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$750 Billion Is Hi-Test Gasoline On The Inflation Bonfire

Inflation Is Baked In The Cake – You Knew That
Destruction Of 60 Million Independent Contractor Businesses– See That Coming?

America dodged a several trillion-dollar bullet when the Build Back Better plan was rejected. Did rampant inflation caused by trillions in spending already approved by Congress play a role? We can only hope. Now we have the IRA, which everyone agrees will do nothing to reduce inflation. Seven hundred fifty billion of new spending. For a football stadium full of IRS agents. Enforcing new rules that they are pretending are the old rules. But they are not.

Government does not like independent contractors, freelancers, small businesses, gig workers, or others who do not operate within highly regulated industry structures. Nontraditional workers are too hard to find, tax, and regulate. Everything a bureaucrat hates.

Independent workers, who are small businesses unto themselves, are about 35% of American workers, in whole or part. That’s about 60 million Americans. Sixty million small businesses. And that is about to change. Why do you think they want another 87,000 IRS agents? To go after rich people? Ho ho ho. And hah!

Americans like working independently. Especially younger Americans. For flexibility. To be your own boss. Other good, American-type reasons.

And if you are worried about the younger generation… and who isn’t? You might find some hope in the fact that they seem even more dedicated to personal responsibility in their employment.

It is too soon to tell how bad all this will be. But it will be bad. Very bad. Just look at California which implemented this scheme in 2020. Why is the supply chain so screwed up? Could whacking 70,000 owner/operator truckers with new taxes, fees, and regulations by reclassifying them as employees rather than independent businesses have some effect? Millions more are suffering. From yoga instructors to hairdressers. Entrepreneurs who rent space for their business are now employees.

The American Dream is under assault as never before. From inflation to stifling regulation, to inviting low-cost labor competition by abandoning our borders. Middle class Americans must fight back. Your children want the independence of their own business. We must work together to keep that dream a reality.

The post What You Did Not Know About The Inflation Reduction Act appeared first on Carrier Law.

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Just The Facts Ma’am. All Good Stuff Without Bad Fluff

Is The World Changing? What Can You Do To Succeed?

You yourself are getting older. You expect to live longer. And healthier. Than any generation ever. In the history of the world. And you are correct. Has there ever been a generation quite like this one? Higher expectations. Greater achievement. Self-confidence. Ambition. Generosity.

Thanks to you, America is getting older. We grew up in an era of large families. Today a large family is three. Many of your kids have no kids. Maybe one or two. How often do you see a family of five? Youngsters are a shrinking slice of the population pie.

As folks get older, they have greater needs. No surprise. Physical and mental capabilities decline. It happens. But not at age 60 or 70, anymore. However, when we get to our mid-80’s, about half of us are going to need a hand. Who will be there to lend the hand?

Nurses are sick. And tired. Sick and tired of nursing. Hundreds of thousands have left the profession. Despite high pay. And bonuses. Other caregivers are under stress too. Good help is hard to find. My father had 8 kids (and a long-suffering son-in-law). Willing and able to spend 2-to-4 week turns with our active, ornery, mentally alert, Dad. For the last two years of his 96 years on this planet. How many of us have that many kids? How many are able? How many are willing? Who will fill the gap? How will those caregivers be paid?

Prices are going up. Way up. Way way up. No one should be fooled by the three-card monte scam being run out of Washington, D.C. Inflation is not just gasoline. Inflation is not just “transitory.” Or the Russians’ fault. Or the “supply chain.” Inflation destroys savings. Your savings. You thought you had enough to pay the caregivers. Maybe you should think again?

Is this tiresome and boring? After all, everybody knows these things. You know this is the truth. Go to the gas station or grocery store. Talk to your friends and neighbors, at church or the club. Why deny the evidence of your own eyes? And wallet?

Pathetic politicians and profiteering professionals pretend nothing has changed. Same old, same old. Their ideas failed when everything was easier. That’s all they’ve got. No new thinking. No response to the changing world.

Retreads. Like Russia hauling 60-year-old tanks out of cold storage to keep invading a country that is armed with modern weapons Anything to keep playing the old game. Blind stupidity: failed with our new stuff, so let’s fail again with our old stuff. Keep up the charade long enough to fleece another few suckers. Why does anyone fall for it?

Can’t we be brutally honest? Can’t we look around with clear eyes, good hearts, and a fierce determination to keep our independence, our right to choose our lives, and to make a better world for our families? Who says we must accept decline? Who says we must put up with this nonsense? Who says we must follow the well-trod path? Can’t we choose the “road less-taken”? You have forged your own way through this life with grace, compassion, and generosity, why stop now?

Just a few pebbles start a landslide. A little snowball launches an avalanche. Small changes in thinking about your future, acting and planning for your life to come, can change everything over time. Are you opposed to making the next 10, 20, 30 years the best they can be? Are you against securing your own future and that of your family? Do you believe that “Ignorance is Bliss”? Do you reject that “Knowledge is Power”?

No one would blame you for thinking this is all a lot of blather. But everything above is backed up by the facts. Laid out below. You don’t need clever talk. Just the facts. And here they are:

You Are Going To Be Around A Lot Longer Than You Think

Doesn’t everybody know Americans are living longer? Murder rates are up, but that’s mostly 20 to 30-year-olds killing other 20 to 30-year-olds. COVID, the Elder Plague, did kill more older folks. From 2020 to 2021, an extra million Americans died. Blip.

However, the overall trend to longer life continues. And that means you. You are living longer. Good for you. Right? Why shouldn’t you plan to live until 80? 85? 90? Or more? Get used to it, you are living longer. And so are your friends and neighbors.

If people are living longer, will they need more resources? If you are living longer, will you need to make your own savings last longer? Or will you happily accept poverty? Or a government handout?

There Will Be A Lot More Older Folks In America And Fewer Young Ones

Everybody knows, as life expectancies increase, there are more and more older Americans. Despite the Elder Plague of COVID, which overwhelmingly killed older folks. And given the lower birth rate, not only will there be more seniors, but seniors will be a greater proportion of the population.

It is unusual, but sometimes government information confirms common sense.

Isn’t it simple math: if older retired folks make up a larger and larger percentage, then younger, working people must be a smaller and smaller slice of the population pie?

You Are Not Getting Older, You Are Getting Better!
Up To A Point About Age 80, Then You Fall Off The Cliff…

Modern medical miracles are miraculous. But we all know that as we age, various things start to become troublesome. As lifetimes increase, there are more and more older Americans. Is it crazy to think that as there are more and more older Americans, there might be more and more disabled Americans? That’s what the numbers say.

Where Have All The Nurses Gone?

