mortgage rates – Carrier Law https://davidcarrierlaw.itulwebdev.com Michigan Estate Planning & Elder Law Attorneys Mon, 17 Oct 2022 19:47:13 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.1 https://davidcarrierlaw.itulwebdev.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/cropped-carrier-site-icon-082018-32x32.png mortgage rates – Carrier Law https://davidcarrierlaw.itulwebdev.com 32 32 Ignore These Graphs, They Are Meaningless https://davidcarrierlaw.itulwebdev.com/ignore-these-graphs-they-are-meaningless/ https://davidcarrierlaw.itulwebdev.com/ignore-these-graphs-they-are-meaningless/#respond Mon, 17 Oct 2022 19:40:30 +0000 https://davidcarrierlaw.itulwebdev.com/?p=112174 Ever wonder how mortgage rates are like murder rates? Me too!

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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!

freddie mac mortgage rates chart oct 2022

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:

fbi crime data explorer rat of homicides by population

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.

u.s. energy information administration stocks by type chart

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

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U.S. Suffering An Economic Recession https://davidcarrierlaw.itulwebdev.com/u-s-suffering-an-economic-recession/ https://davidcarrierlaw.itulwebdev.com/u-s-suffering-an-economic-recession/#respond Mon, 03 Oct 2022 17:57:16 +0000 https://davidcarrierlaw.itulwebdev.com/?p=112123 Latest Federal Government Numbers Confirm. Let’s Stop Arguing, It’s Obvious

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Latest Federal Government Numbers Confirm. Let’s Stop Arguing, It’s Obvious

Bureau Of Economic Analysis Department Of Commerce

bureau of economic analysis recession chart

A picture is worth a thousand words. Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. Recovery is when grifting politicians lose theirs. This is the most predictable recession in history. Everybody knows that when America displays weakness, things get out of hand. In Europe. In the Middle East. No surprise. Everybody knows that when you print trillions of dollars, you get inflation. When you promise to wave a magic wand and make hundreds of billions of dollars in loans just… disappear, you demoralize everyone who played by the rules. And cause more inflation. We can all see that when prominent politicians try to criminalize other Americans, based on their political views, you get strife. And we all know that if there is no consequence to crime, we will all get a lot more crime.

Is it ridiculous to protect yourself and your family first? How can the government command respect when it fails in its most basic obligations: security, peace, safety? Is this a bad time to stop kidding ourselves? Is now too soon to restore some sanity? If not now, when? If not you, who?

Government Newspaper, Washington Post, Supports Government
Don’t Worry — Recession Is Good! — Be Happy
In Other News: Dog Bites Man

Once upon a time, newspapers and the government had a healthy rivalry.

Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman was clear. ““I hate newspapermen. They come into camp and pick up their camp rumors and print them as facts. I regard them as spies, which, in truth, they are. If I killed them all there would be news from Hell before breakfast.”

First Amendment Founding Father Thomas Jefferson was equally blunt. “Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle.”

Today of course, great, metropolitan newspapers, like the Washington Post, bravely toe the party line. Providing cover for clownish political poltroons who cannot remember what they are doing in the room or how to get off the stage…

Would it make you happy to know that devastating recessions have seven (7) silver linings? Your retirement has been gutted. Your shopping cart is empty. Your grandkids would not know what to do with a job if it bit them on the behind. Inflation is up. Gross Domestic

Product shrinks. Then, just as you were feeling a little stressed, the Washington Post pops up with a timely tale worthy of Shakespeare!

Forget about 7 Deadly Sins, 7 Brides for 7 Brothers, or the Magnificent Seven… Here are:

7 Silver Linings To The Recession

1. Housing prices may finally come down to reasonable levels. Interest rates have skyrocketed for six straight weeks so you won’t be able to afford the monthly payment. And there’s No Money Left Behind after you pay for groceries, but lookit that low low price!

mortgage rates september 2022

2. Savings rates are up. Your inflated, wall- paper dollars don’t buy anything anymore. So, you may as well save ‘em!

3. I bonds interest rate might go even higher. I Series Savings Bonds adjust the interest rate for inflation. There’s been so much inflation, the interest rate is high as an elephant’s eye. Almost as high as inflation. Ha ha, you still lose.

