Useful Reference & Planning Guides: 2018 Taxes, Long term care, Social Security, & Medicare

Manning & Napier produced four 2-page guides to the latest developments in federal income taxes,  long term care, Social Security, & medicare that are succinct and easy to understand. Check out: 

Tax Reference Guide

Our new tax guide has everything you need to know about tax reform, and changes to contribution limits and tax rates.

Social Security Guide

Social Security can be complicated. We break it down to the simple information you need.

Long-Term Care Guide

We offer key statistics, median costs around the country, and common funding options to help you plan for long-term care.

Medicare Guide

We provide 2018 rates, enrollment periods, planning considerations, and more.

Download and print: 

http://go.manning-napier.com/2018ReferenceGuides

Trump Administration cuts aid to students defrauded by for-profit colleges

Trump’s Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is changing regulations on student protections with regard to for-profit schools. Now students defrauded by for-profit colleges will receive only partial loan forgiveness according to The Associated Press. Trump is rescinding the Obama administration’s practice of forgiving the debts of students deceived by the now-defunct Corinthian Colleges.

 “Critics accuse the department of protecting industry interests, but DeVos says the Obama-era rules were too broad and could be misused at taxpayers’ expense,” according to Associated Press writer Maria Danilova.

Source: “For-profit loan forgiveness program faces deep cuts,” published in The Salt Lake Tribune, January 31, 2018, p. A6.

Debt Collection Lawsuits

Are you facing a debt collection lawsuit? 

"In the last five years, there have been over 330,000 debt collection If you don’t respond to a lawsuit within 21 days, the judge will accept everything in the complaint as true."
lawsuits filed in Utah. Over 98% of those sued don’t hire an attorney. And most don’t file a response.

This is where SoloSuit comes in!

"SoloSuit asks a few simple questions about your case. Based on your answers, Solosuit prepares a response and instructs you on how to file. Responding to a lawsuit is the first step in defending yourself. SoloSuit can help you take that step and guide you to additional resources when you’re done."

"The software used by SoloSuit was developed by LawX, the legal design lab at BYU Law School." 

The website provides links to other debt related resources. Get help today from the SoloSuit website: http://www.solosuit.com/about

Thanks to Brigham young University law students for developing this helpful tool and to Jessica Miller writing for The Salt Lake Tribune for reporting this story (1/31/18).

Who will care for aging Americans if the flow of immigrants is curtailed?

Immigrants play a big and growing part of providing care for America’s elderly parents and grandparents  

Gerald F. Seib explains the critical role of immigrants in caring for America's elderly in The Wall Street Journal (Jan. 28, 2018): How a Heated Immigration Debate Might Affect Grandma’s Care 

• "America is getting older. Some 10,000 baby boomers reach the age of 65 each day. By 2050, a fifth of the U.S. population will be age 65 or older, the Congressional Budget Office projects, up from 12% in 2000 and 8% in 1950."

• "Moreover, this large contingent of Americans isn’t simply retiring; it will live longer after retiring."

• "As Americans get older and live longer, they will require more long-term care"

"So who provides, and who will provide, the help the elderly need getting in and out of bed, bathing, dressing, cooking, taking medication and simply coping? A growing number of immigrants provide that care."

• 25% of home health aides, personal-care aides and nursing assistants are immigrants

"Moreover, the share of these workers who are immigrants has been rising, to 24% in 2015 from 20% in 2005. In some of the nation’s biggest states—New York, California, New Jersey and Florida—40% or more of these workers are immigrants. Among these immigrant workers nationwide, the PHI study found, 56% are citizens by naturalization, and 44% aren’t citizens."

• There already is a shortage of such workers, and that problem may become more acute as demand grows. 

• Demand for these workers is going to explode in coming decades
• The rate of disability and chronic conditions is increasing…

"We will need more people to fill that workforce gap, and immigrants are part of that solution.”
"Perhaps not surprisingly, many of these care workers come from countries that are in the crosshairs of the immigration debate. The largest shares come from Mexico, the Philippines, Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic."

 

Long Term Care Insurance: Pros and Cons

"Stiff annual premium increases are making long-term-care insurance unaffordable for some retirees, and the high cost can be traced to few insurers remaining in the market, writes Darla Mercado. Yet, with annual nursing home costs approaching $100,000, such policies may be worth holding on to if possible, she writes."
"Near-retirees wanting to shield themselves from nursing home costs face a quandary: Should they eat double-digit rate hikes for long-term care insurance, or should they walk away from their policy?
It's a $97,455 question." https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/23/nursing-home-care-can-quickly-deplete-your-retirement-savings.html

On the Other Hand... The Wall Street Journal paints a negative view of the dramatically rising premium costs and shrinking pool of insurers.

