October 26, 2025 • 30 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The following is a paid podcast. iHeartRadio's hosting of this
podcast constitutes neither an endorsement of the products offered or
the ideas expressed. The following program is sponsored by New
York Priority Medical Care. Now it's time for the Laws
of Your Money, a weekly call in show with legal
(00:20):
tips to help you protect your money. Here's your host
and Margaret Caroza.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Hello, and welcome to the Laws of your Money. This
is a program dedicated to protecting you from legal and
financial mayhem. What does it matter how diligently we save
and invest if there is a greater than forty percent
(00:54):
chance of losing assets to an expensive breakup, ordinary liability taxes,
this can be capital gains taxes, estate taxes. So we're
going to dive into all of those threats to our
wealth today and I am thrilled to be joined by
(01:17):
two esteemed co hosts. We have back with us again
representing gen Z. Billy Duke, welcome back to the program.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
And we have with us esteemed journalist and founder of
Maverick River Media and Woolsey welcome back to the program.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
And good morning and Margaret.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
So I'm really happy to see you here today because
last night I texted you confirming your appearance today, and
I checked this morning and I didn't see anything. And
it turned out that I texted a former I oh,
(02:02):
my goodness, heard who has been back in Germany for
I think five.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Years now, who's a teacher, just had a baby, probably
like what's going on.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
I'm sure she'd make a great guest.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Yes, but if we get a call from Anne Erdman, yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Oh that is so funny, I'm probably gonna get an
Instagram DM saying something about.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
All right, let's jump into today's topics. I was asked
this past week at an event you were at, Anne
by my friend Tom, how do you prepare? And excuse me,
how long does it take to prepare for the program?
And I literally said, I pick up the newspaper that morning,
(02:47):
and today was no different. I picked up the paper
and one of the first stories I saw was the
late Diane Keaton left five million to her dog. And
this is really not uncommon. I have a large number
(03:10):
of clients who do want to provide for their pets.
On the other side, and what's your knee jerk reaction
to that?
Speaker 4 (03:20):
She has the money and she loved these animals. She's
very special to all of us, but she absolutely loved
these animals. And I think my knee jerk is do
it if you can absolutely.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
And I find that a good number of my elderly
clients are reluctant to adopt another pet because of the
fear of outliving them. And this is really responsible and
sensitive on their part to be thinking about this, but
(03:55):
they're depriving themselves of companionship, effectstion some security.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
I was going to ask, what do you tell them
in that situation?
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Well, I think you can put a plan in place,
and all fifty states now allow someone to do what's
called a pet care appointee trusts. Interesting, so we appoint
another person who does not necessarily have to take physical
(04:26):
custody of the pet, but they are tasked with ensuring
that a suitable home be found. I see, and where
there's enough money in the estate, what we try to
do is calculate the lifespan of the pet and project
(04:47):
out what the feeding, the grooming, the vet care is
going to be and earmark a certain amount of money.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
I don't know if you have any way of tracking this,
but do you find and that in general, with your clients,
you are satisfied with who they're picking to look after
the pets.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Well, it's interesting. I mean, I don't know the people
that my clients are are picking, but I try to
give them some guidelines. And the big question is how
does this pet care appointee get compensated? So A and
(05:26):
both methods are are subject to abuse if you don't
pick the right person. So we can say that Billy
Duke is in charge of my goldfish Jim, and he gets.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Do not put me in charge of the gold Yes,
let me tell you that. I will. I'll tell you
dig the goldfish. We I'll be like, oh right, I
need to feed it.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
So Anne is in charge of the goldfish and she
gets fifteen thousand dollars per year for every year of
the goldfish's Now what would stop someone less honorable than
Anne swapping out that goldfish to keep the annual Soutainly.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
The longest living goldfish in America?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Yes, I think the record is in England. There was
a goldfish who apparently lived over forty years.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Our goldfish did pretty well.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Yeah, well that's another story.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
So she told you that's another show.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
That's another show.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Oh wow.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
The other way to compensate the pet care appointee is
to say that upon the death of the animal, whatever
amount of money is left over goes to the pet
care appointee.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
I see.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
And there there was a case where the decedent left
seven cats, and the cats lived in a beautiful duplex
co op on the Upper West Side, and the pet
care a pointee was to get the apartment upon the
(07:04):
death of the seventh animal.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Oh my goodness, and all.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Seven of the cats met untimely.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
I personally have never heard of a cat jumping out
of a window, but all seven of these cats. No,
that's not funny, billy.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Oh no, no goodness, that is not bunny.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
That is wo So anyone with a pet, you want
to give some thought to how we should deal with
it within the estate plan.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
And there's so many health benefits to having a pet.