Is anyone surprised that as more Americans need more nursing assistance, we will look to America’s nurses? But where have all the nurses gone? Even now, historically high wages, signing bonuses, premium pay, special benefits, and a smorgasbord of other goodies cannot keep nurses nursing.

Hundreds of thousands have dropped out of the profession in the last few years. Only 41% of practicing nurses are committed to remaining in service. 27% saying it was “very unlikely” they would quit. 14% flatly stated that they were “not leaving.” The rest range from “definitely leaving” to “somewhat unlikely” to depart.

When you need a nurse, who will be there? When you need a caregiver, who will answer the call? And how much will you have to pay? Can you?

Source: McKinsey November 2021 Frontline Workforce Survey

Inflation – Bad And Getting Worse. Much Worse

Gone to the gas station or grocery store recently? Then you already have the bad news on inflation. Prices going up, up, up. It is not an illusion. Hard at work spending your tax dollars, the Bureau of Labor Statistics provides the following melancholy reminder that your consumer dollars are melting away like snowflakes on a hot griddle.

And that is bad. What is worse, is the next chart. Take a look!

What is worse than prices at the pump skyrocketing? Future prices streaking to the stratosphere, that’s what! Thanks to the geniuses in Washington, you are already paying lots more than last year for your stuff. About 8.5% more. What about next year?

The “Producer Price Index” shows what raw materials cost. How do you manufacture finished goods? You start with raw materials. Raw materials now cost 16.3% more than a year ago. Do you believe that inflation is going away? Do you believe that the geniuses have it all under control? Do you believe in the Easter Bunny, the Loch Ness Monster, and the Lost City of Atlantis?

If everything is more expensive, will the costs of long-term care be more expensive? Is it ridiculous to think that ignoring the devastation of inflation will ruin your retirement?

Secure Your Future, Avoid Nursing Home Poverty

Too much brutal honesty? Don’t want to see with clear eyes, good hearts, and a fierce determination to keep your independence? Choose your own life? Make this a better world for your family?

Must you accept decline? Must you put up with this nonsense? Why should you follow mindless path? Why not choose the “road less- taken”? Having forged your own way through this life with grace, compassion, and generosity, why would you stop now?

Why are you opposed to making the next 10, 20, 30 years the best they can be? Why are you against securing your own future and that of your family? Why do you believe that “Ignorance is Bliss”? Why reject that “Knowledge is Power”?

Why not come to a LifePlan™ Workshop? What do you have to lose? Besides everything?

Letters, We Get Letters!

Lady Byng Trophy* Withdrawn Marquess Of Queensbury Rules** Repealed And Anonymous Emails Too!

What, Me Throw Stones? Challenge Accepted!

We like to think we are genteel, well-mannered, calm, “with the milk of human kindness by the quart in every vein.” Shattering this self-delusion, a dear anonymous email correspondent recently suggested that your Reporter must live in a stainless-steel abode. After all, was not The Reporter throwing too many stones for his own good? Probably meant as a gentle warning. Food for thought!

On the other hand, as John Bunyan observed in 1650: “He that is down needs fear no fall, He that is low no pride…” With a lively appreciation of The Reporter’s own faults, foibles, and failings (multitudinous!) therefore, we soldier on. Without fear or favor!

*Annually, the Lady Byng Trophy is awarded to the National Hockey League player best exhibiting “sportsmanship and gentlemanly behavior.”

**In 1867, the M of Q Rules for boxing were intended to reduce death and maiming of English pugilists. Mike Tyson unavailable for comment.

Avoid Probate, Save Taxes, Get To Kids?
Traditional Planning Is Death Planning
And When You Die Broke, Drained By Long-Term Care, Probate Is Irrelevant

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 It Is Not That Hard To Figure Out That The American Middle Class Is Getting Shafted appeared first on Carrier Law.

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Are You Against Peace of Mind?
What Is A Will? Probate – Who Cares?
What Is A Trust? Why Do Trusts Routinely Fail?
Why Don’t They Ever Talk About The Real Problem?
Why Are They Misleading You?
Is Now A Bad Time?

American Middle-Class Values Are Universal
The Future Is Middle Class

Sometimes do you feel surrounded by gloomy complainers who think you should be as anxious and angry as they are? At Christmastime, they complain about everything: gift-giving is bad, Christmas dinner is sinfully extravagant, family time is traumatic. Sad. Proof positive that misery loves company.

Gloomy Gus and Miserable Mary take especial twisted delight in accusing you of all manner of wretched, greedy, evil behavior. Your joy in simple pleasures both infuriates and depresses them. They have “issues.” Every glass is half-empty. All emotions are tainted. Lurking beneath each good deed is a selfish and unworthy motive. The pinnacle of their dismal happiness is to accuse America of unique and awful sin. COVID responses have only deepened their malaise.

What rubbish! Just as your (vaccinated!) immune system rapidly isolates and destroys deadly viruses and bacteria, we need to inoculate ourselves against this deeply stupid and self-destructive whining. Childish and immature? Yes. Infantile and unserious? Definitely. That does not mean we can ignore this injurious infection. Sunshine is the best disinfectant!

Is everything bad and getting worse? Are you an awful person? It is easy to observe that throughout human history, humans have wanted the same things. Why do they ridicule the notion that we are all the same underneath?

You spent a lifetime working and saving. You paid your bills. You raised your kids. You showed up. Nose to the grindstone. Happy warrior. Fighting the good fight.

Lucky for you, you are an American. Being an American means that your efforts count. You can get stuff. And keep it. And enjoy it. Some people like snowmobiles. Other people like Precious Moments™ figurines. Bowling balls and pool cues. Snap-on Tools™. Surf boards. Quilts. Pottery. We like our stuff. It is good to get stuff. The more stuff, the better.

Abundance. Prosperity. Wealth.

How do I know that it is good to get stuff? Look around. Everybody, in every country, around the world, is trying to get stuff. Stuff like yours. Stuff we take for granted.

It starts with sanitation. Toilets. Clean water. Pretty soon folks want electricity. And a bank account. For their savings. Then cell phones. Then McDonald’s™ hamburgers. Then a place to call their own. Then a house. And a car. Health care too. People like to live. They like to live with their stuff. It’s not just you.
Everybody’s doing it.

How do I know? Glad you asked…

Extreme Poverty Almost Gone

The world is becoming middle-class. America just got there first. Not getting blown up in WWII probably helped. Working really hard and believing the America Dream also helped. And now, according to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in the 2020 Goalkeepers Report, the world is catching up.

Worried about Extreme Poverty? It is practically a thing of the past. Look at the graph. Go to the website. All good news!