I bond interest rates

4. The dollar is king. Inflation is high. Interest rates are high. The U.S. Dollar exchange rate is high. Now you can go visit the King. In England. So cheap! And you have plenty of time to go. Dollars are so expensive, no one can afford “Made In America” stuff. So you are out of a job. Cheerio!

english pound versus dollar chart

5. Unemployment is still relatively low. More kids living at home with Mom and Dad. And enjoying it. Fewer workers. Same jobs. Lower unemployment.

6. Your used car is worth more. Hope you like your old clunker! The average cost of a new car is $48,043. So you ain’t getting’ one! Thank you, Kelly Blue Book.

new vehicle prices chart

7. Student loan forgiveness is coming. Another Trillion Dollar giveaway from the working people of America to the pot-smoking, latte-sipping, firebomb-throwing misfits who turned college into an 8-year vacation. Why shouldn’t it be free?

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?

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

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The Thrill Of Victory, The Agony Of Defeat https://davidcarrierlaw.itulwebdev.com/the-thrill-of-victory-and-the-agony-of-defeat/ https://davidcarrierlaw.itulwebdev.com/the-thrill-of-victory-and-the-agony-of-defeat/#respond Wed, 27 Jul 2022 02:49:45 +0000 https://davidcarrierlaw.itulwebdev.com/?p=111853 The Human Drama Of Middle-Class Survival and Triumph...

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Spanning The Globe To Bring You The Constant Variety Of Statistics

Everything is too expensive. It is getting worse. It will continue to get worse. Until it gets better. When? God alone knows.

But wait a minute! TV Experts say “Gas Prices Are Coming Down!” Here’s proof:

regular gasoline prices chart july 2022

Wow! Looky there! Gas so cheap at $4.50 per gallon! (except Californians still paying $5.75). Selling off our Strategic Petroleum Reserve to those who hate us… Brilliant! Prices going down! A bit. A little bit. A teeny, tiny little bit. But that’s just phony baloney. Look at the long-term numbers they don’t want you to see:

u.s. all grades all formulations retail gasoline prices projection

Well, whaddaya know? Gosh, it looks like gasoline prices are at or near all-time highs. But surely there’s good news somewhere… Let’s look at consumer prices, shall we?

Oh no! More bad news from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Where’s the Beef? Not on your plate! Cost of putting bread on the table expanded by a yeasty 10+% over the last year. Hope you like beans and rice, rice and beans. Hold the hamburger.

Energy Expenses Exploding? Ka-boom! Up over 40% in the last year. How did we get here? Revoke drilling permits, cancel oil leases, shut down pipelines, badmouth everyone and everything related to reliable energy. That’s how!

Good News! It’s cheaper if you sit still and starve. Don’t eat and don’t move… your inflation rate is less than 10%! Oh Happy Day.

consumer price index chart june 2022

Consumer Price Inflation is still setting historic highs. But surely there is good news on the horizon? Nope. Inflation is baked in the (too expensive for you) cake. Here’s the Producer Price Index:

producer price index chart june 2022

Looking to buy a house? Refinance? Sell? Hope you like high interest rates! By the way, is the housing bubble just about to pop? Hello 2008!

mortgage rates chart july 2022

Everywhere you look, it looks like bad news. Yeah, well. Pucker up Buttercup, it ain’t over yet. Private sector money gurus continue to sprinkle fairy dust and sparkly snowflakes through their economic reporting and forecasting. But even the “Blue Chip Consensus” has begun to recognize the rancid stink of the economic corpse foisted upon us by our political potentates. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta provides this handy-dandy summary:

atlanta fed gdp chart

The Atlanta Fed GDPNow graph is based solely on reported numbers. Not wishes or dreams, just the facts, ma’am. The Blue Chippers with their rose-colored glasses, not so much.

