March 24, 2026  • By Dennis Beaver

Imagine your spouse or adult child asks, “I am not trying to bother you, but don’t you think it is time to sit down with someone and develop a financial and estate plan?”

Will your reply be one of the following?

• “Things need to settle down first.”
• “Our situation is complicated, so I need to set aside a real block of time.”
• “The business is our retirement plan.”
• “We’re healthy. We have time.”

When I ran these ever-so-common situations by a friend of this column, author and regular Kiplinger contributor Cosmo DeStefano — I recently chatted with him about his book Wealth Your Way — he laughed, only it wasn’t because any of these excuses are truly humorous.

“Things never fully settle down,” he said. “That ‘real block of time’ will never materialize. The complexity becomes the excuse. Yes, the family business can become your retirement plan, but only if it can be sold, transferred or wound down in an orderly way, which requires an estate plan.

“Finally, the unexpected health crisis does not announce itself months ahead of time with a knock on your door and someone saying, ‘You need a durable power of attorney for health care.'”

Meet Rick and Linda

For over two decades, my clients, “Rick and Linda,” both 55, have built one of the most respected disaster remediation franchises in the Western United States.

Flooded basements, smoke-damaged kitchens, mold-infested walls — whatever havoc life inflicts on a home, the high school sweethearts and their crew, most of whom have been with them for years, show up, work fast and are professional and thorough.

They clean up other people’s disasters for a living, treating their employees like members of the family, a testimony to their character.

Their own disaster, however, has been quietly building in the background. They have a million-dollar business, a sizable estate, several adult children and exactly zero estate planning documents in place.

No wills. No buy-sell agreement. No powers of attorney. No life insurance structure.

I have raised these issues with them, and their answer is always the same: “We know, we know. We just haven’t had the time.”

The high cost of ‘we just haven’t had the time’

DeStefano notes that “the cost of delay for a 55-year-old business owner with significant assets and a large family is not abstract. It is specific, measurable and often irreversible.” He gave some examples:

No wills or trust. If you die without a will, your state more or less writes one for you. It will not reflect your wishes, it will not protect your children with special needs or your business partner, and it will likely earn a hefty fee for your attorney because of probate. The court fees could be very high.

Likewise, without a trust, assets aren’t protected, wishes aren’t followed, and your preferred heirs could be disinherited.

No buy-sell agreement. Without a buy-sell agreement, your spouse may become an involuntary business partner with your employees or co-owners. It happens every day, taking a wrecking ball to businesses and families simultaneously.

No life insurance structure. A million-dollar business can trigger significant estate tax exposure. Without proper planning, your heirs could be forced to fire-sell the business to pay the IRS. Often, these kinds of under-pressure sales happen at a fraction of the business’ value and at the worst possible time.

No health care proxy or power of attorney. A sudden illness or accident creates more than a medical crisis. Without these documents, a legal and financial crisis can follow, often requiring court intervention at enormous expense and emotional cost.

The remedy is easier than you think

“The initial meeting with an estate attorney and a financial planner,” DeStefano assures, “is typically two to three hours. That is it. You talk, you share some basic financial information, and the professionals take it from there. They do the heavy lifting.

“You do not need a ‘real block of time.’ You just need an appointment — and to be absolutely candid and open about all of your finances.”

So, how do you find a good financial planner and estate attorney? One way is to ask your CPA or other professionals you already know for a referral.

My approach, with my clients in the office, is to pick up the phone and call people I know, from experience, do a competent job, have compassion and good listening skills and make an appointment right then.

If they protest and say, “Dennis, please, I can call when I am ready,” my reply is, “Yes, I know you can, but you won’t. Now, you have the appointment. Please keep it. Your family and your employees will thank you.

“If you must reschedule, that’s OK. Just don’t waste my colleagues’ time by not showing up and not calling to cancel or reschedule.”

The takeaway

It is easy to see why DeStefano’s Wealth Your Way has become a bestseller. He cares, and he wrapped up our discussion with some down-to-earth commonsense advice:

“Dennis, no one is ever too busy to prevent a disaster. They are just not yet motivated enough to act before one arrives. Rick and Linda have spent 20 years making sure everyone else’s disaster gets cleaned up. Maybe it’s time for them to spend a few hours making sure their own never happens.”

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

The post Think You’re Too Busy to Do an Estate Plan? In 3 Hours (Seriously), You Could Save Your Heirs Months (or Years) of Stress and Heartache appeared first on Dennis Beaver.

February 16, 2026  • By Dennis Beaver

“Mr. Beaver, I am terrified that our four grandsons, all in their late teens and early 20s, are so out of touch with economic reality that the time bomb of financial irresponsibility they’ve built will explode when they go out on their own and wind up flat broke.

“I am 80 and remember like it was yesterday that in high school, we all took a class called On Your Own that taught financial and independent-living skills. This included lessons about budgeting, renting an apartment, co-signing and getting loans, banking, using credit cards, food preparation and so much more. It was part of the Home Economics Department. But schools have dropped all those valuable, real-world tools.

“As our grandkids are clueless about so much that people of my generation learned in high school, the past couple of years, we have given them some of the more popular books on money management, but they tell us, ‘These make us feel talked down to,’ so they never finish reading a single one.

