August 3, 2007 - The Focus News

News
Are You Prepared to Help Aging Parents?
Submitted by Thomas Nittler and
Corey Hellebusch, Edward Jones
Financial Advisors
If you have your parents during
much of your adult life, consider
yourself fortunate. As they
age, however, you will need to
become increasingly aware of
added responsibilities you may
have to assume. And by planning
ahead, you can help make
everyone’s lives easier.
In dealing with various matters
relating to your parents
- particularly financial matters
- the key is open and frequent
communication. And that
means you’ll need to find out
everything you can about your
parents’ assets, debts and estate
plans.
You can start by finding out
if your parents have a simple
will drawn up. If they don’t, urge
them to get one. Your parents
have worked hard all their lives
and they want their assets distributed
according to their wishes
instead of a court’s decree,
which is what would happen if
they die “intestate” (without a
will). Even if your parents have
a simple will, they may still
need to take further action. If
you think they have a sizable
estate or want to give significant
gifts to charitable groups,
encourage them to consult with
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an attorney who specializes in
estate planning.
You’ll also need to learn
whatever you can about your
parents’ savings and investments.
Which banks and financial
service providers hold your
parents’ assets? Where are the
records of these accounts? Do
they work with a financial advisor?
You’ll need to learn these
things in case your parents become
incapacitated or die unexpectedly.
State treasurer’s
offices regularly advertise “unclaimed”
property, including
investments - some of which
have simply eluded the attention
of family members.
And, speaking of incapacitation,
you may want to encourage
your parents to create a
durable general power of attorney,
which allows them to appoint
another person to conduct
their business affairs if they are
physically or mentally unable
to manage them yourself. You
can also ease some potential
worries by having your parents
create a medical power of attorney,
which empowers you (or
another relative or close friend)
to make health care decisions
for your parents if they get seriously
injured or become ill and
cannot make health care decisions
on their own.
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Long-term care is another
subject you might want to discuss
with your parents. Of
course, they may never need to
enter a nursing home or require
the services of a home health
care worker. However, if they
do, the expenses can be enormous.
For example, the average
annual cost of a private
room in a nursing home is more
than $75,000, according to the
2006 annual MetLife Market
Survey of Nursing Home and
Home Care.
If your parents needed
to come up with this type of
money, it could wipe out their
financial independence - and
possibly place a burden on
you or your siblings. Currently,
Medicaid pays almost half the
costs of long-term care, but, to
qualify for this government program,
your parents would have
to “spend down” almost all their
assets - an unattractive prospect.
Consequently, you may
want to talk to your parents
about other ways of paying for
these costs.
Start discussing these types
of issues with your parents
soon. As you can see, there’s a
lot of ground to cover, and the
sooner you start, the better.
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THE FOCUS NEWS Friday, August 3, 2007 Page
Why a Home Inspection?
By: Wes Kelly, Certified Home Inspector
Inspection is defined by
the Oxford Dictionary as, “To
view or examine closely and
critically those conditions that
are visible and accessible, as
well as those that are not.”
Sometimes home buyers
have a feeling they should
conduct their own home inspection.
They take an extra
time or two through the home
to look for significant problems.
Usually these folks have
never had a home inspection.
They don’t understand the
time and tools required to fulfill
the dictionary definition of
inspection or the value of the
profession.
How many buyers and
sellers would be able to evaluate
the wiring in an electric
service panel? Would they
recognize a main panel that
may be unsafe? How many
buyers or sellers would be
willing to explore the crawl
space beneath a house with
only a flashlight as your defense.
Spiders, insects of all
types, reptiles and small rodents
are often discovered in
these dark, dank places. How
many would recognize a significant
defect in the foundations
or framing? How many
could identify faulty plumbing
or know to check the water
temperature. Would the average
person know to investigate
the flue and chimney
structure including the rain
cap, damper and flue walls.
How many people can evaluate
a home’s radon level.
How many could evaluate the
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home’s foundation and structural
elements? How many
could determine the quality,
condition and proper installation
of a roof regardless of the
type of roof being inspected.
The list could go on.
The answers here are obvious.
Someone with professional
knowledge and experience
is needed to provide
reliable information about the
conditions in, on, under and
around a home. This does
not mean that every “home
inspector” is sufficiently qualified.
But among those who
are qualified the services they
provide are valuable. They
are recognized by other professionals
in the home buying
business as a vital part of the
team.
A good home inspector
gives the buyer the power of
applied reason and intuition
to understand the interplay
between houses, their subsystems,
their environments
and their occupants. Home
inspectors have a profession
that is easy to fail in and hard
to succeed in. The amount of
details that must be tested,
examined, analyzed and recorded
often fills a 32 page report.
They must keep up with
educational classes, industry
recalls and environmental
concerns. They must be honest
and remain unbiased. A
professional home inspector
should more than earn their
fee for service and provide
security and peace of mind in
the home buying process.
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