Got Personal Hygiene?
Get Running Water and Toilets…

What about safe water? Again, check out the chart. More people than ever are living healthier lives. Who knew that things were so good? The truth is that other folks want the same things you do. And, like you, they are willing to work to get those good things. Is it ridiculous to think that other people want flush toilets, clean water, and a place to wash their hands? Did you think anyone was choosing to wash in sewage?

Who Needs Banks and Banking Services The Most? Poor Folks

And what about money? Once again, trust your own eyes. Even in the poorest countries. Even the poorest people in those countries. 30% of the poorest people in the world have bank accounts. A safe place to store the fruits of their labors. Giving them a way out of poverty. Promising them a brighter future.

The job is not done. Not by a long stretch. Be of good cheer. Progress is tough to derail. Not even the COVID pandemic or some of the hysterical reactions to it have significantly slowed the train. So. Let the nattering nabobs of negativism tell you how bad everything is… Then give them a reality check. Pow! Right in the kisser. Metaphorically. Rhetorically. Confidently.

The future is middle class.

Middle class folks want to make things better for the family members they leave behind. It is a new kind of problem for most people. Including most Americans.

You Got Stuff, You Die Who Gets Your Stuff?
The Last Will and Testament

Funny thing about stuff. It lasts longer than you do. What happens then? The answer to that question is the beginning of estate planning. For a very long time, only the pashas, potentates and princes had anything worth having. But that began to change. Slowly at first, but eventually lots of folks had stuff that was still around after they were gone and still useful.

Who gets it? That was a big problem. The answer was a new kind of court, the probate court. A special place where all this could be settled out.

Along with getting stuff for themselves, folks wanted to give the next generation a leg up. They wanted to say who would get the left-overs. And that’s where wills come in.

Your Last Will and Testament is simply instructions to the probate court. That is it. Your Will only works if it goes through probate. Lots of people will tell you, “I don’t have to worry about probate, I have a Will!” And now you know better.

How much does it cost to probate your leftover stuff? A frequently cited number, attributed to AARP, is 4-10% of the value of the estate. That seems about right to me.

Why so expensive? Because you left a big mess. While you are alive, your name is on your stuff. You are large and in charge. It is as if you were carrying items around in a store. In your arms. As long as you are steady on your feet… no problem. But if you slip and fall… Whoops! There goes all the stuff you were carrying. And now you have made a big mess. You were in complete control of your stuff. Now nobody is in control. Stuff goes flying. Good luck sorting it out. Nice easy job, cleaning up the mess.

But cleaning up the mess is exactly what the probate court does. The probate court is a janitor. Your will is simply a note found in the mess. Let’s hope the janitor finds the note. And reads it. And follows it. And is not distracted by everything else going on…

Probate is not a curse inflicted on innocent people by a vengeful deity. Probate is the necessary and unavoidable consequence of the rise of the middle class. Together with a failure to plan ahead.

You Got Stuff, You Die Who Gets Your Stuff? The Trust

Is it ridiculous to think that most people would rather not lose 4-10% of their leftover life savings? Are you opposed to keeping what you have earned? Maybe then avoiding probate would be a good idea. Are you against finding better ways to get the job done? I didn’t think so…

That’s where the trust comes in. Trusts hold your stuff, like a shopping cart at the store. You are in control.

Put things in. Take things out. Re-arrange. It is all up to you. The key is that when you “slip and fall”, your possessions are in the cart. Sure, you went flying. Call the EMTs! But your stuff remains in the shopping cart/ trust. No fuss. No muss. Nothing for the janitor to do. Your successor trustee steps up and divvies up the stuff to your deserving and grateful family members. What could be easier? Are you surprised that trusts are so popular?

The Huge Dirty Secret of Trust-Based Planning

Is it ridiculous to think that a highly profitable industry based on cleaning up messes might want to go on cleaning up those messes? Can continue collecting those fees? If you were collecting 4-10% of folks’ leftover lifesavings, would you be in a rush to cut off that gravy train? Is it bad to wonder why 90+% of trusts fail? Is it cynical and ill-natured to wonder whether the astonishing failure rate of trusts has anything to do with probate industry profits?

Why do trusts fail harder than the Wizard of Oz? The simple reason, which is well-known to your banker, insurance agent, financial advisor, attorney, and anyone else with the slightest familiarity, is that hardly anything gets into the shopping cart.

You paid for a bright and shiny new trust/shopping cart. And that is what you received. It is beautiful! Leather binder. Lots of pages. Wow! And it is empty. And you are still carrying all those items around in your arms. So when you slip and fall… oopsie! All your stuff STILL goes flying, STILL makes a huge mess, STILL requires probate.

How Do They Get Away With Such Piracy?!

How does the probate industry get away with it? Simple. In that fancy binder of yours, there is a memorandum/ letter/instruction booklet/ brochure. In that document, the responsibility of getting your stuff into your trust is placed squarely on your shoulders.

Did you know that? Would it be a waste of your time to, right now, dig into that fancy binder and find that memo? It is in there, I promise.

The memo is how the probate industry turns your kids’ righteous indignation at having to pay for probate into sheepish surrender. It was Mom and Dad’s fault! They did not follow the instructions! Aww gee! Heh heh… betcha ya didn’t see that coming!

What if there was a law firm that did the hard work of tracking down your assets with you and getting them into the trust. Would you be surprised if the process took longer? Would it be a shock that it cost more? Would you be against getting what you paid for?

Would you be surprised to learn that there is no free lunch?

American Middle-Class Values
Are The Wave Of The Future

Do you reject the idea that a rising tide lifts all boats? Is it too farfetched to think that today’s “rising tide” are the peaceful virtues of the middle-class lifestyle? Rapidly spreading across the globe. Raising hundreds of millions, billions of our sisters and brothers out of poverty. On to the path for a better life.

Our better future has its enemies. Craven, miserable, alive only with jealousy and envy. You extend the helping hand of friendship; they see only the claw of exploitation. You offer to help build, construct, improve, they seek only to tear down, demolish, devastate.

You are winning. Ever more desperate, they are losing.

Peace of mind and security are waiting for everyone who embraces productive work. While you are here. And after you are gone. Waiting for you. You have a choice. Despite what “everybody else” says.

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.

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

Get Information Now. 800-317-2812

The post Back To Basics: See It Through In ‘22 appeared first on Carrier Law.

New Lessons To Learn

The Times They Are A-Changin’

It’s that time of year again. You have been here before. New school year beginning. First day of kindergarten. First grade. High school. Going off to college. New shoes, new clothes. Very familiar. Totally strange. Will your child or grandchild be heading to the classroom or to the bedroom? Kitchen table? Teaching with live instructors surrounded by friends and other students? Or alone through a computer screen?

