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Happy Talky Talky Happy Talk! Don’t Worry, Be Happy

HOW ARE MORTGAGE RATES LIKE MURDER RATES?

Ever wonder how mortgage rates are like murder rates? Me too! And we are in luck. You have paid so much in taxes; Washington bureaucrats track this stuff. Not joking.

Freddie Mac (not the guy with the hamburgers or cheesy macaroni) says home mortgage interest rates have almost tripled. USA, USA, USA!

The American Stasi, Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight, Praetorian Guard, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer, reports that murder rates are surging. How did that happen?

Don’t believe me… believe your own lying eyes:

Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer

What’s The Difference Between Oil And Murder Plus Mortgage Rates?

Why would the Leader of the Free World™ grovel to Petroleum Potentates? Why would Petroleum Potentates wipe the Leader of the Free World™’s nose in his stinky economic and geopolitical mess? Why would PPs listen to the L of the FW’s humiliating pleas, then do exactly the opposite? Because they can. But why? How?

Your tireless tax-paid government bureaucrats at the U.S. Energy Information Administration have the answer. In a single chart.

Follow the lines. “Ending Stocks of Crude Oil” in our Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) are at a 30-year low. Thirty. Year. Low. From historic highs to historic lows. In 2 years. Did somebody try to buy political favors with your energy security? Nah! Crazy talk. Conspiracy theory. I am sure there is a very good explanation. Very. Good.

What else is at historic lows? America’s regular stocks of crude oil. Lowest in 30 years for “Ending Stocks of Crude Oil”. Blame COVID. Or Russia. Or China. Or Ukraine. Or Evil Oil Companies. Or Garden Gnomes. Right? Could not possibly have anything to do with doddering grifters wrapping themselves in the flag and buying votes. Nah! So much crazy talk.

And thank goodness for global warming! Our planet is so toasty, we don’t need petroleum products to heat our homes. Nowadays, winter is a thing of the past. A few old greybeards remember snow as a distant memory, but you’ve never seen any. And windmills juice up all our electric rent- a-cars. No problem. Don’t worry. Be happy. Now.

Murder Up! Mortgage Up! Oil Supply Down!
What are you going to do about it?

Lightning Letters Redux…

Like Sands Through The Hourglass… So Are The Letters Of Our Lives

(Not Edited For Spelling Or Punctuation Or Anything Else) (Warning: Not Legal Advice!)

Bad Ideas Come From Bad Information

How do I put my name on my mom’s property?
We are living with my mom to take care of her. She has dementia and may need to go into a home. Her will already states that I get everything as my sister and father passed away. I know if I try to put her into a home to help her, we will have to sell the house and we don’t want to lose it and be homeless.

The Short Answer Is: You don’t. Bad idea. Putting your name on mom’s property now would be a “divestment” for Medicaid purposes. If mom needs a Skilled Nursing Facility, she won’t get help, she’ll get a penalty period. And then she’ll get sued. And then they’ll sue you. And then you’ll lose the homestead. And that would be bad.

The Longer Answer Is: Plan to avoid probate. Mom can keep her homestead. You can live in and maintain it. Mom still gets her Skilled Nursing Facility benefits. Although Medicaid takes all her income except for $60/ month.

The Problem Will Be: House in mom’s name must go through probate at death. That’s bad: 1 – Mom gets Medicaid. 2 – Mom dies. 3 – Mom’s estate, including the house, gets probated. 4 – State of Michigan wants its Medicaid money back. State shows up in probate court. State gets the dough. 5 – You lose the house. 6 – You are homeless. Bad.

The Good Answer Is: Avoid probate with a Transfer- On-Death Deed, also known as the Ladybird Deed, Enhanced Life Estate Deed, or Deed pursuant to Michigan Land Title Standards Act 9.3.

