Introduction So, I joined a new gym and am working with a personal trainer. During any workout trainers and clients always shoot the breeze and somehow it came out that I was an estate planning attorney. So, Tom asked “Can I have a card my mom needs a simple will?”…

“Evaluating your life through the lens of your death is raw, powerful, and perhaps a bit scary,” writes author and entrepreneur, Shane Parrish, in his excellent book, Clear Thinking. But despite our hesitation to consider our inevitable demise, he thinks it’s worth exploring because, “What matters most becomes clear.” Clarity…

This year’s hurricane season brought a stark reminder that nobody is safe from the traumatic impacts of severe weather. Hurricane Helene brought devastating once-in -1000 years flooding to part of Appalachia considered relatively safe from those effects. In fact, Asheville, NC, was called a “climate haven” before the hurricane. Hurricane…

Mortgage rates jumped markedly this week, sending demand down for a second straight week. Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, released Thursday, showed that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage surged to 6.32% from last week’s reading of 6.12%. The average rate on a 30-year loan was…

By Chris Farrell, Next Avenue Mention college and the conversation swiftly turns to student loans — with good reason. The current loan-based system to pay for postsecondary education is failing too many students, including a surprisingly large number of debtors nearing or in their retirement years. For one thing, $1.6…

The Consumer Price Index (CPI), the main measure of inflation, increased 0.2% in September, a similar increase consumers saw in August and July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Over the last 12 months, the index increased 2.4%, the lowest yearly increase since February 2021. A rise in food and…

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has backed an earth-shattering idea: For the first time, traditional Medicare would pay for personal assistance at home and related long-term care. Currently, only Medicaid and certain Medicare managed care programs provide long-term care benefits. Harris endorsed the idea in a television appearance on “The…

By Vanessa Infanzon, Next Avenue In 2001, a YMCA in Brooklyn hired a husband-and-wife team of television producers, Stephanie Walter and John Williams, to help 15 high school students pull together a film about retired seamen living at the YMCA’s residential facility. The class’s final project, a one-hour documentary called…

Washington D.C., Denver and Raleigh, North Carolina, are the real estate markets that are projected to see the most substantial changes as the Federal Reserve begins to lower borrowing rates.  According to a new Realtor.com report published Tuesday, markets with a high percentage of homeowners with a mortgage stand to…

By Lucy Lazarony, Next Avenue A generous inheritance. A booming investment. A big raise. What should you do with a large sum of unexpected money you discover coming your way? In particular, how should you handle such a windfall when you are aged 50 and up? Surprise! Some of it…