Hasn’t the first day of school always been a challenge? Parents concerned about how their kids will do in new situations. Kids worried about friends, classes, sports, fitting in. And now COVID-19. Masks all day long. How is that going to work? You expect that getting the younger kids to wear masks would be tough. What about the teenagers? Especially when they discover that continuous masking irritates the skin. And that means? The most dreaded teenager plague of all: acne. Has anyone thought this through?

Normal things you don’t do anymore: baseball, weddings, cook-outs.

Hasn’t it been a strange summer? Normal things you don’t do anymore: baseball games, weddings, cook-outs. Weird things you now do all the time: wear a surgical mask, quarantine, obsessive handwashing. Fall football? Maybe in the spring, they say.

The Medicine that Dare Not Speak Its Name

The Henry Ford Health System studies a possible medicine to combat COVID-19. Henry Ford discovers good news. Henry Ford is not a bit player. They are big time. Henry Ford is a “major academic medical center with more than $100 million in annual research funding, [and] is involved in numerous COVID-19 trials with national and international partners.” www. HenryFord.com Smart guys.

What did Henry Ford find? Only that use of this mystery drug cuts the COVID death rate in half. And it’s well-understood, generic, cheap, and widely available, with minimal side effects. Not unexpected for a drug that has been used worldwide by millions for over 75 years. Front page news? Medical Miracle? Game Changer? Nope. The wrong politician said it might be useful. So… political correctness hides the medicine that dare not speak its name. And lots of unnecessary deaths? Find out for yourself, it is easy. www.henryford.com/news/2020/07/ hydro-treatment-study

Strange times.

Founded on the Rock or Building on Sand?

Doctors finding remedies for deadly diseases are ignored. Are you okay with that? Rioters stop firefighters from fighting fires. Nodding in approval? Police officers are overrun with riots and looting. Feeling good? Courts and judges release accused criminals to commit more crime. Smiling yet?

Maybe we all need to go back to school. To relearn what we have always known.

Work hard. Save for a rainy day. Pay it forward. Lend a hand. Play by the rules. Help the unfortunate. Worship as you will. Keep an open mind. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Rules we have lived by. Ideas that built our nation. Your life of commitment to these simple but profound ideals has provided more prosperity for more people than at any other time in history. Living these bedrock truths is the strongest foundation for the future.

The simple fact is that America is getting older.

Middle Class Must Succeed

Who works harder than middle class folks? Who saves more? Who pays more taxes? Who volunteers more? When the going gets tough, who do they expect to help?

But if you’re like me, you’re not here to complain, but make things better. What should regular, middle class Americans, workers and retirees, do in times like these? Same thing as ever. Dig deeper. Try harder. And that starts at home. With you. Single or married. Kids or no kids.

The simple fact is that America is getting older: every day another 12,000 Baby Boomers turn 60, 65, 70. The “Greatest Generation” is in its 70s, 80s, and 90s. Poisonous rhetoric and slanted commentary about the “Me Generation” and the supposed self-centeredness of the Boomers are poisonously wrong. The truth is that 75% of Baby Boomers are right now caring for parents, have already done so, or expect to.

If your husband or wife is caring for you, almost half of the time your spouse will die first. And many more will die shortly after you do. Much sooner than expected. Skilled nursing home care, according to the State of Michigan, costs almost $9000 every month for the most basic care.

At this moment in history, America needs your example of middle-class success. Too many unfortunate young people have become disillusioned and hopeless, led astray by angry rhetoric and disinformation. LifePlanning™ embodies middle-class American values. We all win, one person, one family at a time.

Learning the Wrong Lesson

A terrible lesson has been accepted and taught by most planners and attorneys. Spend it down. Spend it all. You are not in control. You cannot choose. Your values are wrong. Nothing can be done. It is a counsel of despair.

But it does not have to be that way. The LifePlan™ approach keeps you in charge. Your life savings protected. Your life choices respected.

As with so many other things, though, the burden falls hardest on those who have worked and contributed the most.

Medicaid is the way America pays for long term care. As with so many other things, though, the burden falls hardest on those who have worked and contributed the most. No savings? No problem! Live life on a credit card? Medicaid is there for you. Work hard and save? Be frugal? Debt was dumb and savings were smart? Do the right things? Medicaid will not help until poverty. Until all your life’s efforts are wiped away.

But if you plan you can: Keep savings. Provide for loved ones. Receive at-home care. Participate in choosing a care facility if necessary. And still pay it forward.

You keep the cottage, the rental, the hunting land, your lifesavings.

Emergency Rules Mean Middle Class Safety

With COVID-19 expansion, you keep the cottage, the rental property, the hunting cabin, your lifesavings. And still get comprehensive, at-home care. You think it is too good to be true.

Dozens of other families thought so too. But they made the call. Folks just like you, except they picked up the phone. No co-pays, donut holes, or out of pocket expenses. Keep your income. Too good to be true! Not this time.

Elementary Education

1. Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly is PACE. You paid for PACE through your tax dollars. You stay at home through PACE goods and services. No nursing home or assisted living, until that is what you need.
2. COVID-19 puts extraordinary demand on long-term care facilities. Care at home does not.
3. Expansion of eligibility under COVID-19 means thousands more qualify.
4. Facts are free.
5. PACE means: Life Savings Protected. Life Choices Respected.
6. PACE is available now. No waiting list. Do you think that will be true next month? Into the fall and winter? Is there a better time to act?
7. PACE is not for everybody. But if it is for you and your loved one, it is a Godsend.

Core Curriculum

1. Over 55.
2. Medical Need. (We will help you determine).
3. Income Limits: If married, may adjust.
4. “Safe at home,” with assistance.

Many other families are already taking advantage of these new rules. Why not you? The call is free, the information is free, the results can be priceless.

CALL THE PACE HOTLINE 1-800-317-2812

The post Back To School — Not Just for Kids Anymore appeared first on Carrier Law.

Oh No! Charts and Graphs…AUGH!

But I Was Promised There Would Be No Math

Truth, Facts, Reality

Most people like the truth. Don’t you find it helpful to know what is really going on? Truth, facts, reality. These are the cornerstones of middle-class life. If you fail to hammer your kids to do their homework, you get dumb kids. Sluff off on the job, get fired. Skip the mortgage payments, lose the house. Eat too much, get fat. Act like a jerk, live alone.

Truth and consequences. Most of us do not ping-pong between extremes of hope and fear. Steady on course. One brick at a time, we build security for ourselves and our families. Truth, facts, reality. We swim in a sea of action/reaction. Do immoral stuff, get corrupt fallout. Take virtuous actions, get wholesome goodness.

