Legendary Coach Joe Paterno Dies at 85

For over  46 years, Joe Paterno served as head coach of Penn State's Nittany Lions.   He won over 409 games and took the Nittany Lions to 37 bowl games and two national championships- earning a spot in the Hall of Fame.  More than 250 of the players he coached went on to the NFL.

What will be the legacy of this man who in the last few months of his life endured bitter scrutiny over a failure to take action that many felt he was compelled to take and did not?  Some still feel that he should and will go down as the greatest football coach in the history of the game.

When it is all said and done, it is our legacy that we leave behind.  Though we do not ultimately write it (some with forethought actually do), our life's work has to speak for itself.  The difference that we make while we live is the purpose that we served.  It should be how any fiinal act in our life is judged.

Contact us at http://www.ythlaw.com/ for your estate planning, probate, guardianship and elder law needs.

 

Legendary Jazz Singer "Etta James" Dies

The legendary jazz and blues singer Etta James dies at 73.  She was a pioneer whose legacy will be remembered as her ever-changing sound has influenced rock and roll, rhythm and blues, pop, soul and jazz.  She was one of the most important female artists of her time. 

We will follow her estate as it is settled between her heirs. For now, we remember her music and her life.

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Kudu - Your Legacy Revealed

What a regal creature the Kudu is as it seems to pose for just the right shot.  Though my shot is not perfect, in my minds eye, I can see the gracefulness of this handsome beast.  When was the last time your picutre captured the essence of what you have seen?  Does it still remain in your camera, on your phone or locked away on your computer?  Take the time to share it, post it or frame it for your wall and all to see. 

Memories are meant to be documented and shared for prosperity.  Contact us at http://www.ythlaw.com/ to handle, for the those you love, the documentation of your legacy which has been formed from all your cherished moments and events.

Legacy - Take Time to Reflect and Create

Until you die, you are creating your legacy that will last well after you die. How long depends on you and the legacy you create and preserve.

You can make a monetary bequest/gift to your family or you can give to charities that reflect your values and beliefs. What you leave can be tangible (cash, house, car) or intangible (wisdom, ideals, philosophies, principles). However, you can only be impactful in the way that you desire if you plan ahead. Otherwise, your legacy will be left to the whims and fantasies of others.

What we do is work with you to make sure your wishes and desires are documented. Contact us at www.ythlaw.com for all your estate planning needs.

Capture Your Legacy

As you prepare for your weekend, think about all that you have accomplished in your life. If you are so inclined, write those things down on a piece of paper and read through them again. Take the time to celebrate this list during your weekend. Feel free to share this list with family or friends or just keep it to yourself, if you prefer.

It is my wish for you that all that you have accomplished to date is just a reminder to you of what can be done in one's lifetime and to just imagine how much more can be added to that list during the rest of your life.

We celebrate life and living in our estate planning practice. Let us preserve your legacy. Contact us at www.ythlaw.com

The Hammersteins' Legacy

What's Your Legacy? I attended a booksigning this weekend. Oscar Hammerstein II's grandson has written a book, THE HAMMERSTEINS, about his family's awesome musical legacy. The book draws heavily upon the family archives, presenting a rich collection of photographs, theatre blueprints, programs and patents. The grandson, Oscar Andrew Hammerstein, has become the family historian, by studying and preserving his family's heritage and their contribution to Ameican culture.

Estate planning helps create and preserve your legacy which could be lost without having a plan. Who will maintain the memorabilia on your family's work? How will it be passed on for the prosperity of your family and maybe of the larger society as in the Hammersteins' situation.

I do believe that more people need to address their own legacy by taking the time to document the journey of their life. It is an exercise of significant worth. Contact us at http://www.ythlaw.com/ for expert estate planning guidance.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

This is a number one best seller from Swedish author, Stieg Larsson. There is a Swedish movie and plans for an American movie. The book was written as a trilogy, followed by The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. I have read the first book and I am half way through the second, fascinating read.