Traditionally, a recession means two quarters of Gross Domestic Product shrinkage. At least when the bad political party is in the White House. First quarter of 2022, GDP down by 1.6%. Second quarter? More shrinkage!

Given the stonewalling, obfuscation, denial, selective prosecution, abuse of discretion, outright lying, misdirection, self- congratulating, posturing, and overweening, incomprehensible, hysterical righteousness that you have observed over the past couple of years, do you expect honesty now? Will they finally level with the American people? Regular folks who get things done. Ordinary men and women. Living ordinary lives. Achieving goals of human dimensions. Finding joy in friendship and family. How could they? Admit their failures? Admit the false foundations of their arrogance and sinful pride?

Is it more likely that they’ll serve up their usual hash of psychobabble? Selective focus? Like any stage magician, grifter, or street pickpocket, aren’t they experts at misdirection?

Perseverance in basic virtues: compassion, honesty, caring, friendship, personal accountability. Maybe these simple things can be the foundation stones, as they have in the past, for a new birth of freedom. How can we refuse our duty, our responsibility?

 


 

Traditional Trust Planning Failure A Scam?

Who’s Betting On Death?

Say It Ain’t So!

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

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You Don’t Need A Weatherman To Know Which Way The Wind Blows https://davidcarrierlaw.itulwebdev.com/you-dont-need-a-weatherman-to-know-which-way-the-wind-blows/ https://davidcarrierlaw.itulwebdev.com/you-dont-need-a-weatherman-to-know-which-way-the-wind-blows/#respond Mon, 11 Jul 2022 21:42:17 +0000 https://davidcarrierlaw.itulwebdev.com/?p=111834 16+% Wholesale Inflation – Again!

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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

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Fish Gotta Swim, Birds Gotta Fly, Writers Gotta Write https://davidcarrierlaw.itulwebdev.com/fish-gotta-swim-birds-gotta-fly-writers-gotta-write/ https://davidcarrierlaw.itulwebdev.com/fish-gotta-swim-birds-gotta-fly-writers-gotta-write/#respond Fri, 17 Jun 2022 23:20:59 +0000 https://davidcarrierlaw.itulwebdev.com/?p=111769 Clanging For 65 Years!

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Clanging For 65 Years!
(Not Edited For Spelling Or Punctuation Or Anything Else) (Warning: Not Legal Advice!)

Though I Speak With The Tongues Of Men And Of Angels, And Have Not Charity,
I Am Become As Sounding Brass, Or A Tinkling Cymbal.

—1 Corinthians 13:1

Question: Would an adult child be responsible for an elderly parents’ nursing home expenses?

A low income, elderlycouple (85+) have been living independently for over 20 years. Their adult child (not an in-state resident ) provided their living expenses for the past 20 years. Due to illness, the adult child is only able to provide very limited living expenses for them.

In 2021, they both were hospitalized due to life threatening illnesses. They do not have any relatives in state and do not have money. At a doctor’s request, adult protection services and some social workers helped them move into a nursing facility due to their low-income status.

One person is qualified for Medicaid. The other one is not.

However, they do not have any money.

The question is, would the adult child be responsible for their elderly parents’ nursing facility medical and living expenses?

Short Answer: Maybe. Most states have filial responsibility laws that impose financial responsibility for parents on the kids. But not in Michigan. Used to be that if your parent wound up in the Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital (known at its opening in 1859 as the Michigan Asylum for the Insane), you would get the bill. But not anymore. In Michigan.

Most states do not enforce their filial responsibility laws, but Pennsylvania is an exception. A recent appellate court ruling upheld the constitutionality and enforceability of the law. And Pennsylvania does come after the kids. Sometimes.

Long Answer: Beware when you “sign in” your parent to a nursing home or other facility. At least glance at the papers before you sign them. Better yet, read them. Even better, have your friendly, neighborhood elder law attorney take a gander before you sign.

Back in the day, it was not at all unusual to find a personal guarantee of fees buried in the mound of paperwork that the facility asked you to sign. And people did sign them. And facilities did enforce them. And it was a mess. Which is probably why the practice has pretty much died out. But not entirely, so buyer beware. Or get a little elder law assistance.

