Coordinating Your Financial Affairs for A Successful Retirement

Did you know that a Daily Money Manager (DMM) or Financial Concierge (FC) typically acts as the professional coordinator for all of their client's financial matters? In addition to working with their clients to create and maintain an up-to-date personal bookkeeping system, financial and estate records retention system and seeing to it that all current and future obligations are being met, a daily money manager also sees to it that the other members of the client's financial team are kept informed.

Here at MMI Financial Group, Inc. our DMMs routinely work with client’s accountants, attorneys, insurance agents, investment advisors, financial planners, bankers, financial institutions, pension departments, care managers, DPOAs, trustees, executors and more. A few examples of how our DMMs work to communicate and coordinate services with the client's team of advisors and service providers includes the following:

· Accountants receive their completed annual tax organizers and the relevant tax receipts and documents necessary to make sure clients get all the deductions they are entitled to. Tax advice is also sought as needed.

· Estate attorneys are kept informed of any life changes critical to keeping an estate plan current. Client accounts and beneficiary arrangements are maintained and coordinated with revocable living trusts and estate plans per the attorney's direction. Additional legal advice is sought as needed on any legal matter.

· Insurance agents are updated on any changes to vehicle ownership, property and tangible asset holdings, residential occupancy or changes that might impact policy beneficiary arrangements. Our DMMs see to it that health insurance and/or Medicare supplement coverage is reviewed during annual open enrollment periods. We also make sure all insurance premiums are paid by their due dates to prevent any lapse in coverage.

· Banks, financial institutions and pension departments are provided with copies of the client's DPOAs and trust documents and the account registration and beneficiary arrangements for each and every account are coordinated with the estate plan per the attorney's direction.

· Financial planners are kept informed of the client’s complete list of assets and liabilities, as well as ongoing monthly cashflow and obligations so that they may provide effective long-term planning advice.

· Family members, DPOAs, guardians and trustees have the benefit of an independent third-party monitoring accounts, processing payments, and preparing financial reports for necessary financial communication and filings.

· Geriatric care managers are brought in when the family needs assistance outside the scope of finance to provide services for aging family members.

· And more…

What most people don't actively think about is that in the absence of having a professional daily money manager or financial concierge, they (by default) are responsible for coordinating all things financial, estate and retirement related. We've all heard the phrase "the squeaky wheel gets the grease", the problem comes when there is no squeak.  If you're acting as your own DMM it's a lot like acting as your own general contractor to build a house. You may hire an electrician to do the electrical work, but they are not going to help you with the plumbing. The heating and cooling contractor isn't going to focus on anything but the heating and cooling. As the general contractor you have to make sure that you have coordinated everything correctly and that you haven't forgotten anything. There are a lot of moving parts to building a house. There are also a lot of moving parts to effectively creating and maintaining a comprehensive financial, estate and retirement plan.

Because of advances in medicine along with the fact that we live in a more helth conscious society, people are living much longer than ever before. Advanced aging brings with it a set of challenges that previous generations haven't really formally planned for. The fact is, for those individuals who live a long life the day will come when they have to hand over their car keys to someone else because it's no longer safe for them to drive a car. Another pivotal moment will come for the elderly when they have to hand over their check book to someone else because it's no longer safe or practical for them to manage their own finances. 

Rather than waiting until a health event forces the issue or a serious financial misstep comes to light, many seniors today are taking a proactive approach by hiring a DMM to help them get their finances and estate matters organized and prepared for aging so that a family member or a professional DMM can easily come alongside of them to lend a helping hand or take over when the time comes. Being able to effectively coordinate and utilize the knowledge and expertise of each of your advisors becomes more and more important as you age.  

If you know someone who may benefit from reading this article, please share it with them. If you would like to learn more about developing an aging and final chapter of life financial management plan, contact us today for a free consultation at (989) 725-9878 Ext.12 or info@mmifinancialgroup.com

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Todd W. Meyer is one of the principals at MMI Financial Group, Inc. He has 38 years of experience working with clients and personally heads the Daily Money Management & Financial Concierge Services department of the firm. Todd is an active member of the American Association of Daily Money Managers (AADMM)

todd@mmifinancialgroup.com (989) 725-9878 ext.10

#dailymoneymanagementservices #financialconciergeservices #coordinatingfinancialadvisors #successfulretirementplanning #DMM #mmi #mmfinancialgroup #toddwmeyer

Daily Money Managers Can Help You Manage and Settle an Estate

Daily money managers (DMMs) when utilized can play a pivotal role on a person's financial management and estate settlement team. Helping to coordinate the financial management and/or settlement of an estate is one example of how DMMs can take a time consuming, confusing and stressful job off of their client's shoulders.

