ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Annuities Are Costly and Complicated Losses From Surrender Charges, Commissions, and Fees Annuities are complicated and risky and tie up your money for years, subject to penalties (for as long as 15 years under some contracts) if you need to take your money out. It’s easy to put […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Blowing the Whistle on Bank Fraud How the Process Works The government rewards whistleblowers who aid prosecutors in going after fraud. A number of agencies maintain whistleblower programs but when the fraud is related to banks and other federally insured financial institutions, the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Nursing Home Residents at Risk of Abuse and Neglect Another Shocking Story of Nursing Home Abuse Elderly patients abused in nursing homes have a 300 percent greater chance of death in the 3 years following the abuse than those who are not abused according to studies.  Sadly, nursing […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Annuities Are Inherently Costly and Complicated Tying Up Your Money for Long Periods is Risky Industry reports say sales of annuities are up. That is not good news for consumers. These insurance products are costly, complicated, and risky and tie up your money for years, hostage to penalties […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Internal Revenue Service Rewards Whistleblowers Over $312 Million in IRS Whistleblower Rewards Paid Out in 2018 IRS Targets Offshore Tax Avoidance 2018 was a banner year for the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) Whistleblower Program. During the year, the IRS made 217 awards to whistleblowers totaling over $312 million, […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Annuities Are Inherently Costly and Risky Another Risk: Carriers Sell Annuities Industry reports say sales of annuities are up. That is not good news for consumers. These insurance products are costly, complicated, and risky and tie up your money for years, hostage to penalties if you need to […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Securities and Exchange Commission Pays Out Millions in Whistleblower Awards Fiscal Year 2018 was a record-breaking year for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) whistleblower program, both in amounts recovered and rewards to whistleblowers. In fact, the SEC awarded more dollars in 2018 ($168 million) to whistleblowers […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Social Security Benefits and Income Planning Insurance Agents and Advisors May Mislead You Social Security is a big part of planning for the future. Once eligible, married couples each receive their own benefits when living but when one spouse dies, the double benefits do not continue.  The survivor […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Beware Annuities, Whole Life Insurance and Equity-Indexed Universal Life Insurance Drawbacks and Downsides Unsuitable for Seniors Sales of annuities and whole life insurance and universal life insurance are trending up in 2019. That’s bad news. In uncertain times, insurance agents and financial advisors push annuities and life insurance […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Creating and Amending Trusts Many Californians, especially seniors, create trusts to hold their assets in part to avoid a lengthy probate process following death. The trusts may be fully revocable by the individual creating the trust (known as the “settlor”) or irrevocable during the settlor’s lifetime.  If revocable, […]