Admit it: Whether you’re 35 or 65, the prospect of retiring without a mortgage is an attractive one. No more monthly mortgage payments to your home lender means extra money to spend on having fun in retirement. After years of punctual principal-and-interest mortgage payments, it’s the least you deserve, right?

Estate planning attorneys will agree, it’s better to die with a properly drafted will than to die without one. If you don’t have one, consider getting one.

Even if your asset base doesn’t measure up to the Bill Gates standard, you may consider using trusts in estate planning. This is because they can help your heirs in many different ways.

When a loved one is experiencing cognitive decline, emotional and medical considerations often overshadow the financial planning that needs to happen. This is a potentially costly mistake.

After someone dies and the estate is settled, how long can the deceased’s name remain on the deed?

Financial Advisor Magazine reported that senior citizens lose at least hundreds of millions of dollars each year to fraud and various scams.

Unlike with stolen credit cards, a saver’s losses to fraud in retirement investment accounts aren’t limited by federal law, although mutual fund companies typically say they’ll reimburse funds lost to fraudulent activity.

You know that you can always refuse life-sustaining medical treatment. The tricky part comes when you are no longer able to understand your options or communicate your wishes to the health care professionals.

You don’t own a crystal ball. You can’t foresee births, deaths and divorces. You also can’t predict stock market swoons or huge rallies.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average age of widowhood in the United States is a surprisingly young 59.