Fight the good fight, finish the race, keep the faith. Pour your life into meaningful deeds. Your kids will be OK. Loved ones will surround you. You will not be alone. Or broke. Christian folks are also assured that: “[T]here is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:8 KJB So you’ve got that going for you, which is nice.

If you are like me, you understand: “different strokes for different folks”. We are everyday people. We don’t all see things the same. “Sometimes I’m right and I can be wrong.” Opinion, belief, attitude, outlook. “We got to live together.” Respect, conversation, acceptance. “And so on and so on and scooby dooby dooby.” (1)

Dedication to Truth. Respect for Each Other. That is how we got here. The most prosperous nation in the history of the world. The most accepting. The most generous. The most loving.

If you are like me, doesn’t it drive you nuts when somebody starts insisting on “their” truth? This truth, that truth? As if truth were blob of jello. Why can’t they just admit they have opinions? Perceptions? Points of view? Same as me. Same as you. Is their arrogance driven by insecurity? Some deep-seated emotional disturbance? Who knows? Who can know? I sure don’t.

What I do know is that facts are stubborn things. Get all the fancy degrees you want. Make impassioned arguments. Smoke a whole lot of weed, er, I mean “recreational cannabis.” Desperately convince yourself of “your truth.” But take away cops and bad guys come out to play. And steal. And murder.

New York (40%+). Chicago (55%+). Los Angeles (30%+). Tucson (38%+). Austin (55%+). Milwaukee (95%+). Minneapolis (72%+). Portland (52%+). Seattle (74%+).2 And so on and so on and scooby dooby dooby. (2)

Just The Facts, Ma’am, Just The Facts

We all have our opinions. Sometimes our opinions blind us to truth. So whenever possible, I like to use research from people whose politics and perspectives are different than mine. Use the other guy’s version of the facts. Approved by Harvard University and Brown University. Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Liberal enough for you? And what did those folks find? (3)

Rich Folks Did Great, Middle Class Folks Got Hurt, Poor Folks Got Hammered

Everybody got whacked at the beginning of the pandemic. But low- and middle-income workers got it worst. And now, a year and a half later, turns out that high income people actually got more jobs. Up 2.4%. Middle-income folks are on the path to recovery. Down 4.5%. And the poor folks got screwed. Still down 24%.

How did that happen? Was it the inevitable, unchangeable Laws of the Universe? Bad luck? Random chance? Or do you suppose the magical creation of money by government wizards, coupled with unemployment payments exceeding normal take-home pay might have had an effect? If you do, you are most definitely a terrible person. Even worse if you wonder why there are three unfilled jobs for every unemployed person. What does it mean that a Boyne City sandwich shop pays $18 per hour and still cannot find “sandwich artists”? Makes you wonder, eh?

The More They Help, The Worse It Gets

Some governors like to protect us. Protect us from our own poor choices. (Except when it comes to weed, er, I still mean “recreational cannabis”.) What happens when government controls us? Uses a natural (or perhaps unnatural) disease pandemic to impose unprecedented, unconstitutional (according to the Michigan Supreme Court) executive orders? When government tells you to shut up, do this, do that. and don’t worry your pretty little head, is that a superhighway to success?

You could take a look at this Harvard-approved, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-funded chart. Government controls lead to deeper small business depression. And when the controls come off, squashed small businesses do not recover as quickly or as well. Did not see that coming!

Who runs small businesses? Middle-class folks making middle range money. Who works for small businesses? Lower-wage workers.

Why it is almost as if all these consequences were connected!

And They Sacrificed The Future

Education is the path to freedom. You know this. That is why you spent more to buy a home in a “good” school district. That is why you put up with the rolling eyes, the protests, the whining and everything else to get your kids to do their homework.

But now it is the teachers who do not want to go back to school. With disastrous consequences. Once again we see the same pattern. Rich folks kids… drop off and recovery. Middle-class kids… much steeper drop off and much less recovery. Lower-wage family kids… bottomless pit!

Who can see this without compassion? Who can claim that it has to be this way? Who lacks the guts to stare reality in the face?

The Only Answer: Middle Class Values

Do you feel, as I do, that this could be the “best of times” for the middle class? For the truth that nothing good comes without hard work, dedication, and perseverance?

Do you see the consequences of today’s path? The dizzy disaster of multiple “truths”. The moral bankruptcy of cancel culture and pitting Americans against each other. The bloody, murderous, drugged-out despair in our cities, large and small.

Life-Plan™ Salvation for the Middle-Class

How do we convince the kids that our values are the best? Going broke in old age for long-term care may not be the best strategy. Middle-class savers, workers, builders can live well and leave a legacy of values. You get the nursing home bill: your guts turn to water, you are about to puke and you are desperately searching for a place to sit down. Relax! You took care of it… you have a LifePlan™. Be the hero… fight and win!

Not Chance, Your Choice

You know there is nothing inevitable about nursing home poverty. You worked for and deserve peace of mind and security. It is a choice. People tell me, “I never heard of this before! Why doesn’t everyone do it?”

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.

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

Get Information Now. (800) 317-2812

(1) Sly & The Family Stone, Everyday People
(2) https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Z9b5mIwztAwmEHJW7Q5DHMjS14-Rs7XIXOt33Al_rDw/edit#gid=1757262194
(3) https://opportunityinsights.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/tracker_paper.pdf

The post We Are So Screwed… Or Is This The “Best of Times”? appeared first on Carrier Law.

Elephants In The Room

Ever go to the zoo? Remember the Elephant House? Couple of big ole elephants in there… Elephants doing what comes naturally. Smelled strong, right? Tough to deny there is an elephant (or two) nearby. You can hear them breathing… moving around.

Now, if an elephant is sharing a room with you, wouldn’t that be significant? I tend to think it would be an important fact, don’t you? It is possible, perhaps, you would want to deal with your companion somehow. Well, I suppose you could pretend that there is no elephant. But wouldn’t that be foolish? Dangerous, even. Not good. You might step in something. Something might step on you. Either way… Squish!

Let us say you figured this one out. Using your five senses, plus common sense. Do you really need Sherlock Holmes, Columbo, or MacGyver for this one? And yet, various people, who claim to be experts, are trying to tell you there are no elephants. These people covered up the elephants with bedsheets. They talk about everything else. Minor stuff. Distractions. Everything except what is most important. But you cannot hide an elephant with a bedsheet! Yet they try. Why? What is going on here?

Long Term Care – The Biggest Elephant In The Room

What is the problem? Middle-class families go broke. All the time. Routinely. It is accepted and acceptable to the so-called experts. I think it is horrible. To work for a lifetime, saving, scrimping, economizing. And watch it all vanish in a matter of months. A nightmare.

