Nevin's Data "Points"

   Your best laid plans can quickly go awry if your beneficiaries are clueless. For the past several months, I’ve been dealing with the disposition of my late mother’s estate. In the overall scheme of things, it is neither large, nor particularly complex. As I’ve noted before, Mom did a solid job of not only managing her finances while alive, but in terms of making sure that I (as eldest perhaps, but more specifically as executor) was aware of the various insurance policies, retirement accounts and property.  In that respect, she was doubtless “better” than many parents in discussing such matters before her passing (though none of that happened until after my father passed). Moreover, despite their modest means, they set up a living trust back when my Dad was with us — specifically to avoid the complexities of going through probate in an effort to make it easier for us. And prior to her passing, Mom made sure I had all the account numbers and phone numbers, and we set up ...

On what turned out to be the longest day of 2024, I said good-bye to my dear 94-year-old mother. It wasn’t how any of us had planned to spend that day. Two days earlier, she was returning from getting new hearing aids with my sister when she slipped and fell — broke her femur, sending her to the hospital for what was to be a weekend surgery. Mom was amazingly self-sufficient — still living on her own (with some assistance from my sister, who lives nearby) — and she had gone through heart valve replacement and a pacemaker — with COVID in between those two years back. But this time, as is often the case with older folks, the trauma to her body was more than she could fight off. Thankfully, she managed to hang on until her kids (including this one) and several grandkids were able to get to Chicago to be with her as she went to be with the Lord.     I moved out — and my parents moved for my Dad’s new job — just as I graduated college.  My parents (and three siblings) liv...

Recent reports of 401(k) thefts  and an ongoing concern about cybersecurity  (should) have everybody on the alert. Here’s some things you, your plan sponsor clients, and their participants should check out—now. Find Your Account(s) It may have been a while since you checked out your 401(k) balance—indeed, many may not have  ever   checked it out online. Start by tracking down the website, your user id, your password. If you haven’t done so in a while, you may have lost those credentials—or your access may have been disabled. Even if those credentials are still valid, it’s probably a good time to change them. Make sure you remember those account(s) at previous employers’ 401(k)s that you may have left “behind.”  Oh, and it will be less frustrating if you don’t do this on the weekend. In my experience, few offer customer service support then, and if you need help getting on, you’ll need some help. You might also find that it’s a good time to ...