A Potential Pitfall: Many folks use the TOD Deed to transfer the house to themselves directly. Now you go bankrupt or get sued or divorced or need long-term care and pfffft goes the house. Waste of Golden Opportunity for long-term security. You are getting the house for free. Mom’s care is also free (except she paid for it through years of income tax). Do Not Cheap Out Now. Spend a couple bucks and secure the house forever. And ever. Amen. (Yes, this strategy uses a trust. Get over it.)

Is Blood Thicker Than Water? And How Could You Tell?

Trust vs Heirs?

Dear attorney, there is an elder lady, who wants to put her niece to Trust and wants this niece to be an owner of this house when she dies. At the same time this lady has 2 sons, who might want to claim to get this property after their mother passes away. In that situation, in case her sons claim this property as blood heirs, what would prevail: trust or rights of her sons as blood relatives? What if they launch a court process, are there any theoretical chances to get the property in possession of her sons? Thank you in advance!

The Short Answer Is: Elder Lady Auntie gets to do with her stuff what she wants. Suggest using a trust to keep it out of probate. Quicker, faster, better. Less opportunity for uncles to complain. Trust wins over Blood! But.

The Longer Answer Is: Why is Elder Lady Auntie sweet on Nice Niece to the point of disinheriting her flesh-and-blood? Millions of reasons. But. Do you want uncles (father?) claiming that Nice Niece “unduly influenced” Elder Lady Auntie? I betcha NN is helping care for ELA. I betcha they are very close. I betcha ELA’s powers of attorney/will/trust/patient advocate name NN as ELA’s fiduciary. Danger is real, not a “theoretical chance.”

The Problem: NN’s close relationship with ELA means NN automatically unduly influenced ELA to give House to NN. (This is known as shifting the burden of proof.) Now NN must prove NN did NOT unduly influence ELA. Which is impossible now that ELA has died. NN loses house. Uncles win. Angels weep.

The Good Answer Is: Employ experienced counsel. Do it correctly. Wise, foresighted counsel will anticipate the undue influence claim. And defend against any such challenge. And a bunch of other stuff that can go haywire.

Why Don’t You Deserve A Little Payback For All The Taxes You Paid In?

Why Do You Want To Spend Your Last Nickel On Long-Term Care?

Why Shouldn’t The Government Spend Your Money For You?

Why Does Traditional Estate Planning Fail? All the time

Traditional estate planning is concerned with avoiding probate, saving taxes, and dumping your leftover stuff on your beneficiaries. After you die. Nobody cares what happens to you while you are alive. How does that help anyone? Stupid.

Traditional estate planning fails because the overwhelming majority of us will need long-term skilled care. 70% of us. For an average of 3 years. And we will go broke paying for it.

Is it surprising that thousands of recreation properties: cottages, cabins, hunting land, are lost to pay for long-term care? Why is your estate planner hurting you and your family? It is evil intent? Or stupidity?

LifePlanning™ defeats Nursing Home Poverty. Keep your stuff. Get the care you have already paid for. Good for you. Good for your family. Good example for society,
When my mother suffered from the dementia which led to her death, over 10 years ago, their estate plan preserved their lifesavings. Mom’s months in the nursing home did not mean Dad’s impoverishment. Dad spent the last years with security and peace of mind.

Is Now A Bad Time For A Real Solution?

Perhaps you think you already have an answer to this problem. Maybe you do not see this as a problem at all. It is possible that you do not believe in the passage of time or its effects on you.

Peace of mind and financial security are waiting for everyone who practices LifePlanning™. You know that peace only begins with financial security. Are legal documents the most important? Is avoiding probate the best you can do for yourself or your loved ones? Is family about inheritance? Or are these things only significant to support the foundation of your family?

Do you think finding the best care is easy? Do you want to get lost in the overwhelming flood of claims and promises? Or would you like straight answers?

Well, here you are. Now you know. No excuses. Get the information, insight, inspiration. It is your turn. Ignore the message? Invite poverty? Or get the freely offered information. To make wise decisions. For you. For your loved ones.

The LifePlan™ Workshop has been the first step on the path to security and peace for thousands of families. Why not your family?

NO POVERTY. NO CHARITY. NO WASTE.
It is not chance. It is choice. Your choice.