So how good would someone feel when they know it's
taken care of that. I think that's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
It lowers high blood pressure, it increases rates of serotonin.
I just can't recommend it highly enough for my elderly clients.
And you know, we have a dog, Rocky. He's a
big yellow lab and he may be the dumbest dog
(08:02):
in the United States. But he is a sweetheart and
he barks like he is a big wolf. Absolutely, and
I really feel more secure in the house with this. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Yeah, great for companionship, great for protection. And this story
is so Diane. She just seemed like such a happy person.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Absolutely living life on her own terms up until the exit. Okay,
let's move now to the Michael Jackson estate, which is
back in the news because twenty seven year old Paris
is challenging the executors. There are two executors of the estate.
(08:46):
They are not family members, and Paris is claiming that
they are draining the estate in terms of executors' commissions,
and they are paying bonuses to other attorneys to the
tune of you know, six hundred thousand dollars is being
paid out in these bonuses. So, you know, we'll see
(09:09):
how this plays out in court. I did have an
opportunity several years back to look at the Michael Jackson
will and trust, and there was no curb on what
the executors were legally able to charge the estate. So
I think, you know, when we talk about estay planning
(09:32):
and creating the trust and creating the will we should
really have some guidelines as to how these executors are
going to be compensated.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
Now, No, yeah, I was gonna say, an you always
talk about the ages. Paris is now a businesswoman in
her own right and older. So it's too bad that
didn't listen to you. But can't you set that up
like when she's younger. Okay, can take over, but she
should get it on her own eventually.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Well, it's interesting she is not even yet at the
full age where she will get her entire share of
the estate. And I think Michael Jackson set the estate
up beautifully because he staggered the distribution to all three kids.
(10:24):
So all three kids were the residuary beneficiaries naturally, but
they were to receive their inheritance one third at twenty five,
half of what's left at thirty, and the full distribution
at thirty five. I have, which is what I have
for you, y friend.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Okay, Well, good to know.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
So we imagine that at twenty seven, Paris has received
the first one third.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
And it seems like with her you know, you say,
and she's a businesswoman, it seems like they're following a
blueprint and exactly the way it should be followed, you know,
if there's some major, you know, catastrophe in her life,
god forbid, she still has.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
A few more bites at the apple.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Indeed, indeed, but it's not a major windfall all it
was and I think honestly good for her, you know,
being a child of privilege, for her to watch the
hen House and not one.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Hundred percent, and you would think at the very least
her speaking up is going to cause the executors to maybe.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Be right a little bit.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
More responsible with the money that they're overseeing.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Correct me if I'm wrong. Something like that happened maybe
to a lesser extent with the Britney Spears conservatorship, right
because once the Free Britney movement started to pick up steam,
you know, the co conservators I think realized, oh dang,
we need to you know, fix our image at the
very least.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
And yeah, one hundred percent. And you know it's not
ideal when one person is in charge of the money
of someone else else, but at the very least we
want them to be respectful and responsible with that money.
So I encourage folks if you are going to appoint
(12:13):
a non family member. So normally we do appoint a
family member. I appoint my two sons as the executors
of my will. They will normally not take commission because
that's subject to income tax, right, and they're cannibalizing money
(12:34):
that they would get later on anyway. So where the
executor is also a residuary beneficiary, they would normally not
take a commission unless there's some drama with the other
beneficiaries and they want to stick it to them, so
they'll take a big commission. But a test stator, the
(12:55):
person creating the will, can say in lieu of company
station to which my executor would otherwise be eligible for
under state law. Instead, I give them, you know, fill
in the blank, twenty thousand dollars. Interesting, so you can
really customize that. And that's one of the things. You know, again,
(13:17):
I'm going to rail a little bit on these diy
kits that you can download off the internet or buy
on a home shopping channel. You know, they're not going
to allow you to fine tune this.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
My favorite thing you said about these diy kits is
that it's like do it yourself electrical wiring.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Yeah, but the explosion is not immediately visible, right right. Okay,
let's move on to the Real Housewives franchise. I know
you are a fan, Billy.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Yes, I'd just gotten into it, so I'm into Beverly Hills.
I hear Salt Lake City is really the cast to watch.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Well, this news story involved the Real Housewives of the
Potomac Wendy and Eddie OCIFO. I haven't seen this program,
but they were arrested because they put in acclaim with
their homeowner's insurance to the tune of four hundred and
(14:18):
fifty thousand dollars first stolen jewelry and personal property. So
while they were on a vacation in the Caribbean, they
were burglarized. They came home all of this stuff was missing.