“Do you know of something out there on personal finance that is practical, doesn’t talk at or down, but to readers and isn’t boring? Thanks, ‘Barbara.'”

An antidote to a monumental educational failure

Barbara is right. Those classes vanished in the 1970s and ’80s when “everyone should go to college” became the flawed mantra. Educators failed to visualize the consequences of losing these practical classes, but fortunately, many states today are bringing those very subjects back to high school.

Remember the “new math” disaster that no one could understand? (I’ll stop before I make myself angrier.)

Yes, indeed, there is a new — and great — read, filled with real-life examples that are so accessible and relevant, regardless of your age and especially for teenagers, young adults and their parents.

That book is Wealth Your Way: A Simple Path to Financial Freedom by Cosmo DeStefano, a financial strategist and retired CPA and also a fellow contributor to Kiplinger.com’s Adviser Intel.

Wealth Your Way is a pure joy to read. The author makes it seem as if the reader is sitting across the table from him for a chat over a cup of coffee. That’s how I felt during our interview, even though it was on the phone.

The central idea of DeStefano’s book is that financial freedom is achievable through simple, consistent habits — not high income alone. Building wealth and staying out of financial trouble result when we maintain these habits — these behaviors — instead of chasing after get-rich schemes.

Financial freedom — a vastly improved quality of life at home — comes from discipline and long-term thinking.

Encourages conversation, not conflict

A real challenge that many parents and spouses often face is how to start a conversation about money. “Financial discussions are often seen as criticism, even when no one has done anything wrong — it is such a sensitive area,” DeStefano said during our interview.

To get the ball rolling, Wealth Your Way contributes a helpful voice that explains how to build a foundation of sound financial behavior.

For this column that I have written for many years, I’ve read more personal financial advice books than you can imagine that bark orders and make readers feel like they’ve missed the boat.

Instead, DeStefano understands these fears and doesn’t go there. He respects our intelligence while gently challenging common assumptions, such as “I’ll start investing once things settle down here politically.”

“The reality,” he noted, “is that things never settle down, and waiting for certainty is often the most expensive decision of all, as delaying action shrinks the impact of compounding.”

This is a valid, commonsense answer to a strongly held belief that gives readers something solid to consider, matching his emphasis on practicality and long-term thinking rather than one-size-fits-all rules that don’t actually fit all.

Written for everyone and timely

Wealth Your Way really is a standout book and is so accessible, in large part, because DeStefano avoids using technical financial jargon that plagues many other authors. He does not require readers to follow a rigid structure that may clash with how they live.

A great storyteller, he also illustrates how his recommendations work in the real world.

Wealth Your Way is especially timely as more and more employees who have little, if any, investment knowledge must provide for their own retirements. It is sad that nothing like it existed in 1981 when the rug was pulled out from workers who had been promised retirement pensions but then were forced to transition to 401(k)s.

The move hung an albatross around the necks of American workers, shifting the burden of safeguarding their retirement to their shoulders while employers saved big money by no longer having to fund pensions.

Traditional pensions are proven to prevent poverty. According to a 2023 UC Berkeley Labor Center report, retirees with pension income are significantly more likely to live above 200% of the federal poverty level compared to those without.

Economists and sociologists agree that the decline of traditional defined-benefit pensions has greatly contributed to increased poverty as workers transition to self-managed retirement accounts. And to self-manage these accounts requires the how-to provided in Wealth Your Way.

DeStefano’s book, especially if it’s read at a fairly early age (and, of course, if his advice is followed), could have a lasting, positive impact on many lives.

Think of Wealth Your Way as a partial substitute for that On Your Own high school class you would have taken before those classes were discontinued, or consider passing it on to a family member if you suspect they lack solid financial literacy.

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

The post Looking for a Financial Book That Won’t Put Your Young Adult to Sleep? This One Makes ‘Cents’ appeared first on Dennis Beaver.

“Mr. Beaver, my husband, ‘Leroy,’ is a high school history teacher and just inherited $50,000. He wants to use it to open a business but does not know what kind of business.

“I grew up in a family that still owns several small neighborhood hardware stores, started by my grandfather, so I know a lot about what it takes, but Leroy has no business experience at all.

“When I ask, ‘Why?’ he replies, ‘I need to prove myself to your family.’ Do you know someone who can share what it takes to start a business that is sure to fail? Thanks, ‘Bea.’

There is another way

My reader’s email could not have arrived at a better time, as I was just about to interview David Whorton, Silicon Valley entrepreneur and author of Another Way: Building Companies That Last … and Last … and Last.

Whorton offers a refreshing approach to building a business that endures, also known as an evergreen business — the goal is to put people first. “There is another way to build a successful business than the current philosophy of ‘bigger, faster is always better,'” he says.

He shares with us how to start a successful business by setting out the steps that can contribute to failure.

Failing to conduct a risk assessment

Don’t leap first, figuring that you’ll simply work out the details later.

Risk comes in four major buckets:

• Market

• Team

• Technology

• Financing

A would-be owner needs to ask themselves many questions related to these four buckets:

• Do you understand the market, the intended customer and their willingness to buy?

• What will be required from all the technologies your product or service will rely on to be differentiated?

• Where are you going to find the good people you will need on the team?