“Do not worry!” say the experts, as they try to cover up that elephant. Trying to convince you that probate or interest rates or inflation or taxes are the “real” problem. Long-term care, they say, is something that happens to someone else.

I am no great fan of government information. But even a blind squirrel gets lucky sometimes. Here are a few chestnuts from the federal Department of Health and Human Services. At www.LongTermCare.gov, quoting:

• Someone turning age 65 today has almost a 70% chance of needing some type of long-term care services and supports in their remaining years
• Women need care longer (3.7 years) than men (2.2 years)
• One-third of today’s 65-year-olds may never need long-term care support, but 20 percent will need it for longer than 5 years

You worked. You saved. You planned for your retirement. Time to relax. Travel. Spoil the grandkids. Not so fast. Not if you are like 70% of folks. You will probably need long-term care services for years. And leave your spouse destitute. And your legacy is…?

By ignoring the biggest, noisiest, smelliest elephant in the room, the burden of your care falls (like a ton of bricks) on your loved ones. If the caregiver is your spouse, they are as likely to die first as you are. Stressed out. Exhausted.

And the experts ignore all this. They want you to think that the real problem is how your kids get your stuff. As if there will be any stuff to get.

Yank the bedsheet off the elephant. Face the facts. Do not let fast-talkers distract you from the reality. Long-term care is the future for most of us. How are you going to deal with it?

Does It Matter To You? The Rich, The Poor, The Middle Class

Not everyone needs to worry about long-term care. Of the three large groups of Americans, only one really must be concerned. The Big Three are: The Rich, The Poor, The Middle Class.

Devastating Gut Punch. The Middle Class

Husband with some dementia. You can manage. Not much sleep. Stressful. But you can manage. Unfortunate fall. Broken hip. Hospitalization. Rehabilitation. Thank goodness for Medicare! And that Medicare Supplement insurance. Minimal out of pocket expense. Three weeks in rehab. Coming home? No.

You could barely handle him before. Now it is out of the question. He needs skilled care. At least for now… maybe he will get better… But Medicare is done. Insurance will not pay anymore. Now it is on you.

Letter in the mailbox. Looks like a bill. Return address: Nursing Home. First six weeks. $18,327. plus, tax. Your head hurts. You almost vomit. You have never seen a bill for this much. You have not spent $18,000 since you bought the house… What are you supposed to do? Better sit down. Quick.

It Don’t Matter To Me… The Rich, The Poor

The Rich. Your spouse transferred from rehabilitation to long-term care at the nursing home. The first bill came in today’s mail. Eighteen thousand dollars. Well. You did not think it would be cheap… actually pretty reasonable when you think about it. So, which account should you pay it from? The money market? Regular checking? Should probably ask the financial advisor… looks like this long-term care will be almost as expensive as maintaining the summer cottage and the ski condo, combined! Not counting the sailboat, jet skis or the golf cart, of course, let alone the horse boarding…

The Poor. Could not pay for the groceries without the Section 8 subsidized housing. Husband now in skilled nursing. How will you ever get transportation to visit? Hope there’s a bus line around there somewhere. Looks like a nursing home bill in the mail. Wow. That place is expensive! Eighteen thousand… and that’s just for the first six weeks. Sigh. Just put it on the stack with the other bills you cannot afford to pay. Have to prioritize… heat and groceries first. Good to know that with skilled nursing, his care is guaranteed. Even without Medicare or Medicaid or Medi-whatever, he will get the care he needs.

Long-Term Care Reality. Rich Man, Poor Man

It can be uncomfortable to look under the bedsheet and take a good hard look at the elephant everyone else is trying to hide. I do not apologize for that. Sometimes truth is not pretty. Facts can be inconvenient.

It is simply true that if you are wealthy, long-term care costs are manageable. You do not need me. Plenty of folks downtown in glass towers with expensive suits and ties are just dying to meet you. Original, incomprehensible art on the wall. Park in the ramp, bring your ticket for validation. Plan for long-term care or do not plan for long-term care, you are not going broke. Let those guys worry about your excess profit’s taxes, capital gains and all that…

It is also true that many families simply cannot begin to pay the costs of long-term care. A bill for $1200 is as much out of their reach as a bill for $12,000. And at that point, what does it matter? You cannot pay anyway. Social security cannot be taken from you. You will not be denied your housing assistance. Bills piling up are awful. Stressful. But at the end of the day, care will be given. Your personal property will not be taken. I cannot help you to preserve assets you do not have.

NOTE: The Medicaid system is extremely complex, with many variables, hurdles and hoops. It is not unusual for Medicaid to be denied to people who should qualify for benefits, often for technical reasons. Over the years, we have helped many such families resolve these issues and get the benefits. From time to time, we work with skilled nursing facilities to get the compensation they have earned by helping these families meet the legal requirements.

LifePlan™ Salvation For The Middle-Class

The rich do not need me. The poor I cannot directly help. That leave the middle-class. It is the middle-class savers, workers, builders that I can help. You get that bill: your guts turn to water, you are about to puke, and you are desperately searching for a place to sit down. Relax! Your LifePlan™ will take care of it. You saw the signs: 70% need long-term care services. One in Five need long-term care services for more than five years. You rejected nursing home poverty. You choose the path of reasonable optimism, while guarding against the potential downsides. Hope for the Best, Plan for the Worst.

The LifePlan™ approach is the least expensive, most effective solution to the harsh reality of long-term care. You opened your eyes when faced with long-term care costs. Accepted reality. Refused to allow your lifesavings evaporate like a snowflake on a hot griddle. Recognized the reality of the caregiver spouse dying first, almost half the time and fixed it. Rejected nursing home poverty.

Never Too Late

Sitting there with the nursing home bill in your hand, you say, “Coulda, shoulda, woulda… And now it is too late! Maybe that LifePlan™ Workshop or Webinar would have been a good idea.”

It is never too late. There is nothing inevitable about losing your home, cottage, business, lifesavings, independence. Planning is the best route, but not the only one. Even if the dementia diagnosis was your wake-up call. Even if your attention was finally focused by the slip and fall broken hip. Do not give up the ship! It is never too late for you to be the hero… to fight and win!

Not Chance, Your Choice. Uncover The Elephant!

There is nothing inevitable about nursing home poverty. Peace of mind and security are waiting for you. Right now. It is a choice. Despite what “everybody else” says. Despite their attempts to disguise the elephants in the room. For over thirty years, people have told me, “I’ve never heard of this before!” “If this is real, why doesn’t everyone do it?” “My lawyer/financial advisor/brother-in-law/accountant/tax person/banker/best friend/fill-in-the-blank never said anything like this…”

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.