Millions Bought Insurance to Cover Retirement Health Costs. Now They Face an Awful Choice

Battered by losses, long-term-care insurers hit policyholders with steep rate increases that many never saw coming

By Leslie Scism,Updated Jan. 17, 2018

"Long-term-care insurance was supposed to help pay for nursing homes, assisted living and personal aides for tens of millions of Americans when they became unable to take care of themselves.
Now, though, the industry is in financial turmoil, causing misery for many of the 7.3 million people who own a long-term-care policy, equal to about a fifth of the U.S. population at least 65 years old. Steep rate increases that many policyholders never saw coming are confronting them with an awful choice: Come up with the money to pay more—or walk away from their coverage."
“Never in our wildest imagination did we consider that the company would double the premium,” "says Sally Wylie, 67, a retired learning specialist who lives on Vinalhaven Island, Maine." The article explains the problems in the industry and the dilemma facing consumers who have policies or are considering purchasing coverage.

Another factor to consider:

Immigrants play a big and growing part of providing care for America’s elderly parents and grandparents

 Gerald F. Seib writes in The Wall Street Journal, Jan. 22, 2018:
"We are a nation with an increasing population of elderly parents and grandparents needing care their families can’t offer directly. Immigrants play a big and growing part of providing that care. The question quietly running beneath the surface is whether the changes now being debated in immigration laws and policies will upset all that."

 

Financial Benefits of Delaying Retirement

Alessandra Malito explains in MarketWatch:
"Delaying retirement for just three to six months does to the standard of living after retiring what an entire percentage point of 30 years of earnings would do, according to researchers at Stanford University, George Mason University, Cornerstone Research and Financial Engines. “Working longer is relatively powerful compared with saving more for most people,” they said in the report, recently distributed by the National Bureau of Economic Research" https://www.marketwatch.com/story/you-may-want-to-work-longer-heres-why-2018-01-22

Home buying for persons with disabilities

A new guide was created by the financial experts at The Simple Dollar addressing the challenges of buying a new home as a person with a disability that’s published in conformance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines to accommodate the special needs of persons with disabilities.

The Fully Accessible Guide to Home Loans for People with Disabilities

https://www.thesimpledollar.com/home-ownership-for-people-with-disabilities/

Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP) has new name: my529

On February 5, 2018, the Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP) will become my529.

We are the same company—we’re just changing our name.
So why the name change?
The new name communicates that we are a national 529 plan, an investment vehicle created by Congress specifically for college savings.

"529 funds can be used at any eligible educational institution nationwide or abroad that accepts federal financial aid, not just schools in Utah. The account owner and/or beneficiary do not have to be Utah residents. Our previous name sometimes made this unclear.

No matter the age of the child, my529 account owners can choose an investment option that matches their financial goals and risk tolerance. You can even build your own option. And now you can call it “my529.”

Where would the stock market be if Hillary had won?

Trump likes to take credit for the stock market gains during his first year in office but analysts disagree. As James Mackintosh explains in The Wall Street Journal, January 18, 2018
"Many of the market-moving changes since the U.S. presidential election would have been just the same. Most important among them: The global economic rebound started before voters picked Mr. Trump, and would surely have continued. That rebound has driven up stocks and bond yields world-wide, and the U.S. is only in the middle of the performance table. From the day before the election, Italy, France, Germany and emerging markets have beaten U.S. stocks in dollar terms, including dividends, while Canada lags well behind."

Mackintosh concludes in Streetwise: "America under Mrs. Clinton would have had no corporate tax cut and no deregulation, and probably be a bit less lucrative for investors. But it would be wrong to give Mr. Trump much credit for the faster economy last year, and it is many years too early to know if his policies will provide a lasting boost."

Having difficulty motivating your parents or yourself to do estate planning?

Behavioral psychologist Dan Ariely has some advice from his column: 
Hi, Dan.
I am trying to motivate my sister, who is 84, to meet with an estate-planning lawyer. She acknowledges the need, but there’s always an excuse for not proceeding. Nothing is happening. Any suggestions? —Paul
Encourage your sister to meet with the lawyer in a restaurant, bar or park (or some other place that she likes) and to bring along a friend whom she likes and trusts. Why? It’s very unpleasant to create an estate plan and to imagine what will happen to your things once you’re dead. Doing this in a pleasant atmosphere, with someone whose company you enjoy, may be enough to counterbalance the unpleasantness. When a positive activity is paired with a dreaded but necessary one, we call this “reward substitution.”
Quoted from The Wall Street Journal, january 18, 2018.