Get Information Now. (800) 317-2812

The post Ignore These Graphs, They Are Meaningless appeared first on Carrier Law.

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16+% Wholesale Inflation – Again! 10.1% Cost Of Food Inflation

Nostalgic For The Good Old Days Of Jimmy Carter? Me Too.

More good news from our friends at the Bureau of Labor Statistics! Consumer Price Inflation is setting new 40-year records. Again.

Energy prices are up. Way, way up. And that’s easy to solve. Simply stop driving anywhere. Stay at home. Problem solved.

Now that summer is finally here, you may wish to turn on your air conditioning. Do not. Your cost of cool is up 35%. Fortunately, sweat is still free. And it is all natural. Probably gluten-free, too. So, stay home, in the dark, with the air conditioning off. It is the New American thing to do.

Also, you can forget about going to the pool. No lifeguards. According to that paragon of virtue, National Public Radio: “the National Recreation and Parks Association says 8 out of 10 parks and rec departments can’t find enough staff.” “Tens of thousands of pools across the country are closed…”

Everybody complaining about gas prices. Is that the worst? No. Gas prices are not the worst part. So what is the worst? Since you have not read or heard it anywhere else, it falls to your Elder Law Reporter to point out the worst. Food Inflation. Food Inflation is in double-digit territory. Food costs 10.1% more now. You can stay home and save gas. Can you stay home and not eat? For how long? Little Orphan Annie said, “The sun’ll come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there’ll be sun!” Little Orphan Annie has not been watching the Producer Price Index.

Every time you go to the store, you experience the Consumer Price Index. The CPI is how the government measures misery today.

Future pain is predicted by the Producer Price Index. The PPI measures wholesale inflation, before it gets to your local store. Wholesale inflation is once again at a 40-year high. 16.6%. Did you think 10% Food Inflation was bad? How about 16.6%? That is what’s coming tomorrow. For Goods. Wholesale inflation for services is only 7.6%. Feel better?

Hey Annie! Wake up and smell the coffee! Whoops, according to the Wall Street Journal, thanks to “extreme weather and supply-chain disruptions,” we have a coffee shortage and prices are up 76%. Yeah, we got a chart for that.

Homebuyers! Do not feel left out. Home mortgage interest rates are still climbing, according to Freddie Mac (formerly known as the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation), now up about 300% since Christmas. Pass the eggnog! Merry? Merry? Investors! Guess what… the market is tanking. Down 17% this year. So far. But you already knew that.

What’s It All About? Six Keys To Happiness

How do you survive when the best-case scenario is: Horrifically Worse Than Jimmy Carter, But At Least No Thermonuclear War? Follow the Six Steps:

Stay home. Do not move about. Do not turn on the A/C. Do not eat. Do not buy another house. Do not look at your investments. Bonus Step: Go to a LifePlan™ Workshop. Drink our coffee. Have a oatmeal raisin cookie on us! Cheers… Easy!

Is Traditional Trust Planning Failure A Scam?
Why Is Your Estate Plan A Death Trap
Can Widespread Failure Be Explained By Incompetence And Indifference?

Traditional estate planning is supposed to avoid probate, save taxes, and dump your leftover stuff on your beneficiaries. After you die. Nobody cares what happens to you while you are alive. How does that help anyone? Stupid.

Traditional estate planning fails because the overwhelming majority of us will need long-term skilled care. 70% of us. For an average of 3 years. And we will go broke paying for it.

Is it surprising that thousands of recreation properties: cottages, cabins, hunting land, are lost to pay for long- term care? Why is your estate planner hurting you and your family? It is evil intent? Or stupidity?

LifePlanning™ defeats Nursing Home Poverty. Keep your stuff. Get the care you have already paid for. Good for you. Good for your family. Good example for society.

When my mother suffered from the dementia which led to her death, over 10 years ago, their estate plan preserved their lifesavings. Mom’s months in the nursing home did not mean Dad’s impoverishment. Dad spent the last years with security and peace of mind.