When long-term care costs $200-850/day (that is per day!), can you afford to just sign everything?

Imagine you are placing a loved one in a residential care facility. Do you think it is easy? Easy for the loved one? Easy for you? Most folks get overwhelmed. Crushing need for help and inability to provide care at home. Anger and frustration of the loved one. Guilt and helplessness of the caregiver forced to take this drastic step. And how do we break the promise: “You’ll never to to a nursing home!” Does it matter that you made that promise without knowing the reality of 24-hour, 7-day, 52-week care?

No wonder people sign documents without understanding what they are reading. Perhaps it might be helpful to have someone who has been down this path before…

Question: My boyfriend of 10 yrs just passed and now I got 30 days to get out it just don’t seem right. Is this how it is?

I was working he needed me at home. Before we could look in to caregiving he passed. His sister is 50% on the deed… something like that. So I got 30 days to get out 10 yrs of my life peacefully and she will give me his car and 2500$ I guess that’s the way they do it.

Short Answer: It is harsh to say, but you are probably not entitled to the money or car. Some states have “common law” marriage or “palimony.” In those states, you might have a claim. But not in Michigan.

Long Answer: Seems like sister is “on the deed”, maybe as joint tenant. Since you are definitely not on the deed, you have no title.

Michigan takes a hard line on marriage. Either you are married, with license and ceremony, or you are not. Marriages that were contracted in other states or territories that were valid in those locations are recognized and given effect in Michigan. But that is as far as it goes.

You probably received a 30-day Notice To Quit. This document is the first step in eviction. You may comply and leave, or fight the eviction or force the sister to go through the entire process. There are several ways this could go.

First, you up and leave. You get the car and the money.

Second, you fight. Not sure what basis you have for fighting, so the judge may get annoyed and assess damages for frivolous defenses. Plus you have lost the car and the money.

Third, you insist on every step of the eviction process being followed exactly. This may slow things to a crawl. Or you may get a judge who briskly moves cases through. Eventually, you will be forced to leave. And you may lose the car and money.

Marriage has consequences. Like inheriting property. Like entitlement to spousal share rights. Marriage is not a bed of roses and if it were, you’d find plenty of thorns. But there are benefits to marriage as well. Something to bear in mind.

 


 

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

You Don’t Need A Weatherman To Know Which Way The Wind Blows

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.

consumer price index chart may 2022

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 Credit: Pacific Comics Club 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%?

producer price index chart may 2022

coffee price chart

That is what’s coming tomorrow.

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):

mortgage market survey chart

Investors! Guess what… the market is tanking. Down 17% this year. So far. But you already knew that.

dow jones industrial average chart june 2022

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. Easy!

Is traditional trust planning failure a scam…
Your Estate Plan Is A Death Trap
Or Can It 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) 800317-2812

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Shocking Fact From Planet Earth: Magic Is Not Real https://davidcarrierlaw.itulwebdev.com/shocking-fact-from-planet-earth-magic-is-not-real/ https://davidcarrierlaw.itulwebdev.com/shocking-fact-from-planet-earth-magic-is-not-real/#respond Mon, 23 May 2022 21:40:57 +0000 https://davidcarrierlaw.itulwebdev.com/?p=111620 Multi-Verse Of Madness?

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Multi-Verse Of Madness? A Random Walk Through The Valley Of The Shadow Of Incompetence

The Original Three Stooges, At Least, Were Funny

Why is our world run by 3 old men with health issues and questionable mental capability? Three geezers with sufficient atomic and hydrogen bombs to erase humanity? Two of them with sugar plum visions of long-lost imperial splendor dancing in their heads. Willing to slaughter other folks wholesale. Two greedy, stuffed-up potentates. Dozens of minor characters in supporting roles have similar grandiose cloud cuckoo land delusions. Complete the picture with a cast of thousands eager to murder for earthly paradise.