• Will you be able to build it from its own cash flow or need to raise outside capital? If outside, what is the likelihood of successfully raising the funds required?

• What does your product or service and the products or services associated with it cost? How will you provide service and support?

Not knowing the answers could inevitably lead to your business failing.

Quitting your job and having no income separate from your new business

Your job and current paycheck might provide you with a safety net. “If you can continue to bring in income while building your company, you will give yourself more time and much less anxiety,” Whorton underscores.

Not thinking through the business model

Whorton cautions against relying on what you see in other, similar businesses. You need to think about what you want to achieve and resist using the industry-standard business model.

Consider which business model is best suited to your concept, your business and your funding strategy: For example, retail, franchise, third-party distribution, marketing-driven and direct-to-customer (internet) sales all have different benefits and cash requirements.

If you want to build an evergreen business — one that will endure — you’ll want a business model that generates cash early and does not rely on outside equity or debt.

Falling into the ‘if I build a great product or service, they will come’ mentality

Ask: How am I going to get this product in front of my customers? Through stores, partners, a third party, field sales representatives or other sales or marketing programs?

Biting off more than you can chew from an emotional perspective

Are you psychologically able to deal with the people issues that arise in any business?

Being a founder can be a lonely and very stressful process for a number of years. There is a lot of uncertainty associated with establishing and running a business. For example, Whorton says, “You lose a major customer, half your revenue vanishes, and you think, ‘Oh my gosh, if I don’t have a strong balance sheet, I have to lay off people! I just can’t do that!'”

Ask yourself and the people who know you best: Am I ready for these challenges at this stage of my life?

Feeling threatened and therefore not hiring people who have more experience than you do

Whorton points out that you need to hire people who can help your business succeed. “Just because you get along on the local baseball league team does not translate into that person being a competent, honest sales representative. Hiring people whom you are just friendly with, but you know little about their character or capability, spells trouble.”

Don’t ignore red flags, such as “I know that he never stays employed at the same place for more than a year, but I really like him, and he has a lot of cool things to say about how he works.” The fact that this person has not survived in one place for more than a year tells you that something’s wrong, and you have to dig into it.

Remember that character counts. “When you get good people with great character, take care of them and let them shine,” Whorton underscores.

Going into business because you feel it’s expected of you, including joining a family business

Running a business is hard, so you should really want to do it.

You want to go into the business with the attitude, “This is my purpose in life — I want to have a team that is allied with my vision and values.” A red flag is someone saying, “I’ve got this idea. Now, I’m not really in love with it, but it seems to have some traction, so I’m going to run with it.”

An inspiring read

Whorton concluded our interview with these comments: “If you are starting a business, ideally, it is one that you want to dedicate the rest of your life to. That’s the secret to evergreen companies that endure well over a hundred years.

“My advice to college students who are vaguely thinking about getting into business one day is to develop a curious mind and consider yourself to be a lifelong learner. Pursue a well-rounded education and discover the common denominators of prior and current business leaders — what helped them succeed?”

Reading Another Way was as inspiring as my interview with its author. Whorton’s candor made me feel as if we’d known each other for years.

If you are thinking of opening your own shop, Whorton shows you the way to building that place on the planet you will love to return to every day.

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

The post Building a Business That Lasts: The Critical Steps to Avoid Blunders appeared first on Dennis Beaver.

Most people understand the risks of being a cosigner for a car purchase or lease. But how should you reply if a good friend or a close family member says, “Will you please be my guarantor — not cosigner, just a guarantor — for the apartment I would like to lease?”

Is there a difference?

“Mr. Beaver,” “Nick” began in his phone call, “I’ve read your column for years and need some guidance. My nephew, ‘Mitch,’ is 42 and has a horrible credit score. He had difficulty in the past paying bills on time, but recently cleaned up his act, has a good job and steady relationship and appears to be on the right financial path.

“He wants to rent an apartment for himself and his girlfriend. Both of them work and have good incomes. He was told to find a ‘guarantor,’ or the management company would not lease him the apartment.

“I am being somewhat pressured by family to take on that role, and they tell me that, at most, I would be responsible for one month’s rent if he defaults, and then I could walk away. I can live with that — but is it correct? Is there a difference between a cosigner and guarantor on a lease?”

What Nick did not know about his nephew?

I said, “Nick, let’s do some due diligence research on Mitch right now. If he’s been sued or has gotten in trouble criminally, it will be on the Superior Court Civil and Criminal Filings index, so turn on your computer.”

We found many entries about Mitch — two bankruptcies, lawsuits and judgments against him going back years, several because this jerk pays rent for a month and then stops, becoming a squatter.

He has written checks galore on closed accounts, and his name appears on the Criminal Register, which shows that he did time in the slammer for the bad checks —which Nick knew nothing about.

“Yeah, I see all that,” Nick said, “but I still feel almost forced to help the kid.” That history should have scared the pants off of him.

“Nick, he’s no kid. He is trouble, so let me fill you in on the nonsense you were given about being liable for only one month’s rent as a guarantor.”

There are differences

I explained to Nick that a cosigner has equal responsibility for the rent or other financial obligations, and this begins when the agreement (lease or purchase contract) is signed. With a lease, cosigners are considered to be tenants and may live in the property.

