Estate-planning

I thought the book was very elementary in the information it provided. The author did an excellent job identifying the various real estate investment options but did not provide enough details about each one. The book is a great starting point for understanding what real estate investing is all about and identifying potentially satisfying fnancial returns; however, it doesn't provide enough details to make it a true "how to" book because you will definitely need more information to perform or practice any of the techniques described.

...but on the other hand, I haven't bought my first property yet. What I'll grade on is readability, timeliness, and feasibility. Mrs. Z obviously knows her real estate, and I never thought about living in the property first before you make it a rental. Makes sense, why rent out to someone else a house you wouldn't want to live in yourself? I give her high marks for the checklist to go through for in searching properties, and she recognizes the fact that not all of us WANT to be millionaires. It's a very readable book that doesn't get lost in jargon, but doesn't ignore the terminology a real estate investor is going to need, either. I also found the analogy for shopping for a house/husband very cute. I'm leery of the more creative financing ploys, though. I think her method is doable, but I'd also investigate the book Rental Houses for the Successful Small Investor by Suzanne Thomas and then compare the two outlooks.

This book is VERY easy to read and informative. It points out what to look for in an investment home. The author shares some of the mistakes she has made in hopes that you avoid them.

As a friend told me "You can choose to learn by trial and error & lose thousands of dollars, or just read a book. It's your choice".

I highly recommend you read this if you are serious about entering the house rental business.

I give the book three stars due to content, but the numbers are all obsolete. The information is now seven years old! OBRA laws have changed, gifting laws have changed, estate tax laws,...you name it. Save your money and buy soemthing that has been updated NO EARLIER than January '03. I am a financial planner specializing in this area, so I cannot- with good conscience- recommend that people adhere to the outdated information in the book- talk to an advisor who is up-to-speed on the new rules.

I read 6 different books on this and irrevocable trusts when my dad went into a nursing home. This one was by far the easiest to understand. My parents had a revocable trust that was not worth the paper it was printed on. This book saved my family a lot of money. Unfortunately I lent it to someone who never returned it, so I am buying another copy to give to a friend.

Alexander Bove's book is one of the few out there that really gives you the information you need when dealing with the finances of admitting a loved one into a nursing home. After I read this book, my family and I went to an attorney who "specializes" in elder law. This turned out to be incorrect, and the advice he gave was incomplete and just plain wrong. If we hadn't had Bove's book at our disposal, we would have unknowingly accepted the other lawyer's recommendations without realizing that they would have cost a huge portion of needed funds. DON'T ASSUME THAT AN "ELDER LAW ATTORNEY" KNOWS ALL THE INTRICACIES OF MEDICAID LAW! READ THIS BOOK! (And THEN double-check the most up-to-date laws to make sure nothing has changed since this printing.)

Well presented? yes. But that's about it.

If you are looking for an Outline of definitions than this book is for you. If you need any substance, skip it. Foundations, for example get almost more space in the title than they do in the book.

This is an awesome book. The author makes fun of wills and death. It is like a book in the "Dummies" series, since it is written in easy english. I recommend it to anyone who is beginning their last will and testament. Rampell's humor is self-deprecating ---- lots of lawyer jokes.

This is the primer for beginning the estate planning process. If you love your money and want to be educated before hiring estate planning lawyers, this book is for you. Rampell is clear and humorous. He gives you the concepts without the migraine. The book is a great value.

NO INDEX! IMHO, A book (especially one used for reference) is only as good as it's index. No index? No good.

The book covers almost all topics of moving in a thorough way that really conveys a lot of information in a short space. I planned to move from NJ to Florida & it really prepared me for the moving process. Although I didn't make the move, I did hire movers within NJ and I felt much more prepared having read this book. I've heard horror stories of people's goods being held hostage for more money, broken items, missing items, the book covered it all and told what to do in case that happens. It gives you enough information, however, to avoid such disreputable movers in the first place.

One area where it falls short (unfortunately) is the internet. There are many, many resoucrs on the net and the book doesn't cover enough of them IMHO. This book was written in 1999 though, and can sort of be excused I guess. I think that they would be well advised to do an update in a year or two with more coverage of resources for moving on the net. That'd be worth five stars then...