BUT, here is what is exciting from an estate planning perspective. Stieg Larsson died after his manuscripts were released but before his books were published. He is not around to enjoy all of the popularity his books have garnered nor the financial reward associated with the popularity. So what is happening with his estate?

You guessed it. There was no Will!! His brother and father are his only living heirs. Though he lived with his life companion of 32 years, he NEVER married. The beneficiaries of his estate are his brother and father. His life companion has no legal rights to any of his estate. So does it end there?

Of course not because there is rumors of a 4th book. Stieg Larsson apparently intended to write 10 books in this series. He had completed 3 and was well into the 4th which allegedly is in the possession of his life companion. Can a settlement be reached with the family that would be amendable to ALL parties?

What do you think? Leave your comments here or contact us at http://www.ythlaw.com/

School's Out for the Summer

Summer slow down, please. It is August already and though we have been experiencing 100 degree weather, I still love my lazy, hazy summer days. Like most folks, I work year round but summer just reminds me of my "school's out for the summer days". At a cellular level, my body seems to remember the fun of summer. It was a time to join with my cousins at our grandmother's where the rules differed from home. Hiking in the woods, swimming in the bay, up all night, lots of homemade sugary treats and fun adventures that provide memories of a lifetime were just a few things that make me even now a summer adult.

I have thought about how to capture such basic, wholesome experiences for my children in this day and time when the freedom we had would prove dangerous today. To me, living life has given me many estate planning moments. Though this is not an estate planning moment, it is a life moment of reflection. Maybe sharing this with you, you can help me in finding ways to protect and preserve the wonders of childhood so that when our children are adults they can still feel that summer fun.

Leave your comments here or contact us at http://www.ythlaw.com/

Philadelphia Marathon

Stay tuned!! I will be blogging about the Philadelphia Marathon. WHY, you might ask would an estate planning blogger want to spend time blogging about the Philadelphia Marathon or any marathon for that matter?? BECAUSE, I just signed up to run the Philadelphia Marathon.

Yes, this "non-runner" who has never even done a 5k, which is how it all started, will be training to run a marathon. WHY?? BECAUSE I always tell my readers the importance of their life and legacy. To have a legacy, you have to be living your life and challenging yourself each and every day. It does not have to be a marathon or anything close to it but it has to be something outside of your comfort zone, your self-created box. Something that will make you say, if I can do this, I can do anything.

Well, gotta run, literally. Leave your comments here or contact us at http://www.ythlaw.com/

Your Children's Legacy

What is the legacy that you leave your children? The answer to that question goes a long way in determining your children's legacy. Each generation builds or not on the other generation. What makes the difference between generational prosperity and generational deterioration? The answer is planning, estate planning.

Prosperity is not always about money or financial wealth. Prosperity is also inclusive of happiness, well-being and fulfillment. For some, this is all that really matters. BUT, for any prosperity, one has to have a plan. Money, happiness, well-being and fulfillment, none of these happen by chance. Estate planning is the process of evaluating your "assets" - the tangible things you have (like money, a home, car, jewelry, etc.) and the intangible things that matter to you (happiness, well-being, productivity, fulfillment). After this evaluation or reflection, the estate planning process continues by looking at those who matter most to you - loved ones, other people, places or things.

When this process is donw with a professional estate planner, you make a difference in your children's legacy. Leave your comments here or contact us at http://www.ythlaw.com/

For All Those Who Serve and Have Served

Memorial Day, May 31, 2010,
commemorates the men and women who died while serving in the American military.

Last week my daughter, Angelina, and I toured Washington DC. The Korean War and Vietnam War Memorials were among the sites visited. My father, her Pop-Pop, served in the Korean War.

In 2006, he released a book about his Korean War experience. For me, Memorial Day is a day to pause and give thanks to all the people who made a difference in the quality of life we live as American citizens.

For my Dad and all those who serve or have served, THANKS!!!