A guarantor might sign a separate agreement, assuming responsibility for the debt only if the primary borrower defaults. They do not have the right to occupy the property. So, at first glance, it might appear that serving as a guarantor is fairly safe — the financial exposure is much less than that of a cosigner.

That said, it is very common for real property leases to make a guarantor’s legal obligations virtually identical to those of a cosigner. In my experience, if a guarantor rejects those terms, property managers will pull the plug on the entire transaction. It becomes a take-it-or-leave-it situation.

Think before being pressured into being generous

“Nick,” I said, “we all need to get real — very real — and ask ourselves the following questions when someone requests us to cosign or become a guarantor, especially if the person has already proven themselves to be an irresponsible flake or are at the beginning of a romantic relationship.”

• Why do they need my help?

• Are they, or other family members, putting a guilt trip on me?

• What did they do to put themselves in a position of needing a cosigner or guarantor?

• Will they hit up someone else if I refuse? (They will.)

You should also accept that you are not this person’s guardian angel — they will survive without your help.

Why would you accept the significant financial risks that will likely impact your credit and mental well-being when — not if, but when — they default and you wind up getting sued for their debt?

Consequences at home: Relationship strain

Mixing finances with personal relationships often guarantees embarrassment, feelings of betrayal and the loss of trust when the borrower fails to follow through on promises.

It’s even worse if the borrower defaults on the loan and makes no effort to protect the generous family member who was there when needed — sometimes the borrower will even blame the cosigner for having the nerve to insist they repay their debt.

Even if the borrower is financially responsible, cosigning is a significant financial risk. If you are not comfortable with it, decline.

The bottom line is that cosigning or guaranteeing any financial transaction is a major commitment with real consequences. Seriously consider it only if you have absolute confidence in the borrower’s ability to repay and can answer yes to this question: Can you accept the potential risks to your own well-being and that of your family?

Finally, in a dating relationship, realize there are cons by the bushel who “just need a little help” in getting into that apartment or buying a car. Refuse.

When they say, “If you really loved me, you would help, but I guess you don’t,” you can think to yourself, “That’s right! I don’t have ‘sucker’ stamped on my forehead!”

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

The post Don’t Be a Sucker: The Truth About Guarantor and Cosigner Agreements appeared first on Dennis Beaver.

Most of us have had the experience of being stood up for a date or some other social interaction, possibly a meeting with a potential employer or customer.

In a dating context, according to psychologists, we may never forget the pain and disappointment of being left waiting for someone who never shows up or even bothers to call to explain why they’re not coming.

Being stood up demonstrates a lack of respect for the other person’s time and feelings. When someone agrees to a date or commitment, we expect them to keep their word, or at least communicate if they cannot make it.

Now, let’s go one step further and ask: Could the results of the equivalent of being stood up form the basis for a lawsuit alleging breach of contract?

Scott encounters a frustrating scheduling issue

“Mr. Beaver, I am a fee-based CPA financial planner and work with clients on a per-hour basis. With an administrative assistant, I run my own shop and am usually booked at least two weeks in advance,” said “Scott” in our lengthy phone conversation.

“We budget from an hour to 90 minutes for an initial meeting with clients, and my hourly rate is $400 for general financial planning, but often a couple will be referred to our office to have their financial and estate plans reviewed.

“Depending on the complexity, this can run as much as $5,000 or more, and with older clients whose existing investment/estate plan was developed decades ago, we often need to draft a new one and refer them to an estate attorney as well.

“As there is a lot of competition in this field, making a client unhappy is costly,” he noted, adding, “Unless there is a very good reason, I try to avoid rescheduling appointments, as that tends to annoy people.”

A costly decision

“A few days ago, I got a phone call in the morning from a local talk radio show, asking if I could be on the show that day, following news articles about possible changes in inheritance taxes in the president’s One Big Beautiful Bill.”

Scott explained to the caller that it would be necessary for him to reschedule his afternoon appointments, but he could come to the studio to be on the show. He also stressed that he was counting on actually being on the show, since rescheduling clients was inconvenient for them.

He was assured that his guest spot on the show was a go and that he would get a follow-up call to officially set things up. He immediately asked his admin to rebook clients at their preferred day and time — including telling them why he was making this request.

“All but one client were OK with it,” Scott told me. “But the couple who needed the most work said that if I would do that to a client, then they would retain someone else. Right then, I lost over $5,000.”

Then Scott never got any follow-up calls about the guest spot. “I reached out to the people at the show more than once, and each time I was promised, ‘They will call you right back.’ Finally, I asked the station’s manager to directly call the show’s host and see what the heck was going on, and the host texted me, It is not for this week.

“This was like a Saturday Night Live comedy skit, with incompetent flakes working for the radio show host! I was so upset, you can’t imagine. These flakes kept on telling me, ‘Oh, yes, his producer will call you right back,’ not only wasting my time, but costing me over $5,000. Do I have any recourse at all against the station?”

Is the station in breach of contract?

This situation would make an ideal question for a bar exam: “Was there a contract for Scott to be on the air that the station breached? What are the station’s defenses, if any?”

No compensation was discussed — Scott would not be paid for his time on the air. Still, being on the show would mean a substantial benefit in free advertising for his professional services. And he would, in effect, be paying for the advertising simply by being in the studio to share his professional insight while potentially losing an afternoon’s income.