The insurance company paid out and conducted an investigation, and
(14:40):
the very bad look for Wendy and Eddie is that
Wendy was photographed wearing some of the stolen jewelry after
the dates god red handed. Yeah, so they were arrested
and it's not looking good. So you know, when it
comes to insurance companies, they are possibly the single most
(15:09):
profitable industry in the United States, and they're not stupid,
and they have at their disposal ample means of investigating claims.
Now I'm going to put you on the spot a
little bit, Billy, because this week we had an insurance
(15:30):
issue in our house because we have a new homeowner's insurance,
and they came and did an inspection and they did
not like the very big trampoline that we have in
the backyard. Now you and your brother are no longer
using the trampoline, but my two little nieces love it
(15:50):
to death and they run out there the moment they
come to the house. So Billy, his kind hearted first
response was, well, we don't have to get rid of
the trampoline. Let's just move it from the insurance costant
insurance fraud like you can full on go to prison
(16:14):
for doing that.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Well, good to know, because that would have been my plan.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
But I mean it goes to show that you don't
necessarily have to have like the intent to be a criminal.
A lot of common behavior is illegal. And when we
think about insurance companies, we have to think about off
(16:39):
the books employment within the house, so that can be
a housekeeper, someone caring for an elderly relative, child care.
You definitely, and I'm not being a preacher, but you
definitely need to have these people on the books because
if they trip down the stairs, if they cut themselves,
(17:02):
making your elderly father a sandwich, they will be the
owner of your home because your homeowner's insurance policy does
not cover illegal employment. Interesting, so when you're paying someone
off the books, you may as well be running a
cracked in.
Speaker 4 (17:21):
Wow, if they fall off your trampoline.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Oh, if they unpaid caregiver falls off the trampoline, that's
a double way. Then I'm going to jail and losing
the house. Definitely not a good look. Let's move to
another item in the news. This was announced Friday. Social
Security recipients in the United States can expect a two
(17:47):
point eight percent cost of living increase beginning with their
January check. We think that's going to be offset by
a possible in the Medicare Part B premium. But the
interesting thing about Social Security is that it doesn't really
(18:11):
cover all of the expenses a retiree has. So it
covers about forty percent of the average retirees monthly expenses.
So Vanguard did a study recently that says only forty
two percent of US are on track to continue our
(18:36):
standard of living into retirement. So you know the missing
piece there. We have Social Security covering on average forty
percent of the expenses. And if we want to keep
our cost our current standard of living the way that
it is during our working years, what do we need
(18:58):
to fill in the gap.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
And people are living longer, people.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Are living longer, excellent point, what do we need? We
need savings, So you all know this is one of
my favorite topics. I think we can all always do
better to save our money because at the end of
the day, it is less important what we earn than
(19:25):
what we save. And in the book, I talk about
blue collar clients who are worth well over one million
dollars and they're high flying, high paid adult children. Neurologists
(19:46):
have to borrow money from their blue collar parents because
the adult children live it up. They belong to country clubs,
they go on a lot of vacations, they're flying here, there,
and everywhere. And it's the parents who save who are
(20:07):
who are the heroes?
Speaker 3 (20:08):
Well, you know, absolutely, I do feel the need to
preface anytime this one brings up savings.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Well, I think you're looking to cut me off here
because I'm about to bring up a statistic. Oh dear, Okay,
A Bank of America release the results of a study
that says gen Z, this is your cohort, Anne, as
a parent of another gen Z. Gen Z spends more
(20:40):
than they have the buy now, pay later.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
Are you aware of that?
Speaker 3 (20:47):
I was not aware of that statistic. But you know,
gen Z may take it to an extreme. You may
take it to an extreme in the other direction. This one,
I mean my brother and I growing up. I told
last time the story worry about the paper towels. Another
thing is moving to the toilet seat in my parents'
bathroom is broken, has been broken four months. And this
(21:09):
one will not have it prepared because it is it's
too much.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
But you know, not because it's too much, Billy. It
is functional.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
It's okay. Okay, it's functional, and so are the the
wet paper towels.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Okay, but you.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
Know what, you know what's interesting about this? I think
gen Z gets a bad rap. But I really and
I would agree. You know, we can, we could improve
our habits. But I think people don't really understand the
burden that gen Z faces financially. I mean, gen Z
averages ninety four thousand dollars in personal debt, which is
(21:43):
up for millennials which had fifty nine thousand, and gen X,
which is fifty three thousand. At ages twenty two to
twenty four, gen Z earns about forty five thousand, while
millennials made fifty two thousand. That's adjusted for inflation when
they were in that same twenty two to twenty four bracket,
and their debt to income ratio is up twenty five
percent higher than millennials. But you know, I think what
(22:06):
we lack maybe in our saving abilities, we make up
in the fact that, you know, we are a hard
working generation. And I think, really we are. We are,
and I see that in my group of friends. You know,
we see that in the data they're According to Deloitte,
(22:28):
gen Z's work mindset is more growth driven and more
purpose focused than older cohorts. Pew Research says that Gen
Z is the most educated and diverse generation in US history,
might be a reason that we have such a high
debt burden, and Tech Edge says that as digital natives,
(22:48):
we adapt faster and work more efficiently than previous generations.
