Combating fraud takes education and a plan for trusting the right people. Protecting yourself against abuse and exploitation takes education, monitoring, and careful planning for trusting the right people. Elder abuse affects over five million older Americans each year, according to the National Council on Aging. Surprisingly, the majority of these incidents are perpetrated by family members, friends, and neighbors. Protecting yourself against abuse takes education, monitoring, and a careful plan for trusting the right people. To protect your wealth from scams and fraud, it is critical to have a plan in place before anything bad happens. Know common dangers: • Telephone calls stating that they are from Social Security or the IRS. The IRS never calls, and calls from Social Security only occur if you have an ongoing issue — the phone number will always show Social Security. • Home-repair scams — people claiming to be licensed or from a company, collecting a deposit, and then disappearing. For a complete list of these types of scams, check out our free book Scams, Fraud, and Protecting Your Money, available as a download on our website or for purchase on Amazon. . ________________________________________ Know Yourself and Know Your Family To protect your wealth from scams and fraud, it's critical to have a plan in place before anything bad happens. Doing that, however, means being honest with yourself. Know yourself: • Are you someone who always gives your children what they ask for — even if it starts cutting into your nest egg or your retirement goals? • If you can’t be sure you can say no to yourself or others when it comes to money, consider putting protections in place to keep you from making harmful financial decisions. Example: A financial advisor once worked with a client whose son had a gambling problem. No matter how the father tried to help — giving money directly or putting funds into a 529 plan — it was lost. The advisor helped him set up trust structures to protect the assets for the grandchildren. “The best-case scenario is when you’re aware of your own susceptibility.” One safeguard is to consolidate accounts so it’s easier to track them as you age, and so your advisor can recognize if anything looks suspicious. Know your family: • Have a properly executed power of attorney so someone (or multiple people) can handle your affairs if you’re incapacitated. • Choose people carefully. A power of attorney does not give someone a license to steal — and inheritance doesn’t mean they can take your money early. • If someone with power of attorney acts inappropriately, replace them immediately. • When choosing an executor or trustee, avoid anyone with financial instability, debt, or gambling issues. Pick someone who can say no — even to family members. • It’s okay to choose a trusted friend or professional instead of family. It’s important to understand the financial values and habits of your family members. A strong, honest person with no money problems is less likely to abuse trust. For more protection: – Monitor for investments out of line with your long-term plan. – Watch for sudden beneficiary changes — such as adding unrelated helpers to accounts or insurance policies Bottom line: As you age, make sure you have a plan in place that addresses your needs in case you can’t handle your own affairs. You may want to consult with a financial professional or attorney to help you figure out the best options. For more information, check out Scams, Fraud, and Protecting Your Money — free on our website and on Amazon. Another valuable resource: Retirement Guidebook: From Planning Your Retirement to Enjoying It by Nancy Burgandine & Irene Van Dyk. 📘 Website ▶️ YouTube Channel 💬 Join our Reddit community: r/FinancialSmarts Comments. Questions and likes are appreciated

Budgeting doesn’t have to mean cutting out everything you enjoy. It’s about creating balance: • Yes, you can save for retirement and enjoy a latte with friends. • Yes, you can stick to a plan and treat yourself to a weekend getaway. • Yes, you can manage bills and still invest in your dreams. 💡 The key is building a budget that works with your real life, not against it. That’s exactly what we share in Financial Essentials for Women by Women. This isn’t just another finance book—it’s written by women who understand the juggling act of family, career, and personal goals. It’s filled with practical, encouraging strategies to help you take control of your money without guilt or overwhelm. It’s amazing what the small step of just looking where your spending goes allows you to make wiser choices with your money and have control of Your financial decisions and make trade offs such as I want to go on a vacation and I’m willing to give up my latte at Starbucks everyday ✨ Because financial independence isn’t about sacrifice—it’s about freedom and choice. 📘 Ready to take the first step? Check out Financial Essentials for Women by Women. Check out all our books on amazon ahttps://tinyurl.com/r8xy3ve or via our website t htps://parentsfin.wixsite.com/website/books 💡 It’s likely not as hard as you think. 📈 Start your journey toward financial independence today— its never too late to start #