This is the most complete book on moving that I have ever read. It delivers the promised information in a very readable and entertaining text. Some of its best features include the great worksheets, charts, sample forms, lists and timelines which will assist anyone in planning and accomplishing a successful move. I have made 9 or 10 moves in the past 25 years and can say, unequivocably, that although I have read (and used) many nice "moving" books...this is absolutely the BEST!!!

I was happy to find ,in this book,that I could have the provisions I wanted in a Living Trust.They are so important to me and my family. If you want to see if provisions can be had to fit your particular situation I recommend you do what I did.First,I reviewed the example of a Living Trust offered by the book's authors on the web site CCMTRUST.COM. It was easy to understand. Rights I needed to know about to really provide for my family I found in the draft at the web site- and it's free.Key directives are explained briefly and clearly, and page references to the book helped a lot when I wanted more detail. I have now included these directives in my Living Trust.Personal input is important for the protection of my own family

The book Estate Planning & Living Trust Secrets: What they don't
want you to know is one of the best Estate Planning Guides I have ever read. Clients of mine with rather complex estates and
investment portfolios have always benefited from Mr. Croke's
review of significant trust related issues. The checklist of 24
questions to ask enables my clients to review their existing trust documents to ensure they have not overlooked major planning benefits or have omitted important rights in their
trust documents.

Mr. Croke's book is readily available in local libraries if the reduced price is too expensive. I have a copy in my office for reference purposes during client sessions. Mr.Croke has provided great insights to me when I drafted my own will in recent years. The book should be required reading for all estate and certified financial planners. Great job take time to buy, read and use this one.

I just had my trust prepared by a very fine trust attorney. The trust contains many of the recommendations from this book. So you can understand my concern when a friend told me about the negative review by a Toledo trust attorney. I showed the review to my attorney and his opinion is that the person who wrote the review was not an attorney since the information given was incorrect and was carefully avoided in the preparation of my document.

My attorney also told me that there is no IRS requirement that I must use the "net income" wording to pay my wife. The wording represents the minimum to be paid, but I gave instructions (which I am allowed to do) to pay a higher annual amount. My wife must have this higher amount since she will receive half of my pension and lower social security once I'm gone. This avoids another problem. She will not have to continually make requests for money and justify her needs to her trustee, in this case our son.

Why would a person write a such a bad and incorrect review? Are they trying to stop the sale of a great book? I would recommend that everyone read this book and use the helpful check list for items they want for their family. These are important options to consider and discuss with your attorney. Do yourself a favor, read the book.

The book explained a lot of things well, but almost nobody is going to make their own living trust with this book. Maybe single people with modest estates and no children.

The book has many warnings: "If you want to do blah, blah, blah, see a lawyer. Nolo's living trust program does not handle this situation."

I would give it 3 or 4 stars, except Nolo Press's "Plan Your Estate" by the same author is much more thorough. Better to get that.

A generally easy to follow and excellent review of the material. However, a shortcoming is the lack of clearly definitive language for determining how to name mutual fund money markey accounts and life insurance policies in order to include in the Trust. For example, do you name yourself as initial trustee or the successor trustee as trustee of children's trusts as beneficiary on life policies? Do you make Trust owner and/or beneficiary of money market mutual funds. One additional crticism is that forms are not set up as "forms" per se. You must eliminate the "fill-in" language such as Name? for each blank.

I was pleased to see this book has a Mac/Windows CD in a jacket on the inside back cover. Your advertising and reviews did not seem to mention that.

As usual, this book was what I expect from Nolo: the best. Very informative, detailed, and useful.

At last! A book that really does what it says! It's a practical guide through one of life's tough chores. Collating and managing information in the event of a death is one of the most exasperating exercises in life - yet we all face it. No wonder funeral directors, hospices, insurance companies and those facing a death are snapping up this practical 'how to" guide. The forms and work sheets are particularly helpful. They are well structured and user friendly.to walk you through the "where, how, and whys" of collecting and managing the information that every family must have when a death occurs.

The guidelines and worksheets in this book help you record all your preferences and details concerning the decisions and choices your family will someday face. Additionally, the comprehensive structuring of your financial resources will ensure your family will have straight forward access to your estate. If you are over 50, this is an obligation as well as a necessity.

This is more than a book -- it's a very comprehensive, well organized tool to family planning. The guidelines help you record all your preferences and details concerning the decisions and choices your family will someday face. The comprehensive listings and organization of your financial resources will ensure your family will easily manage your estate. This is a very important document for family, death and estate planning.