So we have a lot, you know, that we need
to work on, but we also have a lot to
be proud of as a generation.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
So much to be proud of. But if you don't
save it, you're going to be in the same position
as a gen xer or any age. If I could
do anything over again, I would have saved that first
dollar and just kept those accounts active because life goes
(23:18):
fast and Anne's advice on saving is so incredibly crucial,
And if you start young, it's amazing the wealth you
can build.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Right, I think you just feel a little bit more
powerful if I am able to say no to myself.
You know, I'm in Bloomingdale's, I see some sweater that
I fall in love with, and I say, well, let
me go home think it over. I'll take a picture
of it with my phone and think about it long
(23:49):
and hard, and more often than not, I will simply
not execute because it was like this exciting thing in
the moment. But at the end of the day day,
if you are spending less than you earn, you're just
feeling better. You're able to sleep at night. And you
(24:10):
know the saying when money is a problem, everything is
a problem, And financial tensions are the number one factor
cited in divorce. So we really need to get a
handle on our on our spending to feel more powerful.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
You may have a point there.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Let's move to when do we want to update all
of our legal documents, and you know it's not when
someone dies, because if the document is good, you're going
to have a contingency plan in there. I want to
update my documents when one of my ben fficiaries has
(25:01):
a problem, right that I didn't know about when I
originally set the documents up. So I left everything to
my hypothetical three children, Mary, Susie and Johnny, and lo
and behold Johnny develops a substance abuse issue, a gambling problem,
(25:21):
some type of long term illness, and now his receipt
of monies from my estate would disrupt his eligibility for
program benefits or it would be subject to being lost
in his upcoming fourth divorce. Right, So, no matter what
(25:42):
we do, be it a will be it one of
the many types of trusts we want to retain a
set of handcuff keys. We never want to do a
totally irrevocable trust that cannot be changed, because life does
(26:03):
change and you all want to be able to react
to curve balls. So the converse to that question when
should I update it is when should we not update
the documents? And it is late October we are heading
into the holidays, and I will tell both of you
(26:27):
that the office phone rings off the hook really after
Thanksgiving because there are family feuds fueled by a little
bit too much pino grisio around the table and short tempers,
and people leave Thanksgiving dinner wanting to disinherit people.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
So have you ever had clients like fully just admit that, yeah,
this was a crazy Thanksgiving, I need to.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Well, yes, And the way they characterize it is that
it's the straw that broke the camel's back. And in
our increasing political polarization. For the first time ever after
the twenty twenty four election, I had people coming in
for political reasons disinheriting.
Speaker 4 (27:19):
Really, that's shocking.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Yeah, no, no, it's a thing. So you know what
I try to do is stall, because more often than not,
if a couple of months goes by, they feel differently.
But yeah, we don't want the estate planning documents to
(27:41):
be the place to settle scores and have a scorched
earth policy and tell people what we really thought about
them for all of those decades.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
Oh my goodness, that is fascinating. That is really fascinating.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
So listen, if you folks out there have your own
stories about the explosions between loved ones and finances. Please
reach out to me during the week at My Lawyer
Ann and Mynn has no e on it on Instagram
(28:15):
and share your story and we can talk about topics
that you bring up on future shows. I encourage you
to go onto my website, My Lawyer An again noeed
dot com and you can download documents that you can
do on your own, and that would be a living will,
(28:37):
a healthcare proxy. No reason that you have to pay
a lawyer to do those things, and no reason that
you have to pay to download documents to do those things.
So I want to thank all of you for listening,
and I want to thank our hosts, Billy Duke and
Anne Woolsey. Thank you so much for being on the program.
(29:00):
And I hope you all tune in next week. Wor
seventy ten the Voice of New York Take Care Everyone.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
The preceding program was sponsored by New York Priority Medical Care.
The preceding was a paid podcast. iHeartRadio's hosting of this
podcast constitutes neither an endorsement of the products offered or
the ideas expressed.
