San Diego Elder Law Center E-News
Serving the legal needs of San Diego's elder and disabled communities, their families and caregivers
February 2009 - Vol 5, ISSUE 2
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| Dear Liz, |
Thank you for subscribing to our e-newsletter! We hope you
find the contents relevant,interesting and informative. Please give us
your feedback on these articles, and ideas for future articles that
would interest you. You can reach us for comments and other info at www.sandiegoelderlaw.com |
10 Steps to Less Stressful
Caretaking
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Taking care of an elderly loved one, whether due to
dementia or illness, can be exhausting and stressful. Often due to the lack of
outside help, a devotion to the person needing care, or the tunnel vision that
can accompany exhaustion, caretakers don't take care of themselves.
Yet it is a crucial component of the job. Failure of caretakers to take car of
themselves can lead to burnout, injury or illness. If you are the caregiver,
any of these results will harm your ability to care for your loved one.
Here
are some ways to take care of yourself and make sure you can take care of your
loved one.
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IRS Clarifies Recent Law Waiving Account Distribution
Rules for 2009
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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued guidance to
financial institutions clarifying the new law that allows seniors to avoid
making required withdrawals from depleted retirement accounts in 2009.
Taxpayers over 70 1/2 years old generally must begin
withdrawing a certain percentage of the balance of retirement accounts like
IRAs and 401(k)s each year or pay, in addition to income tax, a 50 percent
excise tax on the amount that should have been withdrawn but was not. While
taxpayers who turned 70 1/2 in 2008, can delay the 2008 distribution until
April 1, 2009, the guidance makes clear that those seniors must still take
their withdrawals because the new law only suspends required withdrawals for
the 2009 tax year.
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Interview with Baxter Scruggs of San Diego Mortgage Network
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"In this month's newsletter, we begin a reoccurring
feature of interviews with expert professionals who we believe have useful
information for our readers. We launch this feature with an interview with
Baxter Scruggs with San Diego Mortgage Network. Baxter has helped some of our clients with both conventional and reverse
mortgages, and is interviewed below by Jessi LaCosta, SDELC's Communications
and Outreach Manager.
Reverse mortgages, as Baxter notes, aren't for everyone. The relatively
high up front costs make them often unattractive in situations where at least
one of the qualifying borrowers won't be in the home more than a year or two.
That said, for some people they are wonderful tools, allowing people to live in
home and perhaps fund extended in-home care when there would be no other way to
fund such services." Phil Lindsley
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This
publication is intended for general information purposes only. It is
not intended to constitute individual legal advice to any specific
client.
San Diego Elder Law Center: Our knowledge, your peace of mind . . .
Philip P. Lindsley, Certified Elder Law Attorney
San Diego Elder Law Center
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