Is it surprising that totalitarian tyrannies spew forth thieving tyrants? Isn’t that pretty much what they do? Murder, conquest, plunder, looting, and pillaging are part and parcel of the tyrannical deal. Successful crime proves that the “mandate of heaven” rests on the tyrant.

A couple hundred years ago, a few, very few, people decided to chart a different course. To depend on one another. And vigorous, unrestrained debate. Government based on the consent of the governed. A radical idea that regular folks had something to say. A nation free of tyrants. Composed of free people. Thinking, speaking, and acting freely. Naturally, “smart” people have been desperately fighting against this dangerous idea ever since.

The good and the wise know that too much talking is bad for the peasants. Commoners need a Ministry of Truth, Commission for the Public Good, Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, “Disinformation Governance Board.” Intellectual leading lights from Ivy League universities must ensure you do not think the wrong thoughts or say the wrong words. Or hear anyone who does.

Can the third decrepit old gentleman really be blamed for much of anything? As a two-bit grifting politician, he sold out for cheap long ago. Enabling family members’ dirty dealing with foreign countries and powerful corporations. Selling influence and access. Kickbacks to the “big guy”. Penniless politician to Bruce Wayne multimillionaire. His only surviving son condemned to a maelstrom of drugs and paid-for sex. Pitiful really. Charley McCarthy in the White House. Merely a marionette. Pathetic puppet, dancing to strange tunes.

Yet this superannuated reprobate has performed a valuable service. He proved the obvious: when America retreats, tyranny fills the void. Ask Finland. Ask Sweden. Two countries with centuries of neutrality. Comfortably secure under the American umbrella. Until now. Today they frantically clamor to join the NATO Neighborhood Watch.

Harry Potter Is To Blame!
Or Maybe It Is Doctor Strange’s Fault

Remember the Marvel superhero movie, Ironman? A science guy builds himself a metal suit that flies and blows bad guy stuff up. Cool. Remember Spiderman? Radioactive spider bite, science-science, teenager with spider powers.

Beats bad guys up. Even Superman had the whole red sun/yellow sun science explanation for superpowers. Not anymore. Today superheroes are all magic.

Remember the Harry Potter books and movies? How about the vampire and werewolf books and movies? Say or think the right thing and stuff just happens. All magic. All the time. Magical!

Have you noticed that magical thinking has taken over? Men become women by simply saying so. You don’t even need a fancy spell. Or surgery. Why tampons in the Mens Room? Because men now menstruate. And give birth. How does a man have ovaries and a uterus? Perhaps it helps to start as a woman. Astounding new world records in women’s sports? Perhaps starting as a man helps. Not even Supreme Court Justices can tell the difference. Abracadabra indeed!

Imagine an old, broken-down horse. Shabby. Weak. Shuffling. Re-living its days as a foal. Kept around from pity. Would you enter that horse in the Kentucky Derby? Or the county fair? You might if you believed in the power of magical thinking. You would just tell yourself, and everyone else, that your nag is really a thoroughbred racehorse at the peak of its powers. And if anyone disagreed, you and your friends could shout them down. Fairness requires hobbling all the other horses, since their actual talents and abilities are “unfair” to the nag. Who would enjoy such a race? What would the outcome be?

Is it ridiculous to think that magical thinking in the real world leads to disaster across the board? Would you like to drive across a magical bridge? Live in a magical apartment house? Why not? It’s only fair.

Magical Thinking: Consequences

BASIC PRICE INFLATION. In April 2022, the United States failed to set a new 40-year record high for inflation. At least it stayed above 8%, though, so all of you buying groceries on your credit cards… keep it up, you will have to…

Ivy League Necromancers first blamed the magic inflation on too many people buying treadmills. Then Congressional Conjurers claimed it was temporary. Next Sorcerers Senatorial blamed it on Russia’s Mad Monk Rasputin. Now our trusted Thaumaturges assert something else, but frankly, we have lost track.

