A living trust with an accompanying will is helpful while living if you
become sick or disabled and need someone to look after your affairs. At
death, they help to save court costs and probate fees. In case of
creditors, they help to place road blocks in front of the creditors. My
advise is to put one in place.
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According to research done by Blaine Harden of the Washington Post, our
culture is shifting away from married with children. Those who get a
college education seem to marry others with college degrees and have
44% higher incomes than do those without college. And those without
college degrees are not bothering with marriage. This whole slow change
means the income difference is widening across the nation. This group
of couples who do get college degrees and do get married, have
increased their incomes by 59% in the last three decades. Education is
good, but the trend says income gaps will widen because of it. Which
group are you in? More to come……
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In the last 35 years the divorce rate has steadily increased. So has
the income difference between those with college degrees and those with
out. It seems that the less educated you are, the higher the divorce
rate, until the change started to occur in the 1970's. It seems that
when the less educated decide not to even get married the divorce rate
thus didn't apply. But today the number of single mothers with children
who have been forced to enter the work force, has come at a huge cost.
Twice the household expense, with twice the legal costs for both
husband and wife, with income tax increase by not filing joint tax
returns has made it difficult for anyone to have surplus money other
than the basics. Researchers say that those with college degrees don’t
divorce half as much as those without. What is the moral to this story?
Get a good education, get a spending plan, and open lines of
communication.
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When men marry, among its many benefits, marriage raises the earnings
of men and motivates them to work more hours. It also reduces by
two-thirds the likelihood that a family will live in poverty,
researchers learned. The marital unions of high earners are a
significant factor in the growth of income inequality since the 1970’s
according to Gary Burtless, an economist at Brookings. His research
attributes 13% of the increase in the nation’s income inequality to
such couples.
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