Financial Advisor Allen Neuenschwander explains how you can proactively protect your family in the case of a sudden tragedy.

Houston, TX – October 3, 2012 – Each and everyone of us at some level has dealt with the tragic loss of a loved one, or has watched a person we care about deal with the pain and suffering of a long term disability. Death is inevitable and (according to studies by AARP, Met Life and GE Financial) disability affects one in two Americans over the age of 65 on a long-term basis. With these unpleasant realities so certain, estate and disability planning in America should be well designed and well developed, enabling families to avoid the hardship associated with having a poor plan or no plan at all.

Allen Neuenschwander, Owner of Outlook Wealth Advisors, LLC, recently discussed three things that every American over the age of 65 should be considering about their estate and disability planning:

• Lawyers can create great legal estate planning documents, but if your assets are not “funded” into the trusts – or if you have documents that are poorly defined in a disability situation, you can end up with a very IN-effective plan. Here are some significant problems to look out for:
  • If you have a trust and none of your accounts are tied to it, the trust will not help your estate avoid probate.  A well-prepared legal document can help your family avoid the cost of probate, (AARP reports average probate costs annually are 3-5%) but if your bank and investment accounts are not held in the name of your trust, it will not help.
  • It is also important to make sure your real estate is tied through newly created deeds to transfer the property into the trust.
• Long-term care can wipe you out financially.  Newly enforced Filial Responsibility laws may end up costing your kids their savings to pay your nursing home bill. This may be hard to believe, but that is the new reality of healthcare.  With home health care aides costing $15-30 per hour and Assisted Living facilities costing from $4,000 to $8,000 per month in many parts of the country, nursing homes can cost well over $100,000 per year, so developing a long-term care plan is critical.  There are a variety of ways to use leverage with specific financial products to help you protect your hard earned retirement savings beyond traditional long term care insurance.  Being proactive and planning for these future tragedies can spare your loved ones the stress of trying to “figure it out.”
• Divide and BE CONQUERED.  All too often financial advisors rely just on financial solutions to solve a client’s long-term care risk.  Likewise, lawyers look to their legal documents to solve the problem.  The best advice is to seek out a “team approach”.  A well-prepared financial plan addressing death and disability, designed in tandem with coordinated and well-drafted legal documents, will yield you the very best results.  Two professionals working “independently” can actually cancel out the effectiveness of one another’s work. Be proactive by insisting that the advisor(s) and lawyer(s) you trust work collaboratively.

For more information on this topic, or to learn how Allen Neuenschwander can help, please visit http://www.outlookwealthadvisors.com.

About Allen Neuenschwander:

Allen created Outlook Wealth Advisors after a devastating family tragedy caused him to redirect his life toward helping people achieve financial security while eliminating unnecessary risk. Unlike many estate & financial planning firms, Outlook has a true fiduciary responsibility to take care of its clients’ interests first, not the firm’s.

Over the years, Allen has passed numerous exams to become a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Certified Financial Planner™. He has taught financial and retirement planning courses for several Houston area colleges and universities and for employee groups at several Fortune 100 companies. Allen has also served on the investment committee of the Houston Chapter of the Texas Society of CPAs, and on the Board of Directors of the Financial Planning Association of Houston.

A major focus of Allen’s practice is working with retired people and those who are about to retire. He has a CD, “How to Avoid Common Retirement Pitfalls,” that is currently available and he is in the process of writing a book. It was recently announced that Allen has been awarded the prestigious 5 Star Wealth Manager Award and was recently recognized in the September issue of Texas Monthly Magazine.

Investment Advisory Services offered through Global Financial Private Capital, LLC, an SEC registered Investment Advisor.  Securities offered through GF Investments Services, LLC with principal offices at 2080 Ringling Blvd, Sarasota, FL  34237. Member FINRA/SIPC. Fixed insurance, long term healthcare, and annuity products are subject to the claims paying ability of the issuing company and are not offered by Global Financial Private Capital or GF Investment Services.