Is Now A Bad Time For A Real Solution?

Perhaps you think you already have an answer to this problem. Maybe you do not see this as a problem at all. It is possible that you do not believe in the passage of time or its effects on you.

Peace of mind and financial security are waiting for everyone who practices LifePlanning™. You know that peace only begins with financial security. Are legal documents the most important? Is avoiding probate the best you can do for yourself or your loved ones? Is family about inheritance? Or are these things only significant to support the foundation of your family?

Do you think finding the best care is easy? Do you want to get lost in the overwhelming flood of claims and promises? Or would you like straight answers?

Well, here you are. Now you know. No excuses. Get the information, insight, inspiration. It is your turn. Ignore the message? Invite poverty? Or get the freely offered information. To make wise decisions. For you. For your loved ones.

The LifePlan™ Workshop has been the first step on the path to security and peace for thousands of families. Why not your family?

No Poverty. No Charity. No Waste.
It is not chance. It is choice. Your choice.

Get Information Now. (800) 317-2812

The post You Don’t Need A Weatherman To Know Which Way The Wind Blows appeared first on Carrier Law.

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A Confederacy Of Dunces?
Are The “Best And Brightest” In Charge?
Did We Elect The Most Arrogant and Stupid?

Five Basic Laws of Human Stupidity

Setting New Records For Pitiful Stupidity?

Every day in every way, we are getting better and better! Who believes that? You try and try, but isn’t it getting more and more difficult to keep the faith? Just look around. Or in a grocery store. Or any kind of store. We are #1! Setting records every week… ain’t it grand?

BASIC PRICE INFLATION. In March 2022, the United States set a 40-year record high for inflation. April 2022 says, “Hold my beer.” And catapults past March, with a new 40-year record high. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Let’s blame Russia.

(Don’t you just love this chart which pretends you can ignore food and energy prices? Excellent!)

MORTGAGE INTEREST RATES. Not to be outdone, mortgage interest rates also jumped to new highs. The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, known to its friends as “Freddie Mac,” proudly proclaims prodigious price proliferation. “Well done, Freddie!” say us. You want to buy a house? Ha ha ha. Renting is good.

FEDERAL FERTILIZER FRACAS. Is it ridiculous to observe that large quantities of cow-based organic fertilizer are produced by government operations? Do you doubt that the highest level of government work product consists primarily of bull-based fertilizer, also known as “BS”? Verily, the highest praise from one bureaucrat to another: “That is total BS!” How can there be a fertilizer shortage with all this manure and BS? Our “public servants” find the way.

BONUS QUESTION: Will skyrocketing fuel and fertilizer costs reduce food prices? What do you think? Asking for a friend…

IT AIN’T JUST FERTILIZER. Is it crazy to think that raw material costs have something to do with store prices? Do manufacturers get everything for free? Is the cost of steel and rubber and aluminum and a whole bunch of other stuff irrelevant to the price of your new car?

Let’s look at overall raw material costs. Remember that store prices are up 8.5%. How about raw material prices? Any good news there? Nope. Those prices are up 11.2%. Unexpectedly.

RUSSIAN INVASION. Everybody feel bad for murderous thieving Russian crime boss. Crime boss unhappy because neighborhood victims no want murder or stealing no more.

Is good club in neighborhood. Nice neighborhood people make good club so murderous Russian crime boss no murder them and steal stuff. But Russian crime boss like murder and steal. Sad now.

Other neighborhood folks name Sweden and Finland want join good club. Russian crime boss no like that idea! So, Sweden and Finland not join good club so Russian crime boss not get very sad then start murdering and stealing again.

Nobody to murder or steal from. Russian crime boss sad, so sad. And bored. Russian crime boss get angry. Say no one even think about join good club. Then Russian crime boss start murder and steal from neighbor.

Sweden and Finland see Russian crime boss murder and steal. Sweden and Finland now say, “Hmmm, maybe good time join good club.”