The following is a paid podcast. iHeartRadio's hosting of this
podcast constitutes neither an endorsement of the products offered or
the ideas expressed. The following program is sponsored by New
York Priority Medical Care. Now it's time for the Laws
of Your Money, a weekly call in show with legal
(00:20):
tips to help you protect your money. Here's your host
and Margaret Caroza.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Hello, and welcome to the Laws of your Money. This
is a program dedicated to protecting you from legal and
financial mayhem. What does it matter how diligently we save
and invest if there is a greater than forty percent
(00:54):
chance of losing assets to an expensive breakup, ordinary liability taxes,
this can be capital gains taxes, estate taxes. So we're
going to dive into all of those threats to our
wealth today and I am thrilled to be joined by
(01:17):
two esteemed co hosts. We have back with us again
representing gen Z. Billy Duke, welcome back to the program.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
And we have with us esteemed journalist and founder of
Maverick River Media and Woolsey welcome back to the program.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
And good morning and Margaret.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
So I'm really happy to see you here today because
last night I texted you confirming your appearance today, and
I checked this morning and I didn't see anything. And
it turned out that I texted a former I oh,
(02:02):
my goodness, heard who has been back in Germany for
I think five.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Years now, who's a teacher, just had a baby, probably
like what's going on.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
I'm sure she'd make a great guest.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Yes, but if we get a call from Anne Erdman, yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Oh that is so funny, I'm probably gonna get an
Instagram DM saying something about.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
All right, let's jump into today's topics. I was asked
this past week at an event you were at, Anne
by my friend Tom, how do you prepare? And excuse me,
how long does it take to prepare for the program?
And I literally said, I pick up the newspaper that morning,
(02:47):
and today was no different. I picked up the paper
and one of the first stories I saw was the
late Diane Keaton left five million to her dog. And
this is really not uncommon. I have a large number
(03:10):
of clients who do want to provide for their pets.
On the other side, and what's your knee jerk reaction
to that?
Speaker 4 (03:20):
She has the money and she loved these animals. She's
very special to all of us, but she absolutely loved
these animals. And I think my knee jerk is do
it if you can absolutely.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
And I find that a good number of my elderly
clients are reluctant to adopt another pet because of the
fear of outliving them. And this is really responsible and
sensitive on their part to be thinking about this, but
(03:55):
they're depriving themselves of companionship, effectstion some security.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
I was going to ask, what do you tell them
in that situation?
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Well, I think you can put a plan in place,
and all fifty states now allow someone to do what's
called a pet care appointee trusts. Interesting, so we appoint
another person who does not necessarily have to take physical
(04:26):
custody of the pet, but they are tasked with ensuring
that a suitable home be found. I see, and where
there's enough money in the estate, what we try to
do is calculate the lifespan of the pet and project
(04:47):
out what the feeding, the grooming, the vet care is
going to be and earmark a certain amount of money.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
I don't know if you have any way of tracking this,
but do you find and that in general, with your clients,
you are satisfied with who they're picking to look after
the pets.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Well, it's interesting. I mean, I don't know the people
that my clients are are picking, but I try to
give them some guidelines. And the big question is how
does this pet care appointee get compensated? So A and
(05:26):
both methods are are subject to abuse if you don't
pick the right person. So we can say that Billy
Duke is in charge of my goldfish Jim, and he gets.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Do not put me in charge of the gold Yes,
let me tell you that. I will. I'll tell you
dig the goldfish. We I'll be like, oh right, I
need to feed it.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
So Anne is in charge of the goldfish and she
gets fifteen thousand dollars per year for every year of
the goldfish's Now what would stop someone less honorable than
Anne swapping out that goldfish to keep the annual Soutainly.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
The longest living goldfish in America?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Yes, I think the record is in England. There was
a goldfish who apparently lived over forty years.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Our goldfish did pretty well.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Yeah, well that's another story.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
So she told you that's another show.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
That's another show.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Oh wow.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
The other way to compensate the pet care appointee is
to say that upon the death of the animal, whatever
amount of money is left over goes to the pet
care appointee.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
I see.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
And there there was a case where the decedent left
seven cats, and the cats lived in a beautiful duplex
co op on the Upper West Side, and the pet
care a pointee was to get the apartment upon the
(07:04):
death of the seventh animal.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Oh my goodness, and all.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Seven of the cats met untimely.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
I personally have never heard of a cat jumping out
of a window, but all seven of these cats. No,
that's not funny, billy.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Oh no, no goodness, that is not bunny.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
That is wo So anyone with a pet, you want
to give some thought to how we should deal with
it within the estate plan.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
And there's so many health benefits to having a pet.