A friend was telling me what happened after his promotion to senior vice president was announced in the newspaper. Dozens of free offers began to come in the mail, such as coupons to use in exclusive clothing stores and free lunches for two at expense-account restaurants. One of the latter was for a restaurant he'd always wanted to visit. So he took the offer and was immediately surprised at how gracious the service was. He and his friend weren't that hungry, so they turned down an appetizer and a cocktail. After they had ordered a meal and told the waiter they would not have room for dessert, the waiter leaned in conspiratorially and whispered, "have some, for goodness sakes. It's all free!" My friend's unwillingness to capitalize on the restaurant's hospitality reminds me of the way some high net worth individuals look at taxes. They figure they owe it to someone to take some of the government's free offers, but not all of them. By "government free offers" I mean the ability of the system to give as well as take away. It doesn't necessarily give tax advantages out of social generosity (although it may seem that way politically sometimes). We simply have a system that can't know what you're doing all the time, and it doesn't want to know, either. Terry Coxon plumbs the principles and pragmatics behind the limits of the system. Planning to avoid taxes depends on knowing the world according to the IRS and the world as it really is, with all the gaps so implied. You should understand baically where tax rules come from and how they are enforced and changed. Investing is another activity where you can get easily sidetracked. You may think that the identity of a particular investment or strategy is of paramount importance. In reality, the only think important in your portfolio is results. Successful investors act on this instinctually. Others tend to get caught up in minutiae. Coxon also emphasizes protecting yourself against lawsuits, where anything you own could be used against you to satisfy a judgment or just scare you into submission. Litigation is not a gentlemen's game, as many losers of lawsuits find out the hard way. To maintain your financial privacy, don't use credit cards and checks routinely. Keep your checking account in another county, and change banks every few years. He also advises the use of a money market fund for checking, "so that no one can dig through your records without digging through the fund's records." The author also advocates tax deferral through the use of mutual funds, deferred annuities, and even types of life insurance. This is where he loses me. Knowing a little about such things seems more dangerous than knowing nothing at all, and the chapters on these subjects are brief. Other tax deferral vehicles are outlined here: deferred-payment sales help you defer capital gains or interest income. A number of acceptable strategies exist to drag your feet abou recognizing gains which can be taxed. Coxon's attitude about recognizing losses is something I hadn't heard before, but it's consistent with the rest of his book: "A loss is an insult to the investor's pride, and no mere tax savings will make it tolerable. Selling is too much like putting on a dunce cap. "This attitude is difficult to escape. I can only point out that, if your investment is worth less than you paid for it, the loss has already occurred. So you should feel bad even if you don't sell. Selling is simply a way of getting the tax collector to share your grief." This kind of advice is refreshing and will hit different people different ways. On balance, this book is a good first line of defense for people with net worth they want to protect.

How would you like to be able to use a charge card that is private? I did not know there was such a card, but you can get one! Do you want to protect yourself from being financially destroyed by a simple lawsuit or an out-of-control predatory government agency? This book explains how simple anyone can set up a private foreign bank account. It gives a very good explanation of a protective foreign trust that can protect you, save taxes for you, and even more for your beneficiaries.

Many of the strategies in this book are out of date (i.e., published 1998). Five-year averaging expired over a year ago. Further, with the new minimum distribution rules issued on Jan. 11, 2001 - this book is in serious need of an update. Wait for a update and save the $$.....

I was impressed with the complete coverage of the new IRS regulations packed into this book. It could easily be used as a complete retirement preparation handbook or plan re-evaluation guide. It is filled with effective estate planning strategy that is direct and easy to follow. The 25 page workbook at the end of the book answers a lot of questions you may have about your plan. It will pin-down and solve problems in any advanced plan. If you have a desire to know what your estate plan is really achieving, get this book!

No more laywers needed! This book walks you through creating a will that suits your needs. With no outrageous legal fees, this is great for starter families!

I bought this book and three hours after opening it, I had a will written and ready to be witnessed. Denis Clifford has written an excellent resource for those of us with simple needs in ensuring our assets will go to the right individuals when we die. Extremely common-sense advice, a reassuring style, and a quick read! Great advice for the unmarried (like me), the married with or without children, and the single parent.