Russian crime boss get many Russians killed. Russian crime boss lose lots of Russian stuff. Russian crime boss get many neighbor people killed. Russian crime boss wreck lots of neighbor’s stuff. [By the way, there are very few Russians healthy and young enough for military service. And this idiot is feeding them wholesale into a meat grinder. That’s how stupid he is.]

Russian crime boss gets nothing good, loses lots. Russian crime boss neighbor gets nothing good, loses lots.

No good. All bad. Very bad.

Russian crime boss evil, yes. Very evil. Russian crime boss worse than evil. Russian crime boss stupid.

“Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”

—Robert J. Hanlon, Hanlon’s Razor, 1980

The Five Basic Laws Of Human Stupidity

Carlo M. Cipolla stated that there are 5 basic laws of Human Stupidity that help to explain the world around us. Do politicians intend to harm us? Are they doing it on purpose? Some are, probably, but most are just stupid. They actually believe that creating more money will cure inflation. Well.

Last week we visited the first 3 of Cipolla’s Laws:

The First Basic Law Of Human Stupidity

Always And Inevitably Everyone Underestimates The Number Of Stupid Individuals In Circulation.
There are more stupid people hanging around that you can possibly imagine.

The Second Basic Law Of Human Stupidity

The Probability That A Certain Person Be Stupid Is Independent Of Any Other Characteristic Of That Person.
Rich people, poor people, Harvard graduates, elementary school dropouts, artists, butchers, bakers, candlestick makers, lawyers, doctors, politicians. All are equally, proportionately, stupid.

The Third and Golden Basic Law Of Human Stupidity

A Stupid Person Is A Person Who Causes Losses To Another Person Or To A Group Of Persons While Himself Deriving No Gain And Even Possibly Incurring Losses.

BANDIT. It is possible to be an almost intelligent bandit. The bandit always harms others. Bandits are evil. But not necessarily stupid. An intelligent evil bandit steals your car. And keeps your car. You are down a whole automobile. Bandit is up by an automobile. You lose. Bandit gains. Gains and losses balance. The whole is not worse off, even though evil stuff happened.

Most bandits are not intelligent. Most bandits are stupid. Most bandits cause far more harm to you than they benefit themselves. Bandit carjacks your car. Shoots you. You lose automobile, pancreas, kidney, and part of your left lung. You are way way down. Bandit does not get to keep stolen car. Bandit sells for cheap to chop shop. Bandit is now Public Enemy #1. Bandit gets caught, goes to jail. Bad things happen.

Bandit hurts you and hurts self. Stupid.

BANDIT POLITICIAN. Politician wants to be liked. Pumps up trilllions of money from nowhere. Gives to friends. Lots of friends. Would print up and give away even more, but spoilsports say “NO!”. Politician sad.

Price inflation takes away more money than Politician gave to friends. Friends now unhappy. Much more unhappy than before. Cannot buy house. Cannot go on vacation. Cannot buy food.

Politician now unliked by all. Popularity in the toilet. Most people say “Big Stinker!”. Politician loses. Friends lose. Everybody loses.

Politician hurts you and hurts self. Stupid.

The Fourth Basic Law Of Human Stupidity

Non-Stupid People Always Underestimate The Damaging Power Of Stupid Individuals. In Particular Non-Stupid People Constantly Forget That At All Times And Places And Under Any Circumstances To Deal And/Or Associate With Stupid People Always Turns Out To Be A Costly Mistake.

Did you think Russia would be threatening thermonuclear war against Sweden and Finland (and the rest of us) in the Spring of 2022? Did you guess that the United States would be fighting a land war in Europe right about now? Did you foresee the highest inflation rates in 40 years? Did your crystal ball foretell that testicle’ed humans would be celebrated for beating uterus’ed humans in athletic contests? Did you predict that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology would give up the most effective screening tests available to admit unqualified students who flunked out at astounding rates? And so on and so on and so on…

Stupid people endanger us all. With nuclear war. And conventional war. Murder. Destruction. And the acceptance of preposterous positions that no one with a grain of common sense could countenance.