If this ever found its way into court, the station would maintain that Scott assumed the risk that some clients would not agree to reschedule their appointment. So, no, it’s not a breach of contract.

How to turn the situation into a win-win

It is seldom a good idea to pick a fight with the press or media. I told Scott this can be turned into a win-win. He doesn’t need a lawsuit, and the radio station — especially the talk show’s staff — does not need to reveal their incompetence to the public.

I recommended he speak with the station’s general manager and propose being a guest on the air to discuss the need for couples to schedule a consultation with a good financial planner and how to find one. “Turn this into a win for the station’s listeners,” I said, “and the benefits will come back to you tenfold.”

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

The post Stood Up by a Radio Show: But Was It a Breach of Contract? appeared first on Dennis Beaver.

“Mr. Beaver, everyone has heard the saying ‘(the love of) money is the root of all evil.’ In our small business and at home, that statement is so true, as money is messing up our lives,” wrote “Bart” in his email. “My wife and I, as well as our three teenage sons, work in my father’s brake and muffler shops. Both my mom’s and dad’s families experienced the Great Depression of the 1930s. Dad is constantly worried about not having enough money and is frugal, bordering on miserly, despite being a millionaire.

“Mom — and my wife — are polar opposites of Dad with their overspending, showering the boys with things that make the ladies happy, while sending the wrong message to our sons. I do not want our kids to let money issues damage their lives, as I have seen it do to several of our friends, but no one listens to me when I point out how messed up we are. Is there some book that deals with these issues I can have everyone read?”

Bart’s question came in at the right time, as I had just finished reading a book that is so on point with his questions. Written by financial planner Elizabeth Husserl, The Power of Enough: Finding Joy in Your Relationship with Money is a valuable read, especially for families with kids in high school, college and just starting out in life.

The ‘DNA of scarcity’ makes money the scapegoat

When I explained Bart’s situation to Husserl, she said, “Your reader is describing his father’s financial DNA of scarcity — of money, food or shelter — experienced by people who have gone through war, famine, persecution and financial collapse.”

This scarcity becomes a scapegoat for two reasons, according to Husserl:

Behavioral problems. Extreme frugality, to the point of being perceived as miserly, is a result of one’s financial DNA, as a parent’s attitude toward money and wealth is often passed along to following generations even when the reason for that fear of scarcity no longer exists.

“This mindset results in a form of mental hoarding, where wealth is trapped through excessive frugality, preventing us from experiencing the freedom and joy it offers,” she said. “Instead, there is an obsession with compound interest, saving and investing, just to accumulate, to see it on our spreadsheets. As in Bart’s family, some rebel and become spenders.

Damaged relationships. It’s common for children of overly stingy parents to rebel by spending excessively, as if there’s no tomorrow. Feeling unnecessarily deprived in childhood, they make money the scapegoat and often “shower their children” with gifts to compensate. However, this can unintentionally deprive their kids of learning how to fulfill their needs in meaningful, non-monetary ways.

“You can easily wind up raising an entitled, spoiled child who is headed to failure as an adult with money, spending and responsibility issues,” Husserl notes.

Business owners often fail to enjoy the money they’ve earned

One message that resounds in The Power of Enough applies specifically to business owners and many professionals, especially to members of my occupation, and that is failing to translate business wealth into personal wealth. Three words sum it up nicely: More is less.

“One of the saddest things financial advisers so often see are business owners unable to translate business wealth to personal wealth,” Husserl observes. “They are elated as the business is growing, growing, growing, yet they don’t take capital off the table to enjoy today by investing in time with their family.

“So they get stuck, unable to walk away from their job for an appropriate interval, always on, forgetting or feeling guilty if they do pause, recalibrate and redistribute. It comes at the expense of not only enjoying their money in the present moment, but enjoying their time, and ‘Oh my gosh. What happened? Eighteen years passed, my kid graduated, and now I’m ready to retire. But they’re out of the house. Are they only going to remember me as a super workaholic parent?’”

If some of this sounds familiar — perhaps in your family, or with someone you know — go online and find the 1970s Harry Chapin song “Cat’s in the Cradle.” Ask yourself, “Do these lyrics make you wonder if your time with family is slipping away?”

I know several lawyers whose inability or unwillingness to put family before all else cost them more than one divorce and messed up their kids. They felt cheated by life and law practice, especially in Big Law, where it is all about the law firm — birthdays, anniversaries and all the other events that occur over a year and bring family together are considered secondary.

The need to talk about money

Husserl says discussing money and attitudes toward money is critical to developing a healthy relationship to money in a marriage and family. “There are often signs early on if that person is honest where money is concerned. If they admit to maxing out credit cards and using one to pay the other, something’s wrong, and unless dealt with, if this continues into marriage, the foundation for a divorce has already been poured.”

The Power of Enough is a uniquely accessible road map to the enjoyment of money and what it can bring. Written by a seasoned financial adviser who has seen the results of how mismanaged money can lead to mismanaged lives, this is one highly valuable read.

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

The post Is Money Messing Up Your Family’s Life? appeared first on Dennis Beaver.

“Our son sustained a horrible injury during birth that will require life-long medical care. There will be a large malpractice settlement. Our lawyer strongly recommends a structured settlement annuity, but my financial adviser says he can significantly grow the funds with proper, managed investments. What should I do?”