So how good would someone feel when they know it's
taken care of that. I think that's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
It lowers high blood pressure, it increases rates of serotonin.
I just can't recommend it highly enough for my elderly clients.
And you know, we have a dog, Rocky. He's a
big yellow lab and he may be the dumbest dog
(08:02):
in the United States. But he is a sweetheart and
he barks like he is a big wolf. Absolutely, and
I really feel more secure in the house with this. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Yeah, great for companionship, great for protection. And this story
is so Diane. She just seemed like such a happy person.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Absolutely living life on her own terms up until the exit. Okay,
let's move now to the Michael Jackson estate, which is
back in the news because twenty seven year old Paris
is challenging the executors. There are two executors of the estate.
(08:46):
They are not family members, and Paris is claiming that
they are draining the estate in terms of executors' commissions,
and they are paying bonuses to other attorneys to the
tune of you know, six hundred thousand dollars is being
paid out in these bonuses. So, you know, we'll see
(09:09):
how this plays out in court. I did have an
opportunity several years back to look at the Michael Jackson
will and trust, and there was no curb on what
the executors were legally able to charge the estate. So
I think, you know, when we talk about estay planning
(09:32):
and creating the trust and creating the will we should
really have some guidelines as to how these executors are
going to be compensated.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
Now, No, yeah, I was gonna say, an you always
talk about the ages. Paris is now a businesswoman in
her own right and older. So it's too bad that
didn't listen to you. But can't you set that up
like when she's younger. Okay, can take over, but she
should get it on her own eventually.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Well, it's interesting she is not even yet at the
full age where she will get her entire share of
the estate. And I think Michael Jackson set the estate
up beautifully because he staggered the distribution to all three kids.
(10:24):
So all three kids were the residuary beneficiaries naturally, but
they were to receive their inheritance one third at twenty five,
half of what's left at thirty, and the full distribution
at thirty five. I have, which is what I have
for you, y friend.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Okay, Well, good to know.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
So we imagine that at twenty seven, Paris has received
the first one third.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
And it seems like with her you know, you say,
and she's a businesswoman, it seems like they're following a
blueprint and exactly the way it should be followed, you know,
if there's some major, you know, catastrophe in her life,
god forbid, she still has.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
A few more bites at the apple.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Indeed, indeed, but it's not a major windfall all it
was and I think honestly good for her, you know,
being a child of privilege, for her to watch the
hen House and not one.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Hundred percent, and you would think at the very least
her speaking up is going to cause the executors to maybe.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Be right a little bit.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
More responsible with the money that they're overseeing.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Correct me if I'm wrong. Something like that happened maybe
to a lesser extent with the Britney Spears conservatorship, right
because once the Free Britney movement started to pick up steam,
you know, the co conservators I think realized, oh dang,
we need to you know, fix our image at the
very least.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
And yeah, one hundred percent. And you know it's not
ideal when one person is in charge of the money
of someone else else, but at the very least we
want them to be respectful and responsible with that money.
So I encourage folks if you are going to appoint
(12:13):
a non family member. So normally we do appoint a
family member. I appoint my two sons as the executors
of my will. They will normally not take commission because
that's subject to income tax, right, and they're cannibalizing money
(12:34):
that they would get later on anyway. So where the
executor is also a residuary beneficiary, they would normally not
take a commission unless there's some drama with the other
beneficiaries and they want to stick it to them, so
they'll take a big commission. But a test stator, the
(12:55):
person creating the will, can say in lieu of company
station to which my executor would otherwise be eligible for
under state law. Instead, I give them, you know, fill
in the blank, twenty thousand dollars. Interesting, so you can
really customize that. And that's one of the things. You know, again,
(13:17):
I'm going to rail a little bit on these diy
kits that you can download off the internet or buy
on a home shopping channel. You know, they're not going
to allow you to fine tune this.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
My favorite thing you said about these diy kits is
that it's like do it yourself electrical wiring.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Yeah, but the explosion is not immediately visible, right right. Okay,
let's move on to the Real Housewives franchise. I know
you are a fan, Billy.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Yes, I'd just gotten into it, so I'm into Beverly Hills.
I hear Salt Lake City is really the cast to watch.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Well, this news story involved the Real Housewives of the
Potomac Wendy and Eddie OCIFO. I haven't seen this program,
but they were arrested because they put in acclaim with
their homeowner's insurance to the tune of four hundred and
(14:18):
fifty thousand dollars first stolen jewelry and personal property. So
while they were on a vacation in the Caribbean, they
were burglarized. They came home all of this stuff was missing.