As George Orwell once said:

“Some ideas are so stupid that only intellectuals believe them.”

The Fifth Basic Law Of Human Stupidity

A Stupid Person Is The Most Dangerous Type Of Person

Traditional Planning Is Stupid Planning

Traditional Planning Is Dangerous To You And Your Family

Stupid people are unpredictable. Totally and completely unpredictable. You cannot protect yourself, or any part of what you value, from the stupid person.

For example, you can calculate how a bandit will operate. An “intelligent” bandit wants your stuff. If you give the “intelligent” bandit your stuff, the bandit will (probably) not harm you further. It is evil. You have lost. But you live another day.

Stupid bandits shoot you. You lose. They wind up in a bad place. Everybody loses. See, Ukraine. Intelligent people are quite predictable.

Intelligent people see what is good for them. You can understand why they want what is good for them. Intelligent people do not want to hurt you, because you can benefit them again in the future. Also you get good things from the intelligent person. Cooperation! Even competitive cooperation, where both persons actively and intelligently strive for advantage, without gratuitously harming the other. What a wonderful thing!

Middle class folks may be proportionally as stupid as any other groups. But, middle class people act more intelligently than any other group. Murderous thieving Russian crime bosses, grifting politicians, overbearing tech oligarchs, and other persons in positions of power are tolerated because of their power. They do not hear the truth because they are feared.

Who fears you? Who lies to you rather than tell you the truth because of your awesome, terrible power? Nobody.

Powerful People are just as stupid as we are. But we get better information than the Powerful People who are surrounded by fear-ridden toadies. Do you want to be the one who tells murderous thieving Russian crime boss that his big missile boat was blown up? Me neither.

Stupid Powerful People unpredictably, do harmful things that hurt all of us and benefit them not at all.

Thank God that you are middle class. You have the power to do good. And nobody lies to you out of fear.

Traditional Planning Is Stupid Planning

Traditional Planning Is Dangerous To You And Your Family

Traditional estate planning is concerned with avoiding probate, saving taxes, and dumping your leftover stuff on your beneficiaries. After you die. Nobody cares what happens to you while you are alive. How does that help anyone? Stupid.

Traditional estate planning fails because the overwhelming majority of us will need long-term skilled care. 70% of us. For an average of 3 years. And we will go broke paying for it.

Is it surprising that thousands of recreation properties: cottages, cabins, hunting land, are lost to pay for long-term care? Why is your estate planner hurting you and your family? It is evil intent? Or stupidity?

LifePlanning™ defeats Nursing Home Poverty. Keep your stuff. Get the care you have already paid for. Good for you. Good for your family. Good example for society.

When my mother suffered from the dementia which led to her death, over 10 years ago, their estate plan preserved their lifesavings. Mom’s months in the nursing home did not mean Dad’s impoverishment. Dad spent the last years with security and peace of mind.

Is Now A Bad Time For A Real Solution?

Perhaps you think you already have an answer to this problem. Maybe you do not see this as a problem at all. It is possible that you do not believe in the passage of time or its effects on you.

Peace of mind and financial security are waiting for everyone who practices LifePlanning™. You know that peace only begins with financial security. Are legal documents the most important? Is avoiding probate the best you can do for yourself or your loved ones? Is family about inheritance? Or are these things only significant to support the foundation of your family?

Do you think finding the best care is easy? Do you want to get lost in the overwhelming flood of claims and promises? Or would you like straight answers?

Well, here you are. Now you know. No excuses. Get the information, insight, inspiration. It is your turn. Ignore the message? Invite poverty? Or get the freely offered information. To make wise decisions. For you. For your loved ones.

The LifePlan™ Workshop has been the first step on the path to security and peace for thousands of families. Why not your family?

No Poverty. No Charity. No Waste.

It is not chance. It is choice. Your choice.
Get Information Now. (800) 317-2812

The post “Golden Age” or “Hell In A Hand Basket”? appeared first on Carrier Law.