Car Bombing in Times Square

I was taking my daughter to her Tennis practice on Sunday when she asked, out of the blue it seemed, whether there was war. She is just turning 9 so her world perspective is limited to family news discussions and of course current events at school. But, whether there is war or even whether we are at war and with whom is quite a complex topic to have with a 9 year old as we are rushing in to make it on time for tennis. And, she is actually waiting for my response. So I quickly say what any loving mother would, "Ask your dad".

She dashes on to the court and I flee back to the car to see how many errands I can possibly accomplish in less than an hour. Then I hear about the car bombing in Times Square. Did my daughter hear this story before I did? Does she have a sixth sense? Whether those responsible for this bombing are part of a larger network that goes beyond our borders or not, this act of violence clearly gives reasons to pause and ask "Are we at war and with whom"?

What is our collective legacy to the next generation? Will it be of war or will it be of peace? Leave your comments here or contact us at www.ythlaw.com

Civil Rights Icon Dies

I pause today to recognize the life and legacy of a civil rights movement icon Dorothy Height, winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994. Our country has had many challenges to make it the great nation that it is for all of its people. And it is with heartfelt emotion that I take the time to note the passing of one whose life was dedicated to the ideals of equality that we continue to struggle with today.

For many years, she was the president fo the National Council of Negro Women founded by Mary McLeod Bethune.

Share your comments here.

Seven Principles of Wealth - Number Three

Now that we are saving money, what do we do with the savings? THIRD, you must put your money to work for you. You want to have your money create income for you whether you are working or at leisure.

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS: What can you do to increase your savings without depleting it? This will require some research and thought on your part. You have to educate yourself on what might be a good "investment". You have to read, research, talk with professional advisors and just as important if not more so, Talk To "Financially" Successful People. If you do not know any (increase your circle of associates), then read about them. I suggest you read and maintain in your library Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. You want the revised and updated for the 21st century version. You will educate yourself on growing your money. Depending upon your interest here are some areas to research for your "investment" purposes: stocks, bonds, mutual funds, money markets, real estate, rental properties, start an on-line business, start lending, start writing, and start speaking. Put your money into a venture that you have researched, start small and let it grow.

Here is one that I will do and keep you informed of the progress. I will start an on-line subscription business. I will provide information, knowledge and expertise, including access to me, on (1) taking care of your aging parents, the step by step process and (2) creating your legacy, the step by step process. There will be a minimum subscription fee for on-going access and information including free books, webinars, interactive dialogue with others similarly situated. You heard it first here.

Leave you comments here or contact us at http://www.ythlaw.com/

You Got To Dream Big

You have no excuse not to dream big. You don't need money nor an alloted amount of time. You don't need any one's permission nor their feedback. As the Nike commercials say, just do it or should I say "just dream it". A friend of mine shared with me one of her mottos "don't just face reality, create reality". So, you have to dream to make something that you want to happen in your life. You should not just wait for life to happen, because we all know it will.

When people say to me that they do not have an estate to plan, or assets to pass on, or a legacy worth preserving then I encourage them to dream. If they do, sooner or later, they will come to me with an estate to plan, assets to pass on, or a legacy worth perserving.

I found the young man in this video to be very inspiring. Watch and dream your big dream.

An International Legacy

We had a wonderful holiday and are looking forward to the New Year. Of course the news on Christmas Day of the terrorist's attempted bombing was shocking and disturbing. Our need for continued vigilance in this area is apparent.

It reminds me how important it is that our personal legacy extends beyond our immediate family needs and interests into what is happening in our nation and in the world. In fact when we do extend our focus outside our personal circle, we are helping our selves and our families. What happens in Nigeria, London, Yemen affects our nation, our community. What happens anywhere in the world is of importance to all of us given the globalization of economy, technology, communication, and the list goes on.

So I continue to encourage us all to look at how we can address not only during our lifetime the issues impacting our nation and world but how can we create a legacy of an international dimension through estate planning. Leave your comments here or contact us at http://www.ythlaw.com/