Interest in structured settlement annuities has been growing in 2024. Insurance companies issued about $2.6 billion of these specialized annuities from July to September, according to John Darer, a Connecticut expert on structured settlements. Darer sees demand for structured annuities topping $9 billion this year.

The reason for this growing demand is easy to see. Accident victims need a secure place for their settlement funds. Financial or political uncertainties could do real damage to stock portfolios.

Listen to your attorney!

When a child is involved, financial planning is completely different from ordinary investing. There’s often no room for error. While stock investments have the potential for growth, they can and do fall, bonds can be called, and either can result in serious economic risk for your child.

Your child’s health is at stake, and you need financial security. Even a well-diversified mix of stocks and bonds can’t offer the guaranteed tax-free income you get with a structured settlement annuity.

Retain experienced counsel

“It’s good that your reader is working with an experienced personal injury attorney who can recommend a structured settlement professional to help design a payment stream that matches his child’s future needs,” Darer said.

He offered some other important information to know about this process:

Your biggest benefit: peace of mind. Ponzi schemes hit a seven-year high in 2023, according to the website Ponzitracker.com. If you get a large cash settlement, you can expect friends, neighbors, distant relatives and swindlers everywhere to hound you for money. They will pressure you for help repairing their car, going to Las Vegas or investing in crazy get-rich-quick schemes.

If you are someone who can’t say no, then your protection and safety lie in a structured settlement annuity held by an insurance company that pays according to the plan you designed with your attorney and settlement consultant. That way, no one can pressure you to put your future at risk. You get what is paid each month — nothing less and nothing more.

Your payments are guaranteed by a state insurance fund. Insurance companies are regulated at the state level, and each state has an insurance guaranty fund. These funds provide minimum guarantees (up to $250,000 in most states) in the unlikely case your structured settlement annuity holder becomes insolvent. The concept is similar to how the FDIC guarantees the first $250,000 of your bank account. Often, large settlements are placed with several insurance companies, assuring adequate protection.

Payments are exempt from income tax. Under the federal tax code, 100% of your structured settlement payments are exempt from federal, state and local income taxes. They are also exempt from taxes on interest, dividends and capital gains. This is an especially big benefit if you live in high-tax states such as New York, California, Illinois, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

No ongoing fees. Advised to have a stockbroker manage your settlement for you? Get ready to pay and pay and pay. Advisers charge in several ways including flat fees, commissions and an annual percentage of your assets. You may not deduct these fees on your taxes. By contrast, there are no ongoing fees with a structured settlement. The professional you work with on your settlement receives a commission from the insurance company. You pay nothing.

Three additional suggestions

Finally, if you consider a structured settlement, here are three suggestions I can make as a lawyer who has represented accident victims for over 30 years:

Make sure your structured settlement consultant has a certification. The University of Texas, among other institutions, runs a certification program requiring graduates to demonstrate competency in insurance and financial strategies. “The program does a good job in promoting industry competence,” says Peter Arnold, a certified structured settlement consultant for 20 years. “It’s also been effective in freezing out people outside the structured settlement industry, especially financial planners and the settlement purchasing industry.”

Get annuity quotes in writing. Many solid insurance companies issue structured settlement annuities. Make sure your structured settlement consultant gets quotations on the annuity cost directly from the insurer and in writing. Do not rely on a defense attorney or their structured settlement consultant.

Insist on written disclosure of “backdoor” benefits to your broker. A shady underside of the structured settlement industry involves swanky trips and other benefits insurance companies put on for brokers to gin up business.

Several years ago, I wrote about Pacific Life Structured Settlements offering agents a trip to Dubai and the Maldives. In my view, these trips violate financial trust and the industry’s written code of ethics. Make sure the consultant you work with discloses in writing any benefits, including junkets, they have received from insurers during the past three years and may reasonably be expected to receive in the next 12 months.

In a future story, we’ll look at the perils of selling your structured settlement.

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

The post Structured Settlement Annuity vs Lump-Sum Payout: Which Is Better? appeared first on Dennis Beaver.

If you were to ask just about any business owner if their employees should receive equal pay for equal work or could be paid differently, based on gender, race, color, religion, and national origin, I’m certain that most would reply, “What are you talking about? Equal pay for equal work is the law. If I respect this concept of equal pay for equal work, I’m good, right?”

Well, not so fast.

Employers today are facing pay concepts that could upset the apple cart in many organizations. Recently, several states enacted Pay Transparency laws requiring companies to be open about compensation for current and prospective employees.

Companies may share compensation information, including how salaries are determined, ranges, and even individual employee pay. But they must not conspire with other companies in the same field to keep wages low.

“Today, a lot more has been added to the concept of equal pay for equal work,” observes Northern California employment attorney and author, Heather Bussing, “that, if not understood by employers, can lead to an unpleasant work environment at the least, and potentially expensive litigation at worst.”

She and co-author Kent Plunkett in Get Pay Right – How to Achieve Pay Equity that Works, provide employers with an easily accessible approach to meeting today’s requirements on employee compensation. The concept is known as pay equity and goes beyond equal pay for equal work, the law since 1963.