The insurance company paid out and conducted an investigation, and
(14:40):
the very bad look for Wendy and Eddie is that
Wendy was photographed wearing some of the stolen jewelry after
the dates god red handed. Yeah, so they were arrested
and it's not looking good. So you know, when it
comes to insurance companies, they are possibly the single most
(15:09):
profitable industry in the United States, and they're not stupid,
and they have at their disposal ample means of investigating claims.
Now I'm going to put you on the spot a
little bit, Billy, because this week we had an insurance
(15:30):
issue in our house because we have a new homeowner's insurance,
and they came and did an inspection and they did
not like the very big trampoline that we have in
the backyard. Now you and your brother are no longer
using the trampoline, but my two little nieces love it
(15:50):
to death and they run out there the moment they
come to the house. So Billy, his kind hearted first
response was, well, we don't have to get rid of
the trampoline. Let's just move it from the insurance costant
insurance fraud like you can full on go to prison
(16:14):
for doing that.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Well, good to know, because that would have been my plan.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
But I mean it goes to show that you don't
necessarily have to have like the intent to be a criminal.
A lot of common behavior is illegal. And when we
think about insurance companies, we have to think about off
(16:39):
the books employment within the house, so that can be
a housekeeper, someone caring for an elderly relative, child care.
You definitely, and I'm not being a preacher, but you
definitely need to have these people on the books because
if they trip down the stairs, if they cut themselves,
(17:02):
making your elderly father a sandwich, they will be the
owner of your home because your homeowner's insurance policy does
not cover illegal employment. Interesting, so when you're paying someone
off the books, you may as well be running a
cracked in.
Speaker 4 (17:21):
Wow, if they fall off your trampoline.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Oh, if they unpaid caregiver falls off the trampoline, that's
a double way. Then I'm going to jail and losing
the house. Definitely not a good look. Let's move to
another item in the news. This was announced Friday. Social
Security recipients in the United States can expect a two
(17:47):
point eight percent cost of living increase beginning with their
January check. We think that's going to be offset by
a possible in the Medicare Part B premium. But the
interesting thing about Social Security is that it doesn't really
(18:11):
cover all of the expenses a retiree has. So it
covers about forty percent of the average retirees monthly expenses.
So Vanguard did a study recently that says only forty
two percent of US are on track to continue our
(18:36):
standard of living into retirement. So you know the missing
piece there. We have Social Security covering on average forty
percent of the expenses. And if we want to keep
our cost our current standard of living the way that
it is during our working years, what do we need
(18:58):
to fill in the gap.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
And people are living longer, people.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Are living longer, excellent point, what do we need? We
need savings, So you all know this is one of
my favorite topics. I think we can all always do
better to save our money because at the end of
the day, it is less important what we earn than
(19:25):
what we save. And in the book, I talk about
blue collar clients who are worth well over one million
dollars and they're high flying, high paid adult children. Neurologists
(19:46):
have to borrow money from their blue collar parents because
the adult children live it up. They belong to country clubs,
they go on a lot of vacations, they're flying here, there,
and everywhere. And it's the parents who save who are
(20:07):
who are the heroes?
Speaker 3 (20:08):
Well, you know, absolutely, I do feel the need to
preface anytime this one brings up savings.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Well, I think you're looking to cut me off here
because I'm about to bring up a statistic. Oh dear, Okay,
A Bank of America release the results of a study
that says gen Z, this is your cohort, Anne, as
a parent of another gen Z. Gen Z spends more
(20:40):
than they have the buy now, pay later.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
Are you aware of that?
Speaker 3 (20:47):
I was not aware of that statistic. But you know,
gen Z may take it to an extreme. You may
take it to an extreme in the other direction. This one,
I mean my brother and I growing up. I told
last time the story worry about the paper towels. Another
thing is moving to the toilet seat in my parents'
bathroom is broken, has been broken four months. And this
(21:09):
one will not have it prepared because it is it's
too much.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
But you know, not because it's too much, Billy. It
is functional.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
It's okay. Okay, it's functional, and so are the the
wet paper towels.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Okay, but you.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
Know what, you know what's interesting about this? I think
gen Z gets a bad rap. But I really and
I would agree. You know, we can, we could improve
our habits. But I think people don't really understand the
burden that gen Z faces financially. I mean, gen Z
averages ninety four thousand dollars in personal debt, which is
(21:43):
up for millennials which had fifty nine thousand, and gen X,
which is fifty three thousand. At ages twenty two to
twenty four, gen Z earns about forty five thousand, while
millennials made fifty two thousand. That's adjusted for inflation when
they were in that same twenty two to twenty four bracket,
and their debt to income ratio is up twenty five
percent higher than millennials. But you know, I think what
(22:06):
we lack maybe in our saving abilities, we make up
in the fact that, you know, we are a hard
working generation. And I think, really we are. We are,
and I see that in my group of friends. You know,
we see that in the data they're According to Deloitte,
(22:28):
gen Z's work mindset is more growth driven and more
purpose focused than older cohorts. Pew Research says that Gen
Z is the most educated and diverse generation in US history,
might be a reason that we have such a high
debt burden, and Tech Edge says that as digital natives,
(22:48):
we adapt faster and work more efficiently than previous generations.