At MMI Financial Group, Inc. our DMMs can come along side of a person who has been named as the executor/personal representative or successor trustee and take the lead in organizing and completing the many required tasks. Our DMMs will coordinate the participation necessary from the client as well as other professionals such as their banker, accountant, attorney, financial planner, investment adviser, insurance agents, etc.

As the lead professional, we can see to the details such as: Preparing an inventory of assets, determining date-of-death values, create and maintain cash flow and personal balance sheet financial statements, organizing bank and investment statements, locating and organizing all important documents, seeking legal assistance and direction from the attorney, arrange for appraisals of property and valuable items, prepare checks to pay debts and creditors, keep accurate records of all money transactions in and out, notify government offices, notify credit reporting agencies and interested parties about the death, help the executor/trustee to terminate contracts and leases, contact insurance agents to modify or terminate policies, contact investment advisors and financial companies to obtain and complete necessary paperwork to distribute or retitle the deceased's assets. complete forms and paperwork on a variety of matters for the executor's signature, arrange for an auction or estate sale, arrange consignment sale of automobiles, boat, RV, collectibles, and more, provide information to the accountant for income and estate tax returns, prepare and provide on-going transparency financial statements to heirs as required, oversee and attend to many other task and details.

Too often people are unaware of the fact that there is affordable professional help available to them, so they just go it alone. They assume that because they have been assigned to settle the estate that they are personally responsible for completing all of the work.  Because they are unfamiliar with the process and what steps need to be taken, the estate settlement ends up dragging on and on taking much longer to complete than it needs to.  Estate settlements can often take years and cost thousands of dollars in legal and accounting fees primarily because the executor has no direction and continues to procrastinate. 

If you know someone who is serving as successor trustee or executor of an estate now or may be serving in that capacity in the future share this article with them.  Let them known about our daily money management and financial concierge services.  A pre-death financial & estate planning review by one of our DMMs could save thousands of dollars in unnecessary legal fees, probate fees, court costs, and taxes and may shave months or years off the time needed to settle the estate. Contact us today for a free consultation at (989) 725-9878 Ext.12 or info@mmifinancialgroup.com  

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Todd W. Meyer is one of the principals at MMI Financial Group, Inc. He has 38 years of experience working with clients and personally heads the Daily Money Management & Financial Concierge Services department of the firm. Todd is an active member of the American Association of Daily Money Managers (AADMM)

#estatesettlement #successortrustee #dailymoneymanagementservices #financialconciergeservices #mmifinancialgroupinc  #toddwmeyer

How to handle taxes for household employees

Taxes.  They’re just about the last thing parents might think about when they hire someone to watch over their child.  Yet a hefty tax bill is a possibility for anyone who pays a nanny, adult care-giver, housekeeper, gardener or other household employee enough in annual wages to trigger a bevy of requirements under tax laws.  In 2013, that financial threshold was $1,800, and it makes the person who hired the household employee responsible for paying federal and state payroll taxes on that worker, just like any other business owner.  They also must reflect in their own annual tax return that they had a household employee. ‘‘People think if they pay this person in cash, they don’t have to report it, and the recipient doesn’t have to pick it up as income,’’ says Cindy Hockenberry, manager of research for the National Association of Tax Professionals.  ‘‘But there are taxes due on that money, and the IRS wants their taxes.’’  Here are six tips on how to make sure you’re not running afoul of the tax man when hiring household help:

Sort out: independent contractor or household employee.  Whether you’re on the hook for your nanny, adult caregiver or maid’s payroll taxes, the process begins with determining if he or she meets the IRS’s definition of a household employee, rather than an independent contractor.  The IRS defines a household employee as someone hired to do work in or around a home, at the direction and control of the person who lives in the home.  Meaning, you tell them what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and perhaps provide the supplies; for instance, if you hire someone to mow your yard and they use your lawn equipment.  In the case of a nanny:  ‘‘Any parent would have an almost impossible case to make that they don’t have the right to control the schedule and the work that’s being done in their private home with their child, ’’ says Kathleen Webb, president and co-founder of HomeWork Solutions, which provides payroll and tax services to people with household employees.  Other examples of household workers include drivers, home-health aides and maids.

Determine which taxes you are expected to pay.  Assuming your nanny or other household hire meets the household employee standard, it all comes down to whether you pay the person cash wages of $1,800 or more.  If that’s the case, you are required to pay 15.3 percent of their wages in Social Security and Medicare taxes.  The employer covers half of those taxes (6.2 percent for Social Security and 1.45 percent for Medicare) and can withhold the other half from the employee’s paycheck.  If your household employee is an immediate family member, your spouse, parent, or child under 21, you don’t have to pay any employment taxes.  Be aware that you also could be on the hook for federal and state unemployment taxes.  If your employee is paid $1,000 or more in any calendar quarter, then you must also pay federal unemployment tax of 6 percent of their annual wages.