No Poverty. No Charity. No Waste.

It is not chance. It is choice. Your choice.

Get Information Now. (800) 317-2812

The post Middle Class Families Go Broke Because “Experts” Broke Estate Planning appeared first on Carrier Law.

How The Rich Do Long-Term Care

Spoke with a smart person last week. She works for a gigantic financial services company. You know the name. The company is excellent. She is excellent. Her team’s job is to look out for about 150 families. “Wealth Management.” They are good at it. Her families do not go broke.

I was curious… “How do you deal with long term care?”

“A cornerstone of our work, of course. You cannot ignore it.” She said.

“But how do you do it?” I persisted.

I was disappointed in her reply. She talked about “asset allocation.” Used the same words and phrases I had heard from other financial professionals. Stuff I have seen fail over and over again. Very disappointing. Burst my bubble. No insight here. And she had seemed so perceptive. But it was the same old, same old. Recycled stuff. Your own financial advisor gave you the same advice. Put so much over here, so much over there. Et cetera.

“That’s all well and good,” I said, “But don’t your folks go broke?”

She laughed. “No, never.”

“Never? I find that hard to believe. Long-term care is expensive.”

“Yes, it is,” she agreed. “But fifty million dollars is quite a bit of money.”

Demonstrating my keen intelligence, I replied, “Huh?”

“Well, our minimum is fifty million of investable assets…”

And then the lightbulb moment…

“Ohhh!”

How the rich do long-term care. From their (minimum) fifty million, their team of professional investors allocates a few million to long-term care issues. Problem solved. For them. Unfortunately, that is what your financial advisor is doing for you. That is why your family faces nursing home poverty.

We Are Not The Rich. Their Solutions Do Not Work For Us

Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. [U]nless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand.

—F. Scott Fitzgerald

Why aren’t your advisors looking out for you? Why all the parrot talk about asset allocation, hybrid insurance products, investment strategies? Why the outright denial and plain avoidance? Why won’t they level with you?

Maybe they do not know any better. Maybe they think that the same strategies that work for the wealthy will work for the middle class. Maybe they are doing the best that they can. Maybe they cannot help it.

Consider the possibility that your advisor learned “best practices” from a “wealth management” guru. Your advisor’s teacher excelled at preserving and growing “old money.” Your advisor was inspired by someone who hobnobs with wealthy folk day-in and day-out. The result: Your advisor may know how to deal with rich people. But what does that have to do with you?
Exactly nothing. According to Ernest Hemingway, the rich are different than you and me. “Yes, they have more money.” Planning for $50,000,000 is not like planning for $500,000. How is that not obvious?

Broken: How The Middle-Class Does Long-Term Care

You spend. And spend. And keep on spending. $12,000 each month for skilled care. $6-7500 each month for assisted living. $25 each hour for companion care at home. More if you want a certified nursing assistant or nurse. Asset allocation? Hardee-har-har.

And then you are broke. Medicaid to the rescue!

Your estate plan is meaningless. Your financial plan is out the window. Your lifetime of work and savings has evaporated. Middle class planning that fails is broken. Let us be honest.

What if we faced the fact that you are not the Great Gatsby? That you do not have a couple million to allocate to long-term care? That long-term care for middle class people like us means Medicaid? Sooner or later, Medicaid will be the solution. Four out of five people in skilled nursing facilities are on Medicaid. 80%. That is reality. Thousands of families receive at-home care through Medicaid. That is also reality.

Fix It: The Middle-Class Can Win Long-Term Care

Recognize that long-term care is a reality for the vast majority. Two-thirds of women, half of men are eventually institutionalized. Accept that Medicaid is the way America pays for long term care.

Anticipate. Plan to preserve your lifesavings. For yourself. For your spouse. For the next generation. The world needs you and your values. Dying in poverty is no way to demonstrate success.

There are 3 goals of LifePlanning™
#1 No Poverty. You will not go broke. Your choices will matter. Your family will succeed.
#2 No Handouts. You have paid into the system with every paycheck, every IRA Required Minimum Distribution, every tax payment. You are not looking for charity or a free ride. Only a bit of fairness.
#3 No Waste. Your hard-earned savings will not be wasted on probate. Will not be thrown out the window. Will not be intercepted by predators or creditors. Your legacy will be of life well-lived. And support for the next generation.

There is no problem with rich folks being rich or planning that takes account of wealth. Good for them.

There is a big problem with advisors giving the same advice to middle class workers and savers that they give to those rich folks. Do not fall into this trap. Learn how. It is super easy. Barely an inconvenience. On your schedule. In the comfort and safety of your own home. In the comfort and safety of one of our workshop rooms. In the comfort and safety of wherever you find comfort and safety.

Sending Just Money To The Next Generation – Easy. Worthless.
Sending Money With Values To The Next Generation – Difficult. Priceless.

Sixty minutes to personal control. Because you earned it. Avoid Nursing Home Poverty. Thousands of middle-class families have learned and use these techniques. Why not yours? Transmit your values along with your stuff.

Got Questions? Get Answers! (800) 317-2812

The post The Middle Class Is Broke Because Estate Planning Is Broken appeared first on Carrier Law.

What is so different about you? What enables middle-class folks to rise and win, time after time? Facing and beating challenges? At seven years old, I began helping another kid on his paper route. Lucky for me, there was a block of triple decker houses and Paulie did not like climbing stairs. A few years later, my next younger brother and I had our own route. Hot in the summer. Cold in the winter. Raining or snowing from time to time. On foot. We did not always whistle while we worked. But the Carrier boys delivered the Evening Bulletin 6 nights a week. And early Sunday mornings, before church, the Journal-Bulletin.

You have done the same. Throughout your life, you took the overtime. The second job. Doing what it took. My weekends at Notre Dame were spent delivering pizza. As a law student, I worked full time on the graveyard shift as a security guard. Just like you. What else could we have done? We had a job. We saw the need. We got it done.

We learned it from our folks. After beating the bad guys in WWII, our parents went to work. Dad taught school all day, came home, changed clothes, and put in 8 more hours at the Narragansett brewery. For 16 years. Mom was an RN. After raising 8 kids, she pinned her nurse’s cap back on and resumed nursing. Details vary, but your family lived the same values. How do I know? Thirty years of talking to and planning for your folks. And you.

And now COVID. The Elder Plague. Death rates: way down. Therapies: better and improving. So much winning. But we are not done yet. COVID is real. COVID can strike close to home.