In a nutshell, individuals should be compensated fairly and impartially for their work regardless of factors such as gender, race, ethnicity, or other characteristics unrelated to job performance.

Sounds simple. Right?

A Variant of Teacher’s Pet

“A worrisome issue labor lawyers often find is the employer who pays people they like more and not based on their work or the value they bring to the organization,” Bussing points out.

“When others who aren’t teacher’s pets, realize this–doing exactly what they’ve been asked to do, and maybe even better, but they’re not paid fairly for it, bad stuff often starts to happen.

“They grumble. There is unrest. No employee wants to be treated unfairly, and so they focus on how they’re being treated at the workplace rather than their work. Productivity suffers, your customers suffer, and as time goes on you lose employees. And then you’re out of business. So, it is in a business owner’s best interest to pay all employees fairly.”

But what does that mean? How do you determine what is fair?

The Economic Value of Work

“We look at the relative importance of the work–the value employees contribute to an organization and its success,” Bussing says.

“For example, salespeople are some of the highest paid, having the most direct connection to revenue. They need people who create the products, marketing colleagues who make customers aware of the products, and administrative assistants who keep everything going in the organization.

“Often we overlook the value of the work brought to the organization by employees in their individual capacities – the value of each and their work in the chain of creation,” she underscores.

Are We Paying Our People Fairly? – The Pay Equity Audit

How can an employer know if compensation is fair to everyone and avoid being sued for discriminatory pay practices? Get Pay Right gives us a by-the-numbers approach, and Bussing notes, “It’s a lot like trying to figure out how to compare houses, but instead of bedrooms, bathrooms, and square feet, we look at skills, effort, responsibility, and working conditions.”

What companies should do

She recommends that employers should value the work, not the people doing it.

Establish each worker’s expected skills, their level of effort required, responsibilities and working conditions. Study the market and learn what people in related jobs are making.

At this point, the authors recommend: “Group comparable jobs and run a statistical analysis to see where pay gaps are and whether they correlate to race or gender — whether women and people of color are making less for the same work.”

With pay gaps identified, “Determine if there is a business reason for why those people make less than others doing similar work, such as having less experience or tenure. Sometimes the person making more has special skills that justify the additional pay.”

Doing a pay equity audit will tell you where the outliers on pay are and whether there is a statistical correlation to race or gender.

Concluding our interview, Bussing notes that, “Pay equity laws apply to all employers regardless of size. Companies with at least 100 employees should do regular pay audits, which can be accomplished with specialized software.”

Bussing is a lawyer who never gave up her goal of changing the world for the better. She is all about fairness. Get Pay Right shows employers how to achieve it when determining pay and keeping themselves out of trouble.

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

The post Are you paying your employees correctly? appeared first on Dennis Beaver.

As my town is located 100 miles north of Los Angeles, it is an ideal stopover for people driving to destinations north or south on Highway 99 or Interstate 5 and has afforded me the chance to meet readers, who are always welcome to drop by our office for coffee.

For the past several years, two couples have made this a yearly event. “Sam” and “Jake” are retired psychiatrists, in their late 80s and have been married for more than 20 years to lovely women they met on a golf driving range and who are 25 years younger than they are. Sam, who is married to “Julie,” has admitted to me privately that he “didn’t want a third marriage.”

Over these yearly visits, I’ve learned they are well-off and reside in 4,000-square-foot homes. They have no debt and have assets and rental income that make paying for utilities no problem. However, fear has begun to haunt Sam.

‘My wife wants us to get solar panels’

Before this year’s visit, Sam phoned to say, “My wife is pressuring me to get a solar panel system installed because several of our friends in the area are putting these systems in, using a one-person company recommended by their wives’ massage therapist. But the expense and time for a payback can’t be justified at our age and limited life expectancy, and I would like you to discuss this with all four of us when we come down.”

As planned, we discussed buying or leasing a solar system, the fact that they would need to install a new roof ($15,000), neither had family at all interested in inheriting a house with solar panels, and selling a home with solar panels is no walk in the park.

Sam’s and Jake’s age weighed heavily against them living long enough to see a return on investment of the at least $40,000 that installing solar panels would cost them. A solar system plus battery backup adequate for the size of their homes would take a minimum of 15 years to achieve a payback. As they had no financial issue with paying for energy, getting solar at their age wouldn’t make sense. Plus, they could not assume their children or an eventual buyer of the home would even want their solar system or any system.

I printed out several articles — with pros and cons — that I urged them to all read before the sales presentation that had been arranged by the massage therapist for the following week. When they left our office, it was clear that everyone agreed they just didn’t need solar.

Then came the high-pressure sales presentation

Both men phoned the day after the high-pressure, you’ve-got-to-sign-today-to-get-these-prices sales presentation, which was attended by the massage therapist.

“Would you believe it?” Jake said. “Sam’s wife wanted to sign for a $70,000 system, with battery backup, right then, but he put his foot down.”

Sam was almost in tears, his voice trembling, and he kept repeating, “I can’t go through another divorce at my age.”

Later that day, Jake called back: “I am worried about Sam. Julie is trying to please the massage therapist.”

Within hours, Sam called back, too, and said, “Well, I’ve got to keep Julie happy, so we will probably buy something from the guy.”

