The May issue of Money magazineincludes a compelling article entitled Their Legacy . . . Your Headache? and it discusses key points to consider when receiving an inheritance from a parent’s estate. I was both Executor and Trustee for my mother’s estate when she died in 2007 from ovarian cancer.Some of the key points I mentioned in my interview for this article that I would like to share with you, our PWCC members and friends, include:
·Call in the Pros. If the estate includes a house, securities, retirement accounts or multiple beneficiaries (in my case myself and my four siblings), and the deceased does not already have an attorney and a CPA who know them intimately, get an estate attorney and CPA onboard within the first month to help you navigate the complexities and provide guidance in case questions and disagreements arise.
·Embrace e-Mail. It’s all about transparency. Keep the other heirs regularly apprised of your progress.To avoid second-guessing, give them a heads-up on major decisio ...
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I came into the workforce in the 1960’s and took a great deal of pride in being a feminist. But I thought that the fuss over a man’s holding a door open for a woman or helping her into a car was much ado over nothing. Oh - I supported the concept of equal pay for equal work, sharing housework with whomever you lived with - male or female, and even splitting the tab on a date. But when women would fume because a man had held a door open for them - well, I found that kind of silly. After all, I thought, the poor fellow was just being polite.
What I didn’t get then is whoever opens the door determines who can pass through it - or not. But when you open a door for yourself, you control your forward movement. Like I said, I didn’t get it then, but I certainly do now.
Today young people would probably find that the topics that caused such heated discussions in the 60’s - who pays on a date, can a woman ask a man out and, yes, should a man open a door for a woman, are non-issues. Yet women, espe ...
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Why is that we use teams for so many things in our lives? We have a financial team to manager our money and a medical team for our health care. Our kids are on soccer, football, baseball, basketball, or swim teams. Chances are, we work with a team of people for various projects at work or church. Yet, when it comes to managing our careers, we usually don’t give much thought to putting a team together.
I work with many clients who are going through a career transition without a team. They tell me how lonely and isolating the experience is—how they feel directionless and unfocused. They also feel very overwhelmed.
Unless you are extremely disciplined, the lack of structure and ideas from others can also sideline you in short order. Play the game solo is boring. Growing professionally and personally is fun, though, when you work with a team of people you trust. I was very lucky to have a mentor early in my career who helped me understand ...
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