ReGenU offers personal and financial strategies to help you navigate the twists and turns of life.
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 If you are looking for a classroom this summer, you might want to consider a quickie course offered by the Northwest Center for Creative Aging and Seattle University: The Three R’s: Renew, Recharge, Refresh! Located on Seattle University’s campus, there are several two-day courses offered that each consist of three class hours per day, breaks for coffee and lunch, and a wonderful chance to meet other engaging people. They’ve lined up a wide variety of classes, including:
- World Travel: The Roots and Routes of Adventure
- Behind the Lens and Beyond the Screen: How to Watch a Film
- From Carnegie to Gates: A Brief History of American Philanthropy and How It’s Evolving
For more information and to register, check out http://www.nwcreativeaging.org/.
Related Topics: Aging & Living Well
 Serving as the trustee of a trust for family or friends is a gracious and generous act. Most who serve do so out of love, gratitude, and a feeling of duty. But… it can also be a lonely and difficult role and many who act as non-professional trustees have one or perhaps two trusts they work with and limited sources of information about changes to their responsibilities. …read more
Related Topics: Estate Essentials, Intentional Giving
 There have been many articles as of late proclaiming that home buying is warming up right along with the spring weather. And indeed it has, at least it has here in Seattle. According to the CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate, who was recently featured in the Seattle PI, “We are seeing a frenzied market in the Puget Sound region, especially in the more affordable and mid-price ranges, with an increase in sales activity in the high end.” That, perhaps fueled by the observation that home prices are no longer free-falling, along with historically low interest rates, makes this a very compelling time to purchase a first home. However, many potential buyers are finding it very difficult to amass the requisite down payment. But there are ways to work around this barrier to entry… and that is taking a piggy back loan from the bank of mom and dad. To learn more about this creative method of financing, I suggest you read a recent article in the Journal of Financial Planning called “Housing: A Potentially Active Player in Client Wealth Strategies.” The author, Ed McCarthy, CFP®, does an excellent job explaining how intra-family loans are a way that parents can help their adult children finance a home in higher-priced real estate markets.
Related Topics: Family Wealth & Wellbeing, Intentional Giving
Financial advisor… financial planner… apples to apples, right? Wrong! There is actually a big difference between the two, despite sharing the term “financial.” A financial advisor might be any of the following: an insurance broker, a stock broker, a registered investment advisor, or even perhaps a financial planner. Many “FAs” are compensated when their clients purchase specific investments. Financial planners, on the other hand, provide services. They create detailed strategies to help their clients achieve specific goals. Oftentimes, these strategies encompass cash flow management, education planning, retirement planning, investment planning, risk management and insurance planning, tax planning, estate planning, and business succession planning. To find out how to choose a good financial planner, I suggest you read an editorial called “Hiring a financial planner” (page 131) by Carol Tice in the April 2012 edition of Alaska Airlines Magazine. I think that Tice does a marvelous job outlining the qualities of a first-rate financial planner and explaining what the planning process usually entails.
Related Topics: Family Wealth & Wellbeing
 Many boomers think that once they put an estate plan in place, they’re done. And indeed they are done – they’ve done more financial planning than most and have legally communicated where they want their assets to go when the end of their lifetime arrives. But, our priorities shift through the years and perhaps that ‘legal communication’ you made 25 years ago no longer reflects your current set of last wishes. For this reason, I encourage you to review your estate plan and update accordingly. If you happen to need four more reasons why, I suggest you read a guest post I recently wrote for Deborah L. Jacobs, a personal finance blogger for Forbes, called “Five Reasons Baby Boomers Need To Review Estate Plans (And It’s Not About Taxes).”
Related Topics: Estate Essentials
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