Good News! The Ginger Oracle’s Replacement says Inflation will be cured! By raising taxes. We swear we are not making this stuff up. Here is what the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics says:

cpi consumer price index chart

MORTGAGE INTEREST RATES. Mortgage rates continue to astonish, but the American Dream lives! “Homebuyers continue to show resilience even though rising mortgage rates are causing monthly payments to increase by about one-third as compared to a year ago,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. Thank you, Sam! Great to see our public servants serving the public!

Hey Home Sellers! Interest rate increases caused monthly payments go up by ONE-THIRD… Could HOME PRICES be affected? What do YOU think? Can you pull a Homebuyer out of a hat? You may have to….

freddie mac mortgage rate chart

ONE MILLION DEAD FROM ELDER PLAGUE. Do you remember a politician who claimed he would stop COVID? Neither does the Washington Post. Or New York Times. Or the politician himself. He even forgot he was vaccinated. Oh well. Elections are supposed to be magic!

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than a MILLION AMERICANS have died from the virus of unknown origin. Widespread hysteria about the kids was manufactured by people who did not go to work, but still got paid. Fortunately for the children, the virus of unknown origin DOES NOT (hardly at all) KILL KIDS, but it is deadly to older folks. Almost exclusively.

From the very beginning the Reporter has described COVID as the “Elder Plague.” And that has NEVER changed. Here’s the current official CDC chart. Notice anything about deaths among kids ages 0-17? 0-29?

cdc covid death by age chart

NEW RUSSIAN BEACH FRONT RESORT. In Ukraine, on the Black Sea, is a steel plant. You may have heard of it. Bombed for months. Blasted to smithereens. Now your best Russian friend and mine, Crazy Vlad, is repurposing this fixer-upper opportunity as beach resort. Come for Time Share Presentation, leave with new set of steak knives! Wow! Magic solves everything, no?

TOP 10 AMERICAN THEME PARKS. Because inquiring minds want to know, USA Today, a “newspaper” asked regular folks which were the BEST THEME PARKS. #1 is an aquarium which used to have whales in a tank, but not anymore. Winners include a brewery-sponsored park, another that smells like chocolate, and two with country music themes. But the “Happiest Place on Earth” was shut out. Maybe normal folks have had enough of rich people insults. Maybe, finally, “Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and Girls! Children of All Ages!” isn’t the only thing headed for the garbage dump. Did they think they could magically wish away their customers? Guess so!

Why Can’t You Live In The Magic Kingdom?

Why are the magical thinkers so unhappy? Why does everything they touch turn to crap? Why are they angry? Why are they unable to hear anyone but themselves?

Are you opposed to living in the real world? Are you against your actions having consequences? Do you live to blame other people for your own faults and failings? Do the real abilities and accomplishments of others fill you with jealousy and rage? Are you so special that the world owes you a living? Are you a precious snowflake that all must admire? Are you happy and secure in your own talents and abilities and appreciative of others? Does Magical Thinking work for you? Do you think it would work for your kids?

Is it ridiculous to think that primitive humans, whose lives were “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short,” were still more grounded in reality than the politicians, intellectuals, and other talking heads who insist on one absurd foolishness after another?

It is a blessing to be middle class. No one worships you. You do not inspire fear, anxiety, or dread. Others will tell you the truth. And demand truth from you. We have our challenges to be sure. And the good news is that we are not surrounded by toadies lying to us about those challenges. Lucky you! Lucky me.


 

Traditional Planning Is Death Planning

Avoid Probate, Save Taxes, Get To Kids? 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

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“Golden Age” or “Hell In A Hand Basket”? https://davidcarrierlaw.itulwebdev.com/golden-age-or-hell-in-a-hand-basket/ https://davidcarrierlaw.itulwebdev.com/golden-age-or-hell-in-a-hand-basket/#respond Mon, 18 Apr 2022 16:08:28 +0000 https://davidcarrierlaw.itulwebdev.com/?p=111526 Are The “Best And Brightest” In Charge? Did We Elect The Most Arrogant and Stupid?

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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!)

cpi change

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.

freddie mac

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…

fertilizer price index

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?

ppi 12 month change

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?

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