TheLiveBigWay® Digest – Earth Day Edition

Staying true to Yeske Buie’s Learn Big worldview, we are committed to learning more about reverse mortgages and how they may be used as strategic planning tools for our Clients. In the first article of this mini-series, we provided a basic overview of Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM), which are federally-insured reverse mortgages offered and regulated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In Part II of the mini-series, we will cover additional details on HECMs including what factors affect the calculation of the loan value, additional costs to consider, how the payments work and how the loan is repaid. We will also include a brief overview of using HECMs to purchase new homes.

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Patient Planning

No matter what stage of life you find yourself, we feel that it is important to have a plan in place to cover all aspects of your life and is congruent with your Live Big^® goals. Some of your planning needs may be obvious, but there may be some needs that simply aren’t as clear. With this in mind, we share an article by Julie Kaplan, PharmD, senior medical writer at RX411.com, that discusses the importance of planning for unexpected medical situations. The article explains that unless you have an intentional conversation, your default caregiver (most likely a spouse or close relative) may not know enough about your medical routines and conditions to help in an emergency situation. Read on to learn about designating a patient advocate to ensure you have a plan in place should you experience a medical emergency.

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Sabina Has Passed the CFP^® Exam

Yeske Buie is pleased to share that Sabina Smailhodzic has passed the CFP^® Exam. After passing the exam, Sabina said, “I plan on celebrating by packing up my study materials! I am happy I passed and am one step closer to being a CFP^® Professional.” In addition to passing the exam, each CFP^® Candidate is required to meet an education requirement and an experience requirement. As a Financial Planning Resident, Sabina will have the experience necessary to qualify to be a CFP^® Licensee upon her “graduation” from the program. Sabina will meet all three CFP^® Board requirements at the end of the Spring and will then be able to apply for the certification. Congratulations, Sabina!

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Celebrate Earth Day at a National Park

Last Friday, President Obama proclaimed the week of April 16^th through April 24^th as National Park Week. Additionally, the White House announced further support of the President’s Every Kid in a Park initiative which is committed to providing free National Park access to fourth grade students and their families. In our most recent edition of The Live Big Chronicles, we suggested taking advantage of National Park Week. So in honor of this 46^th celebration of Earth Day, consider heading out to one of the National Parks this weekend! And if you find yourself enjoying one of the parks, take your Live Big glass with you and we’ll add it to our Where in the World is the Live Big Glass? gallery – you’ll find the glass has already traveled to three of our National Parks.

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Tax Return Request

Now that tax day has come and gone (unless you are on extension), we will be requesting a copy of your 2015 Federal and State returns to help us better serve our Clients throughout the year. Exactly how the information is used varies from Client to Client, but we are best able to perform tax related analysis with your most current tax return. Lauren Vitt will be sending email requests beginning Monday. It is our preference to receive the entire document but we understand that many returns are quite lengthy. If you are unable to send the entire document, please send the 1040 and all Schedules. You may send the documents to us using any of the methods described here.