning Serving Lake County, Illinois

Avoid Illinois Probate & Replace the Impersonal
Estate Plan

You have arrived. Just a moment ago, you were nearing retirement. When did you get to this place in life so quickly? Yikes! What kind of retirement planning in Lake County is necessary to ease this transition? The Law Offices of Steven H. Peck, Ltd can help you figure that out.

Experienced Retirement Planning Guidance

Retirement planning involves more than determining when you want to stop working. Steven H. Peck has more than three decades of experience helping individuals and families address estate, tax, and financial planning considerations as they prepare for the future.

• Decades of Experience: Steven H. Peck brings more than 30 years of legal experience to retirement and estate planning matters.

• Personalized Planning: We consider your assets, family circumstances, and long-term goals when developing your plan.

• Estate Planning Integration: We coordinate retirement planning with wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and other estate planning documents when

Our goal is to help you make informed decisions about the legal and financial issues that can affect your retirement years. Through retirement planning in Lake County, we can help you develop a strategy that reflects your circumstances and priorities.

Retirement.

Congratulations!

This is often an exciting, yet bittersweet time of life.

Chances are good that all of your children have left the nest with lives and growing families of their own. If the're living, perhaps you are becoming parents to your parents (or the surviving parent) just like their parents before them. This includes taking care of their personal life, health care and financial responsibilities. Read more about Steps to Take as a Parent’s Condition Takes a Turn

Why Retirement Planning In Lake County Should Include Incapacity Planning

As you're nearing retirement, this would be a good time to create (or revisit) your estate plan, and make sure your adult children and parents have their legal ducks in a row, too. After all, you likely have witnessed what can happen when families are not up-to-date with their estate planning.

Unfortunately, many married couples mistakenly believe that they can make personal, health care and financial decisions for one another should either spouse become legally incapacitated due to a serious injury or illness. Nothing could be further from reality!

Without proper estate planning in advance to appoint your spouse as the incapacity decision-maker, he or she will not have legal authority to make even fundamental decisions for you (or affecting both of you). For example, medical privacy laws will bar access to your medical records and the ability to consult with your attending physician, financial laws limit control over your finances, and IRS regulations will prohibit filing a “legal” joint income tax return … for starters.

The Disadvantages of Probate Court

Unless you legally appoint the decision-maker of your own selection in advance through proper estate planning, a probate judge will select one for you. While the judge will likely appoint your spouse, the probate court process to accomplish this is expensive (it employs at least three attorneys), discloses your private personal and financial information to the public record and is a real hassle for your spouse.

Did you know that in the absence of proper estate planning, your assets may be distributed after death based on “one-size-fits-all” state laws written for people who do not have their own estate plan? Of course, this impersonal estate plan written by state lawmakers may not reflect your own unique circumstances and objectives for your spouse and assets.

In fact, depending on how you titled your assets and how your beneficiary designations are arranged, you may disinherit your own spouse and force your spouse to sue your estate! Read more about Make Sure Beneficiary Designations Don’t Wreck Your Estate Plan

What If One Spouse Dies and the Other Remarries?

Now, let’s consider something no married couple wants to think about.

What if one spouse dies and the other remarries?

Well, if you want to risk losing about half of what you have should the remarriage not work out or disinheriting your own children and grandchildren, then do nothing. On the other hand, it is best to go into a new relationship with both eyes open.

In short, the surviving spouse will need to have a legally enforceable premarital agreement inked before saying “I do” on his or her wedding day.

In a recent University of California study, researchers found that 60% of widowers are involved in a new relationship within two years after losing their wives, while only 20% of widows have a new relationship.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, men are 10 times more likely to remarry after age 65. And the average time before they remarry is just 2.5 years. When dad remarries a new wife some 20 years his junior, that can trigger all kinds of drama in the family, to say the least.

As you can see, planning for being single again includes planning for any new relationships in the future, while preserving (and protecting) the relationships you already have.

How Estate Planning Protects Your Inheritance

When it comes to your children and grandchildren, great care should be given to protect any inheritance both for them and from them. For starters, wealth representing a lifetime of your hard work and thrift can be squandered in very short order. Dollars earned are spent differently than dollars inherited. In addition to good, old-fashioned squandering, an inheritance can quickly vanish through divorces, lawsuits and bankruptcies.

Fortunately, with proper (and very careful) estate planning, you can provide an inheritance that is protected for and even from your own children and grandchildren. Remember, two things you cannot choose in life are your own folks and the spouses of your children.

The Clark Case and How It Impacts You

On June 12, 2014, the Supreme Court decided that all beneficiary designations for your retirement plans need to be revisited.

The Clark case sent shock waves through the estate planning community after a unanimous court ruled that inherited IRAs are not "retirement funds" within the meaning of federal bankruptcy law. AccordingAccordingly, if your children or grandchildren are "direct" designated beneficiaries of your IRA, then the distributions may be subject to their divorces, lawsuits, and bankruptcies. Careful planning is required to protect these important assets, while at the same time preserving the ability to stretch distributions as long as possible for your beneficiaries.

Are You Prepared to Pay for Long-Term Care If Needed?

Have you noticed how expensive the continuum of care is? From in-home assistance to assisted living to skilled nursing, the expenses can destroy savings and investments created over a lifetime of hard work and thrift.

Now that you're planning for retirement, do not delay. Lock-in in a long-term care insurance policy while you are still able to qualify physically and mentally. Some versions of coverage only pay if you need long-term care assistance, but others can now do double-duty and turn into life insurance if you do not need such assistance. That is a popular alternative to traditional long-term care insurance.

There's a 70% risk of needing long-term care once you reach age 65. Of those 70% most are in denial, thinking it won't be them, and many also think Medicare will pay for it, but we need to be prepared for reality.

When you need assistance with the activities of daily living (e.g., eating, bathing, dressing, toileting, and transferring), it may be time to consider hiring a professional to take care of you instead of your children.

When you're ready for help with your long-term care planning through appropriate insurance, then we can help you find that as well.

Protect Your Retirement And Your Beneficiaries' Future Today

Fortunately, we can help you avoid probate and replace that impersonal, state-written, one-size-fits-all estate plan with one we design together for your unique circumstances and objectives. We even help you coordinate the beneficiary designations on your life insurance and retirement plans with your estate plan to avoid unpleasant, unintended consequences.

Estate planning for retirement is not a do-it-yourself project. When you're ready, contact Riverwoods Estate and Elder Planning Attorney Steven Peck to discuss how retirement planning in Lake County can protect your family and legacy.

Frequently Asked Questions

When should I start planning for retirement?

We recommend starting as early as possible, but we can help you develop a plan at any stage. We focus on your assets, family, and long-term goals.

How can retirement planning in Lake County help me prepare for the future?

We'll review your circumstances and identify areas that may need attention. Retirement planning in Lake County helps you coordinate your retirement assets with your estate plan and other legal documents. 

Should I review my retirement account beneficiaries?

Yes. We recommend reviewing beneficiary designations after major life changes and as part of your regular estate planning. Outdated designations can affect who receives your retirement assets.

Do I need an estate plan before I retire?

Not necessarily, but retirement is a good time to review your estate plan. We can help you address wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and other documents that may become important later.

Can you help me plan for incapacity during retirement?

Yes. We can help you establish powers of attorney and other documents that identify who can make financial and health care decisions if you become unable to make them yourself.