So we have a lot, you know, that we need
to work on, but we also have a lot to
be proud of as a generation.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
So much to be proud of. But if you don't
save it, you're going to be in the same position
as a gen xer or any age. If I could
do anything over again, I would have saved that first
dollar and just kept those accounts active because life goes
(23:18):
fast and Anne's advice on saving is so incredibly crucial,
And if you start young, it's amazing the wealth you
can build.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Right, I think you just feel a little bit more
powerful if I am able to say no to myself.
You know, I'm in Bloomingdale's, I see some sweater that
I fall in love with, and I say, well, let
me go home think it over. I'll take a picture
of it with my phone and think about it long
(23:49):
and hard, and more often than not, I will simply
not execute because it was like this exciting thing in
the moment. But at the end of the day day,
if you are spending less than you earn, you're just
feeling better. You're able to sleep at night. And you
(24:10):
know the saying when money is a problem, everything is
a problem, And financial tensions are the number one factor
cited in divorce. So we really need to get a
handle on our on our spending to feel more powerful.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
You may have a point there.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Let's move to when do we want to update all
of our legal documents, and you know it's not when
someone dies, because if the document is good, you're going
to have a contingency plan in there. I want to
update my documents when one of my ben fficiaries has
(25:01):
a problem, right that I didn't know about when I
originally set the documents up. So I left everything to
my hypothetical three children, Mary, Susie and Johnny, and lo
and behold Johnny develops a substance abuse issue, a gambling problem,
(25:21):
some type of long term illness, and now his receipt
of monies from my estate would disrupt his eligibility for
program benefits or it would be subject to being lost
in his upcoming fourth divorce. Right, So, no matter what
(25:42):
we do, be it a will be it one of
the many types of trusts we want to retain a
set of handcuff keys. We never want to do a
totally irrevocable trust that cannot be changed, because life does
(26:03):
change and you all want to be able to react
to curve balls. So the converse to that question when
should I update it is when should we not update
the documents? And it is late October we are heading
into the holidays, and I will tell both of you
(26:27):
that the office phone rings off the hook really after
Thanksgiving because there are family feuds fueled by a little
bit too much pino grisio around the table and short tempers,
and people leave Thanksgiving dinner wanting to disinherit people.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
So have you ever had clients like fully just admit that, yeah,
this was a crazy Thanksgiving, I need to.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Well, yes, And the way they characterize it is that
it's the straw that broke the camel's back. And in
our increasing political polarization. For the first time ever after
the twenty twenty four election, I had people coming in
for political reasons disinheriting.
Speaker 4 (27:19):
Really, that's shocking.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Yeah, no, no, it's a thing. So you know what
I try to do is stall, because more often than not,
if a couple of months goes by, they feel differently.
But yeah, we don't want the estate planning documents to
(27:41):
be the place to settle scores and have a scorched
earth policy and tell people what we really thought about
them for all of those decades.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
Oh my goodness, that is fascinating. That is really fascinating.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
So listen, if you folks out there have your own
stories about the explosions between loved ones and finances. Please
reach out to me during the week at My Lawyer
Ann and Mynn has no e on it on Instagram
(28:15):
and share your story and we can talk about topics
that you bring up on future shows. I encourage you
to go onto my website, My Lawyer An again noeed
dot com and you can download documents that you can
do on your own, and that would be a living will,
(28:37):
a healthcare proxy. No reason that you have to pay
a lawyer to do those things, and no reason that
you have to pay to download documents to do those things.
So I want to thank all of you for listening,
and I want to thank our hosts, Billy Duke and
Anne Woolsey. Thank you so much for being on the program.
(29:00):
And I hope you all tune in next week. Wor
seventy ten the Voice of New York Take Care Everyone.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
The preceding program was sponsored by New York Priority Medical Care.
The preceding was a paid podcast. iHeartRadio's hosting of this
podcast constitutes neither an endorsement of the products offered or
the ideas expressed.
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