Decide early on how you’re going to pay.  The IRS gives you the option to withhold your employees’ share of their Medicare and Social Security taxes from their paycheck, or to elect to pay their share yourself.  Let’s say you are looking to hire a nanny to come over a couple of nights a week for three hours.  At the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, that’s $43.50.  Extend that over a year, and it’s $2,262 — triggering the requirement that you pay the nanny’s payroll taxes. Under that scenario, unless you have been withdrawing payroll taxes over the year, you’ll have to come up with $173.04 to settle the nanny’s portion of the tax, and an equal amount for your obligation as the employer.  That’s probably a manageable amount to shell out come tax time.  But if you end up needing to hire the nanny to come over more than several times a week, or maybe like so many families today, you've had to hire a caregiver on a regular basis to care for an aging parent or loved one, that tax payment could be much more.  In that case, withholding payroll taxes along the way makes more sense.  Specialists suggest that household employers begin withholding payroll taxes as soon as it seems likely that they’ll be increasing their employees’ hours, and wages, dramatically.  Even if you choose to cover the payment yourself, another option is to set the money aside in a separate bank account, so that you’re not scrambling at tax time.

Verify an employee’s legal status.  The government doesn’t look favorably upon employers who hire people who can’t legally work in the United States.  So the IRS requires that employers and their hires complete an employment eligibility verification form, dubbed I-9, before the end of the employee’s first day of work.  The form requires that non-US citizens provide information backing up their legal employment status and that the employer examine the information against a list of acceptable identification documents.  Once it’s filled out, employers must simply hang on to the form.  It can be downloaded at http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-9.pdf.

Keep solid records.  It's important to keep accurate records of all wages and federal and state taxes you pay or withhold on behalf of your employee.  The record-keeping will come in handy when it comes time to file several forms with the IRS.  They include Schedule H, on which employers report household employment taxes paid, and Form W-2, which outlines your employee’s annual wages, taxes paid by you and other details.

Get help.  Instead of dealing with the intricacies of the U.S. tax code, you can pay an accountant or consider hiring a professional daily money manager (DMM) to assist you in getting things set up with one of the many on-line companies who cater to handling payroll and tax concerns for domestic employers.  The DMM can also help you set up your record keeping system so that at tax time you have everything in order.  To locate a professional daily money manager (DMM) you can contact the American Association of Daily Money Managers (AADMM).  This organization will provide referrals to DMMs in your area.  You can visit their website at www.aadmm.com.

The Growing Need For Seniors To Protect Themselves Against Elder Fraud

America is aging. Between 2011 and 2050, the United States is projected to experience rapid growth in it’s senior population. The 78-million member baby boom generation (born between 1946 and 1964) began turning 65 in 2011.  Over the next 10 years the older American segment is projected to grow 23%. By 2020, this market segment should be nearly 119 million people and represent 35% of the total population.

The number one fear expressed by many seniors regarding their retirement years, is the fear of outliving their money. Managing financial resources wisely for this generation has become more important than ever before. A rising concern for many seniors and their family members is the issue of elder fraud.  

Seniors tend to be trusting and charitable to strangers making them more likely to fall prey to a solicitation for money. They often live alone, isolated from family and friends who could otherwise advise them.

Con artists, unethical repairman and contractors are aware of the possible effects that age has on memory, and a seniors’ potential lack of financial savvy. These individuals realize that seniors are often poor witnesses. Being victimized or taken advantage of can also make seniors so embarrassed that they are reluctant to come forward or even tell family members.

Seniors are often dependent upon family members and caregivers, making them susceptible to being taken advantage of by these very same people. Children and grandchildren often approach their loved one for a loan. Too often these loans go unpaid creating a financial hardship for the senior later in life when they need that money to provide supplemental income or to pay for long-term care expenses.

One solution that many seniors and their caregiving family members are turning to is to hire the services of a professional daily money manager (DMM) to pay bills, reconcile accounts, maintain records, prepare monthly or quarterly financial statements, and more. 

Studies have shown that DMM services can help seniors to maintain their independence and remain in their homes longer avoiding costly nursing home care. DMMs also provide adult caregivers relief from some or all daily money management tasks while at the same time providing outside financial controls which can reduce or eliminate claims of caregiver fraud.

The best way to start your search to locate a DMM is through referrals from trusted friend, family members, and community organizations. You may also wish to contact the American Association of Daily Money Managers (AADMM). This organization will provide referrals to DMMs in your area. You can visit their website at www.aadmm.com.