By a series of commonplace coincidences, a team member tested positive for COVID. Since the beginning, the Carrier Law team has taken every recommended precaution. And come up with a few of our own. Hand sanitizer, videoconferencing, outdoor workshops, social distancing, masks, working from home, plexiglass barriers, temperature checks, screening protocols, Clorox-ing conference rooms, prudent behavior.

Not perfect. Last Friday, I spent a few hours (in the rain) climbing through trees on one of those courses. Team building with several paralegals. Outdoors, yes. Distanced, yes. Wearing masks, yes. Until that triumphant team photo at the finish. Mask off. Picture! Mask on. Well. Then we waited for the results. One more thing to be taken in stride.

Aren’t we all waiting on “test results”? What will your “Alzheimer’s test” reveal? Of course, there is no such “test.” We find out only as time goes by. With COVID, we face reality, we do not wish it away. Most of us will eventually face dementia. Personally. Not just our spouse or a loved one. Lots of statistics. One bottom-line fact.

The trouble in American life today, in business as well as in sports, is that too many people are afraid of competition. The result is that in some circles people have come to sneer at success if it costs hard work and training and sacrifice.
– Knute Rockne

We, the middle class, do not deny reality. We accept it, make our peace, and do the best we can. With optimism and good cheer. Lots of critics have lots to say about us baby-boomers. But all agree that when we see what we want, we go get it. Make it happen. Rejecting the counsels of gloom and doom. With open eyes and stout hearts.

When you are facing long-term care, dementia, end of life issues, there are a million questions and few reliable answers. Many people, including otherwise competent financial planners, well-known attorneys, and respected members of the community, seem to believe that you should go broke when facing these issues. Maybe they are unaware of the options. Perhaps they are in denial. Is there a moral imperative that you should go broke? Some “experts” seem to think there is.

Americans play to win all the time. The very thought of losing is hateful to Americans.
– George S. Patton

Like you, I completely reject the idea that losing is okay. Like you, I believe in winning. We all have challenges and sometimes we do lose. But we never “get used to it.” Why should we? Losing is a bitter pill. I may have to take my medicine, but I do not have to like it.

If you want to go broke, as some folks think you should, you do not need me. The state is very good at making a bonfire of your lifesavings. The state helps only when you comply with their rules. And for most folks, compliance means poverty, insecurity, loss. Unacceptable.

[W]ith firmness in the right as god gives us to see the right let us strive on to finish the work we are in…
– Abraham Lincoln

LifePlanning™ at Carrier Law

LifePlanning™ is middle class Michigan’s tool kit for winning. Comply with their rules? Yes, absolutely. If you want to win, you must know how to play the game. Thirty years of study, experience, testing and delivering results have produced the LifePlan™ system. Techniques and tools that preserve, protect, and defend your right to decide how you will live. You earned that right through decades of work and conscientious stewardship. Isn’t it ridiculous to suggest that impoverishing yourself, your spouse, your family is somehow noble? Isn’t it foolish to reject your own life experience for the defeatist counsels of the “wise”?

LifePlanning™ means your choices matter, whatever the test results. Are you like thousands of Michigan families who played by the rules and earned homes, cottages, farms, lifesavings? Would you like the rules to work for you, for a change? Are you waiting for the test results? Are you waiting until it is too late? Would you like to know now?

GET ANSWERS NOW… CALL THE LIFEPLAN™ HOTLINE
1-800-317-2812

The post Middle Class Estate Planning appeared first on Carrier Law.

Get Home Care Now – Temporary Pandemic Relief Keep Your FARM, COTTAGE, BUSINESS, LIFE SAVINGS

Can we all agree that nobody wants long-term care? Isn’t it too expensive? Who wants to go to a nursing home? Would it break your heart to institutionalize your loved one? Or exhaust life savings? How about losing your cottage, business, farm, hunting land?

And the viral pandemic has made everything worse. For the last 20, 30, 40, 50 years, you’ve shared your life with the most wonderful person on earth. Now imagine no contact. Isolation. A garbled phone call – a brief glimpse through the window.

Too bleak? Scare talk? If you know anyone actually going through it, you know the reality is much much worse.

When government changes the rules and doesn’t tell anyone, is that a secret?

But what if you or your loved one could stay at home? Getting care at home? All medical bills paid. All medical supplies, pharmacy, doctor visits (including transportation), home modifications, all expenses paid? Too good to be true? Not for thousands of your friends and neighbors. When government changes the rules and doesn’t tell anyone, is that a secret?

Last week, Michigan decided to let you keep your cottage, farm, business, life savings. And still qualify for PACE at home benefits. But only for applications during the pandemic emergency period. And they didn’t tell anybody. I had to ask. Which is why I’m here. For you.

Last week’s rule changes are temporary. When the pandemic emergency is over, these extremely favorable rules will be gone.

Sure, it sounds like baloney. I understand. Fact is, right now, Carrier Law families throughout Michigan are experiencing the truth. Comprehensive at home care. No nursing home. Not going broke. Pandemic or not.

But what if my loved one requires assisted living or skilled nursing? That’s included too. No new application. No new requirements.

Do you or your loved one qualify? Can you answer yes to these 3 questions?

• 1. Need help with daily life? Dementia issues? Certain medical conditions? (We’ll guide you through all 7 sets of criteria.)
• 2. Are you safe at home?
• 3. Is your gross social security retirement less than $2349? (Special rules for singles and marrieds with pension income.)

If you’ve answered yes, it’s time to do your homework and get the benefits you have already paid for. It costs nothing to find out.

For 30 years, in my law practice and on my radio show (Sunday mornings from 7-9 on WOOD 1300; call me 888-463-2843!), on television, in print, in person, through thousands of workshops and tens of thousands of one-on-one meetings, I have advocated and obtained benefits for individuals and families like yours. Last week’s rule changes are temporary. When the pandemic emergency is over, these extremely favorable rules will be gone.

No B.S. Promise:

For almost 40 years, I’ve been practicing law; in Massachusetts and Michigan. I served as an Army Captain in the JAG Corps (and now in the American Legion). I have my Airborne Wings and a few medals. Notre Dame (BA); Boston University Law (JD); Georgetown University Law (LI.M., Tax). For 30 years, I have been making and keeping big promises to middle class families in West Michigan. And those folks refer over 40% of new Carrier Law families. That’s no B.S. And that’s a promise.

Doing work and getting results that other attorneys and law firms can’t or won’t.

It Never Costs to Call. What Could it Hurt?

Will this rule change help your family? A paralegal Discovery meeting and an Analysis meeting with me cost nothing. And may save everything. In person. By telephone. By internet. Your choice.

The post Good News for Middle Class Michigan appeared first on Carrier Law.