Knowing what to do and what not to do before, during, and after a wildfire can go a long way in protecting you, your family, and personal property from harm. To help prepare and protect yourself against a wildfire, a checklist of practical steps is provided.
Individuals and families today are at a higher risk of being the target of identity theft given their tendency to rely on various third parties to manage their active and complex lifestyles. Protect yourself against identity theft by adhering to a checklist of practical steps to safeguard your personal information.
Many estate plans can be too boilerplate and do little more than establish what happens with physical assets upon death. They overlook personal sentiments and expressions that could prove to be a source of comfort to a family in moments of grief. When addressing the elephant in the room—the scope of care and ceremony desired to commemorate a ...
Hiring domestic staff such as nannies, personal assistants, and housekeepers can expose you to liability issues and danger from unscrupulous employees. It is important to understand your areas of vulnerability and take steps to protect your family and your finances. Whether you hire your own employees or the family office hires them, three often ov...
This is a field guide for avoiding the pitfalls that cause families to overpay, waste time, or lose money due to estate transitions. If you are dealing with a family member’s house full of possessions when age, personal or medical reasons dictate that it is time to sell a primary or vacation home, then these tips will help you simplify the pr...
From the intense wildfire activity in 2017, lessons were learned on the value of smart landscaping. Applying those lessons and other tips, you can enhance your home's resiliency and keep your family safe.
You have too much at stake to be caught unprepared, and your family is too important to be left in the lurch by an estate plan you didn’t realize that you had outgrown. If it has been a while since you have looked at your estate planning and settlement documents, it is time to perform a stress-test on your plan to ensure that none of the key ...
Whether it be a family member, trusted friend, or professional advisor, whom you pick as a trustee matters. An ideal trustee will follow through on the objectives outlined during your lifetime, your spouse’s lifetime, and through the trust’s ultimate disposition. When choosing the right trustee, it is important to explore the key criter...
Although it is flattering to be asked to be a trustee, you should give careful consideration about serving in this important role, as performing the responsibilities of a fiduciary can expose you to great personal liability, especially if you lack training. Learn from the common mistakes made by family members serving as trustees and the ways for a...
Each decade of life brings unique challenges and opportunities, financial and otherwise. Focusing on each stage from the 40s to the 70s, we highlight the planning issues that may be ripe for your consideration, including revisiting your estate plan, downsizing your home, and constructing your general retirement plan.
Markets are hitting new highs justified by strong earnings growth and reasonably solid economic performance in this tenth year of the expansion. Absent the traditional economic warning signs, equity markets are exhibiting some unnatural distortions. The stock market is becoming quite concentrated in a select group of growth names, and investors app...
Three converging trends—including a shift from negative to positive screening—are making it easier for investors to implement impact investment programs that deliver competitive returns. For families and trust beneficiaries who are interested in impact investing, they can find that it may work in an irrevocable trust under the Unif...
When it comes to protecting digital assets, the users can end up being the biggest flaw in your cybersecurity armor. Mistakes like creating easy-to-guess passwords, not encrypting important data, or sending passwords over email can make a hacker’s job easy. To help strengthen your cybersecurity armor and stay ahead of the hackers, here are so...
When you make more money than your friends, it can set up awkward and uncomfortable money dilemmas. However, there are ways to get around them by having a few good verbal comebacks and a dose of niceness to help you sidestep a lot of cringe-worthy money situations.
Artwork, along with other types of assets, can be used as collateral for a loan to purchase property, invest in a business, or to buy more art. There are no limitations on the use of the proceeds. But before enlisting your art collection and other high-value assets to help secure the financing for a big purchase, there are a few things to consider,...