- ABOUT ESTATE PLANNING: Most millennials and many adults wrongly ignore the importance of updating Estate planning consistent with life changes – like marriage/ divorce/ births/ deaths/ financial changes – which impact assets and priorities upon personal incapacity or death. Beyond saving taxes, protection from creditors and legal challenges, important factors can include: (1) Care of minor children; (2) Distribution of personal property; (3) Transition of digital assets & accounts; (4) Avoiding lengthy and costly Probate proceedings; and (5) Avoiding beneficiaries conflicts by selecting a credible Trustee to oversee and administer the Plan. Trustee alternatives typically involve banks/ attorneys/ business partners/ family friends/ eldest child. However, there are very often expectations of beneficiaries (especially kids from more than one marriage) which can result in disputes and claims against the Estate and Trustee. DCG have decades of experience and expertise in helping protect goals & objectives with guidance in strategic estate planning.
- ‘AUTHENTICITY’ HAS BECOME A CHIEF CONCERN OF GEN ZERS, who these days want to know that a person or story is real before taking it at face value in the age of influencers and artificial intelligence. They’ve evolved from first generation GenZers who learned about themselves and their standing in the world only from the reactions and responses of others, when everything online became their social currency, but now scroll with a feeling of distrust for most videos. A Yahoo/YouGov poll found more than half of adult GenZers now avoid expressing themselves online for fear of coming across as ‘cringe’, consistently editing themselves to avoid appearing inauthentic or embarrassing. The new word for exaggerating aspects of their identity is ‘Larding’ – pretending to have more wealth, friends or exotic trips planned to boost online presence. [USA TODAY]
- ‘PROCRASTINATION’ IS A NATURAL TENDENCY to put-off tasks until later, versus handling them promptly. However, beyond the effect on needs or expectations of others and work-life inefficiency, procrastination can have substantial adverse impacts on ourselves. Multiple meta-analyses involving studies in 17 countries have recently been published reporting adverse impacts of procrastination involving self-esteem, anxiety, stress, loneliness, depression, with causes stemming from factors as simple as skipping breakfast, heavy drinking, lack of sleep, remote working, attachment to smartphones, TV, computer screens, and consequences from delay of medical or dental treatment. [ECONOMIST]
- THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK: California’s new Digital Age Assurance Act (first in the nation) now requires, as of 1/1/27, age declaration when setting up a computer operating system, so that application developers are “deemed to have actual knowledge of the age range of the user.” So far, no requirement of government ID to confirm age, but fines & legal consequences apply if minors bypass the under/over age 18 criteria, which could involve verification that an adult was involved in the process. [PC MAG]
- Remember a few years ago when the phrase “labor shortage” was on every cable channel, every single day? It was called the “Great Resignation” in 2021 and 2022, when every restaurant had a Help Wanted sign in the window, contractors wouldn’t return calls, your dentist was booked three months out and America had twelve million Job Openings. Last week, the Labor Department released its latest count. Job openings in June: 7.4 million – down 38% from the peak, with healthcare alone losing 147,000. Today, the labor shortage everyone worried about is over. The job market just round-tripped back to 2019.
- With 40% of Americans at risk for Dementia any time after age 55, the latest Brain Health study focusing on risk reduction found that three factors – high blood pressure, diabetes, and smoking – during age years 48 to 68 have major impact, associated with nearly 13 additional years before Dementia set in. Led by NYU Langone Health researchers, the study followed over 12,000 middle-aged people for an average of 26 years to also determine that averting these factors allowed women to live longer without Dementia than men, and White participants longer than Black.
