23 April 2007 -  Jacksonville, Florida USA                                        

Baby Shower Party for Marie

I hosted a baby shower party for Marie last Saturday, April 21, 2007 but only 7 Pinay friends showed up. Ladies, I really appreciate your presence and company last weekend.

Josie
Lesley
Janice
Ate Florence
Marie
Anne
Marilyn

I cook lechon kawali (thanks Lanie for the recipe), humba, sotanghon guisado, and pork sinigang soup.  Lesley heartily baked this cake for the party and it came out marvelously decorated and delicious. The cake looks like it was done professionally.   I’ll have to give some credits to the her mentor as well. She is no other than the goddess of all, Josie ;-)

Josie baked a multi-colored and scrumptious “puto” (rice cake). Insert: Here’s a comic story of “puto”. The last few weeks, the expectant Lucy was frantically craving for “puto” but her husband couldn’t find any from the neighboring Pinoy stores as they’re all sold out. She shared her despair to another expectant mom, Marilyn who can’t drive anywhere as she’s on a complete bed rest. So then Marilyn called me and asked if there is a chance I could check out the other Pinoy stores closed by. I called US Pinoy store and I was told they have puto in stock. I turned to DH to ask him to drop by at US Pinoy Store after work to pick up a bag or two of “puto”. When he got to the store, he told the salesclerk, “My wife sent me here to pick up a bag of “buto”. LOL (Translation: "buto" is a Pinoy slang word for male’s sex organ)

Janice and Ate Florence also brought a luscious strawberry short-cake. Marie brought a box of mangoes, 2 gallons of Selecta Halo-Halo Ice Cream.  Yeah, we’re stuffed that day. Shoot, sira ang diet ko!!!

Josie had tirelessly prepared and put in together a game with some door prizes but we didn’t get to play; we didn’t even had a chance to open the baby shower gifts because we got so busy talking and catching up. Hey, I learned something very overpowering that day ;-) Listerine Strips! LOL I gotta try this stunt one of these days to see if this really works the way it was recounted to me ;-) Listerine Strips, anyone? LOL

At the end of the party, I asked the ladies to pack all the leftover to take home with them because I don’t need any of those foods as DH and I are trying very hard to eat healthy ;-)

Photos were taken mostly by Janice at the beginning of the party. Sus, I even forgot to take pictures of Ate Florence, Anne and Marilyn. Sorry guys. 

 

Again, thank you ladies for your friendship. Cheers!!!

    17 April 2007 -  Jacksonville, Florida USA                                        

Will vs. Living Trust

This topic has a wide range of information but I will just go over the main points between these two equally very important documents.    Parents should contemplate on worst-case scenarios.  Yeah it's awful to consider, but what if  you and your spouse died at the same time and you haven’t named guardians for your kids in your Will? You may be setting your family up for a costly, even bitter, custody process.

Everyone should have at least a Will, even if you don’t have kids. Believing that everything the two of you own will pass automatically to the surviving spouse when one of you dies is a risky proposition. Your property could be distributed according to the state’s inheritance laws instead of going directly to your surviving spouse. Better safe than sorry.

A Will is a document that lays down all your wishes on how your property or assets are going to be distributed as well as designates guardians for your children after your death.

A Living Will has nothing to do with your property or children but only your election concerning life-prolonging procedures in the event of your permanent illness or unconsciousness where death is imminent. 

A Living Trust is a legal document where you gave consent to someone as trustee (usually a trusted individual or bank). A Trust can help you avoid a court hearing if you become incompetent, unable to provide for yourself or if you die.  Your trustee can manage your assets efficiently as well as your beneficiaries, such as small children, parents and etc.

A Will is not technically a legal document; it is a statement of your wishes.  Without a Trust, determining the distribution of the assets then becomes the responsibility of a probate court.

Probate is a legal process of administering a deceased person's estate without a trust. The court appoints either an executor named in the Will (or an administrator if there is no Will) to administer the process of collecting the assets of the deceased person, paying any liabilities remaining on the person's estate and finally distributing the assets of the estate to beneficiaries named in the Will or determined as such by the executor.

I personally asked our estate lawyer if we should set up a trust in addition to having a Will; his answer was it depends on the size of the estate. He says there is really no need to draw a Trust if the total estate is under the current estate tax exemption which is 2M dollars and the fact that we live in Florida (no probate law in Florida)  we really do not need to set up a Trust unless we are willing to spend thousands of dollars for it.  

A tax levied on an heir's inherited portion of an estate if the value of the estate exceeds an exclusion limit set by law. 

Year of Death:	Filing Requirement:
2002 and 2003		$ 1,000,000
2004 and 2005		$ 1,500,000
2006, 2007, and 2008		$ 2,000,000
2009		$ 3,500,000

 The estate tax is mostly imposed on assets left to heirs, but it does not apply to the transfer of assets to a surviving spouse. The right of spouses to leave any amount to one another is known as the "unlimited marital deduction".  However, when the surviving spouse who inherited an estate dies, the beneficiaries may then owe estate taxes if the estate exceeds the exclusion limit

Well, there are arguments as to why a Will is not enough.  Suze Orman is one big proponent of having a Will and a Trust in hand.  Read her book titled “Women and Money” and you’ll find out her argument as to why a Will and Trust are two of the must-have documents. Even though she is not an estate lawyer herself, I found her propositions and examples to be more potent. I highly recommend you read her book.  It's very informative and straightforward. I just started another retirement investment portfolio after reading her book.