What this really looks like

I ran this situation by California private investigator Riley Parker to ask him what could be done to protect Sam from what looks like elder financial abuse.

He replied, “Dennis, cops and private investigators tend to become cynical, as we see so many of these situations. While there are, of course, wonderful marriages with large age differences, what you are describing here just feels like a wife who could be seeking, and finding, a different kind of attention than her husband can provide. It is obvious there is no way to justify solar at their ages. Someone had better protect Sam’s assets, as Julie may already have begun taking advantage of him. Possibly, his son or daughter could be appointed to take charge of his affairs. Also, Sam obviously knew this solar scheme didn’t feel right, and most people would stop there, but he caved in. That is serious. Sam’s best defense is common sense and gut feeling.”

I asked Parker whether it would help to know more about the massage therapist, by doing a background or licensing check.

Parker said, “California is one state where there is no license requirement to be a massage therapist, but even if he were licensed, he should not be the focus. Sam needs to have an accountant go through his assets to see what, if anything, is missing. If he can trust his adult children, then he needs to open up to them. We do not know what his wife has done. Is she waiting for him to die? That is a serious question, especially if there are unexplained withdrawals from his bank accounts. A divorce could be the least of his worries, even at his age.”

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

The post If It Looks Like Elder Financial Abuse, It May Be Just That appeared first on Dennis Beaver.

If you’re thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, you may be wondering whether you’d be more successful starting a business or buying an established business.

“‘Start your own business, open your own shop’ has always been part of the American dream,” observes Josh Tolley, nationally syndicated talk show host and author of the recently published Acquisitional Wealth.

“Sadly, few people pay enough attention to statistics that show approximately 50% of start-ups fail within five years. However, if a business remains open for a decade, the odds are that it will survive and has the potential to be marketable. So, if you have the option of investing in a new business or buying a well-established, going concern, just think of the hassle, worry and grief that can be avoided. But you’ve got to go about it the right way, realize the importance of having your own support team, and don’t even dream of doing it alone!”

Don’t fall for social media instant experts

In recent years, a number of our clients have run their business ideas by my staff — ideas and schemes, as Tolley correctly points out, “that often (stem) from a growing social media presence of insta-experts and coaches who sell do-it-yourself, expensive ‘how to buy a business’ courses, along with a list of several self-named resources that are available to buy now from their websites.

“Very much like the stock market mania of the COVID years, otherwise sober, mature adults act more like high school kids infatuated with their first love. This is where the failure to have competent, professional help and guidance can prove costly,” he says.

I asked Tolley to set out some of the most glaring mistakes anyone wanting to buy a business can make.

1. Follow the wrong advice and think you can do it on your own.

So many people are trying to go it alone, following the advice of an online business coach who says, “I can guide you in buying an ongoing business, so why pay for a lawyer or an accountant?”

The result is an epidemic of financial and legal problems. If you are buying a business, definitely use the experience of a broker, a transactional attorney and, if applicable, an accountant familiar with the dynamics of the enterprise. “It’s going to save you years of headaches, stress and possible legal ramifications to the business,” Tolley notes.

2. Buy retail or income-producing property.

The second most frequent mistake is getting into either retail or income-producing real estate. Tolley underscores, “Retail is not where you want to start, and you must accept the fact that there is a lot of unstable ground when it comes to retail. Restaurants are retail. Anything can upset the apple cart, from a pandemic to even construction on the road in front of the business/restaurant you just purchased.”

He makes a strong case in his book: “Make sure that you are purchasing a business that is not dependent on retail conditions, but instead depends on market or B2B (business-to-business) conditions.”

3. Think you’re going to be successful without going all in.

Contrary to other endeavors in life, if you’re going to acquire a business, jump in entirely or don’t jump in. “Once you have acquired a business,” Tolley points out, “you have to commit and really go for it. So often, I’ve seen the results of ‘entrepreneurs’ who tried to continue working their regular job. A variant of that mental process thinks, ‘Well, we saved $200,000 for a down payment, so let’s try $50,000 down to just give it a taste.’ That never works out.”

4. Change your team of advisers during the process.

“Don’t listen to your friends who might have owned one business once or who have no experience at all,” Tolley cautions. “This isn’t a time to get a consensus from friends and family. Unless they’ve done this successfully, their opinions don’t really carry a whole lot of weight. As many first-time buyers don’t come from a business background, their friends and family tend to have a similar lack of experience, and so their advice may lead down incorrect paths.”

How to prepare to buy a business

Before buying a business, you have to prepare financially by:

Keeping your credit score high
Not incurring any unnecessary new debt, such as a new car
Postponing any sort of credit hit until after the purchase
Ensuring your tax records are clean and up-to-date

Concluding our interview, Tolley shared a prescription for a successful business purchase by someone who has never before owned or operated a business: Start learning as many business skills and acquiring as much practical business knowledge as you can, rather than focusing on specific industry capabilities.

“Your overall business skill set is going to serve you much better in acquiring the company and running it successfully,” he says. “For example, with a restaurant, how to manage employees is going to serve you better than mastering a risotto recipe. Related and important skills will come with the business; knowing how to drive the business — like learning how to not just drive a car but race it and win — is now your goal.”

Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.

The post Four Big Mistakes to Avoid if You’re Buying a Business appeared first on Dennis Beaver.