A Trust is much simpler to settle as the assets do not have to go through probate.  It also can make it easier to manage your affairs if you become mentally incapacitated while alive.  Plus a trust protects your privacy; unlike a will, a trust is confidential.

Wills are regulated by a state government. As a result, what constitutes a valid Will in some states means nothing in another. Because there is no national uniform law on what must be in Wills, you need the help of your estate lawyer. 

The bottom line, setting up a Will is much simpler and a lot less expensive than setting up a Trust so you need to weigh the added cost and complexity today vs. making it easier for your heirs tomorrow.

Will - Advantages and Disadvantages

            Advantages 

•   Setting up a will is much simpler and less expensive than setting up a living trust

•   Creditors face a final cut-off date for bringing claims against your estate.

•   You may name a guardian for your minor children in a will.

•   You do not need to transfer any property to another entity in order to create a will or make it valid.    

Disadvantages

•   Upon probate, a will becomes a matter of public record.

•   While you may appoint whomever you wish to act as executor of your will,
     it is usually the probate lawyers  who control that actual distribution of your property.
     This can be both expensive and unpleasant.

•   Probate, which is necessary for the implementation of your will, can be both costly and slow.

•   A Will does not provide for transfer of management of your assets or property
     if you should become physically or mentally incapacitated.

Trust - Advantages and Disadvantages

              Advantages

 •   A living trust is a cost-saving device: in most states, it allows you to avoid the expense and
      delay of probate proceedings, which can take up to 3 years to complete and
      eat up 10% of the value of your estate

 •   If you own property in another state, a living trust eliminates the need to probate that property in that state.

 •   A living trust can immediately transfer management of your property if you
      become incapacitated either physically or mentally.
      There is no need to go to the court to appoint a guardian or conservator.

•   A living trust protects your privacy; it remains confidential and does not become a matter of public record.

•   A living trust enables you to name someone you trust to manage Trust property for young beneficiaries.

•   There is no need to hire a lawyer when the time comes to distribute your estate.

Disadvantages

          •   Setting up the trust requires quite a bit of initial paperwork and can be very expensive.  

•   Setting up the trust also requires you to transfer ownership of all the property you wish to place in the Trust.
     This may include revising title documents which can be a big hassle on your part.

 •   Creditors do not have a final cut-off date for bringing claims against your Trust.

 •   You cannot designate a guardian for any minor children in a Living Trust
      (but this may be done easily in a Will that supplements your Trust).

So if you choose to create a Living Trust, you should also create what is called a pour-over Will. It provides for the distribution of any property that is not included in the trust plus it allows you to name a guardian for any minor children.

References:
        Jeff Boyd, MA, CFP
        David Andrews, PA
        Personal Finance by Kapoor, Dlabay, and Hughes
        Women and Money by Suze Orman
        Personal Finance and Investing MSN Money
        Yahoo Finance
        IRS.gov
        Investopia.com

    01 April 2007 -  Jacksonville, Florida USA                                        

Spring = Allergy

Of all the things that can cause my allergy to set off, pollen is the only culprit and it is tearing me down. My eyes are so itchy, watery and reddened so much so that I want to scoop it out.  My head is stuffy, throat is sore, nose is runny and itchy which make me sneeze and blow my nose continuously... it's horrible!

There is no easy way to evade airborne pollen as this is one of the most widespread microorganisms here in the States during spring season plus it’s been so dry around here for months. Man, I couldn’t even recall the last time we had a good pour of rain. Has it been that long?  Oh it did rain last Friday but it was just a tad bit.   We badly need a good pour of rain. Lord, please hear us.

Last week, my boss sent me home because she's afraid any or all of them will catch my cold.  I had to make an urgent trip to the doctor because I suffered quite badly from hard coughs and sneezing.  I was sick like a dog.  Besides the fact that the prescription medicine I have been taking for allergy (Fexofenadine: generic for Allegra) doesn’t seem to do the job anymore.

It maybe mendacious to say this but I seemed to speculate from past experiences that if I get a flu shot I do get sick otherwise I am hale and hearty. So to heck with that flu shot because I am not going to get any this year. I know DH and MIL would cringe on this idea and compel me to get a flu shot anyway but they know how stubborn Rhebs is ;-)

I am not in a good frame of mind right now to write about anything else.   DH and I, once again, are relishing the time we spend together like a newly wed couple. I'll tell you more on this  in my next post, including the inventory of the  first 8 years of our love and marriage and of course the "new beginnings"-- which led us to a (hopefully) lifetime healthy living.   Then, maybe after I get over this seasonal allergy, I'll be motivated  to post a more substantial subject.