Check out our website for more information and links to buy Raising Financially Independent Children or Financially Independent Teens: https://parentsfin.wixsite.com/website/books Or go to Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/r8xy3ve Please subscribe to our channel Drop us a common with questions or suggestions for future topics. Are you trying to teach your child the value of money and responsibility? This video breaks down how introducing chores as a source of income can help your child develop a healthy money mindset early on Young children as early as two or three can express wants such as a balloon or a cookie or an ice cream on an outing You can use chores to teach them that they’re going to earn that treat which starts them with the realization that they have to work for things they want. . By middle school—or even earlier—many kids start to crave financial freedom. Whether it’s for hanging out with friends, grabbing a bite to eat, or saving up for something they want, they begin to understand that money gives them choices. 👉 That’s when chores become more than just a task—they become a important tool to teach savings and financial responsibility tool. With an allowance and the option to earn extra money through chores, neighborhood jobs, grades, or gifts, kids start piecing together their monthly income. 💡 Once they recognize how much they can earn, they begin to create their own spending plans, realizing how many extra chores they need to do in order to afford what’s important to them. This shift in perspective is why many children actually learn to love chores. They're not just helping out—they're earning independence. With an allowance and the option to earn extra money through chores, neighborhood jobs, grades, or gifts, kids start piecing together their monthly income. 💡 Once they recognize how much they can earn, they begin to create their own spending plans, realizing how many extra chores they need to do in order to afford what’s important to them. This shift in perspective is why many children actually learn to love chores. They're not just helping out—they're earning independence. Make chores a positive experience for your child Check out our website for more information and links to buy Raising Financially Independent Children or Financially Independent Teens: https://parentsfin.wixsite.com/website/books Or go to Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/r8xy3ve Please subscribe to our channel Drop us a common with questions or suggestions for future topics. 🧠 Empower your child with lifelong skills. 📚 Learn more in our books: Raising Financially Independent Children & Financially Independent Teens 📺 Subscribe to our channel for more financial parenting tips! 💬 Got questions or topic suggestions? Leave them in the comments—we’d love to hear from you Check out all our books on amazon ahttps://tinyurl.com/r8xy3ve or via our website website https://parentsfin.wixsite.com/website/books SUBSCRIBE NOW https://www.youtube.com/@financialliteracy-t8c you tube Join our Reddit channel https://www.reddit.com/r//FinancialSmarts

Leisure activities in retirement can cost far more than many expect. That’s why budgeting for fun is just as important as budgeting for essentials. A thoughtful plan helps you enjoy life without running out of money. Think about the experiences you value most. Whether it’s bucket-list travel, new hobbies, family visits, or weekly lunches with friends, your retirement leisure budget should reflect what matters most to you. For example: · A 2-week trip to Europe with your spouse could easily run into five figures. · Joining a private golf club may come with hefty initiative fees. · Dining out a few times a week could add hundreds to your monthly food bill. MMany retirees are surprised by this “sticker shock.” The shift from saving to spending can feel unsettling—but being overly cautious can also lead to regrets if you miss opportunities while you’re still healthy. Key Factors in Building Your Retirement Budget 1. Define What’s Essential for You Start with your non-negotiables: housing, food, insurance, healthcare, utilities, transportation. Then add “important expenses” that bring happiness—like cross-country trips to see grandkids or season tickets to the theater. Don’t forget irregular expenses like cars, pets, or even financial support for children/grandchildren. 2. Plan for Your Retirement Lifestyle Stopping work frees up time—what will fill your days? Research suggests an active lifestyle requires about 15% more in your retirement budget. Remember, leisure spending usually declines with age, while healthcare costs rise. Couples should talk openly about expectations, since visions of retirement can differ widely. 3. Identify Your Income Sources List pensions, Social Security, retirement accounts, dividends, annuities, rental income, or part-time work. Structure your plan so that essential expenses are covered by reliable income, giving you confidence to spend on hobbies and travel. Planning for Trade-Offs If your budget and income don’t align, consider: • Adjusting savings and investments for better after-tax growth • Cutting current expenses to save more • Working longer or part-time in retirement • Consulting a financial professional to test different scenarios A strong Plan A and Plan B means you don’t have to cut all the fun if circumstances change. ________________________________________ 📘 Want to truly understand retirement, taxes, and how to enjoy life after work? Check out Retirement Guidebook: From Planning Your Retirement to Enjoying It — available on Amazon. 🔗 Links: • Website & free resources: https://parentsfin.wixsite.com/website/books • Amazon page: https://tinyurl.com/r8xy3ve • YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@financialliteracy-t8c • Reddit community: https://www.reddit.com/r/FinancialSmarts

teaching skills that change lives forever, the Falcone Institute offers comprehensive, heart-centered services designed to help children—and individuals across the neurotypical–neurodiverse spectrum—truly learn how to learn. Founded by Madeline Falcone, LMFT over 35 years ago, the Institute delivers a holistic merging of psychotherapeutic, psychoeducational, speech-language, and neurocognitive support tailored to each child and family falconeinstitute.com+1. Operating as a “resource of last resort,” they specialize in breaking through when other interventions fall short, offering individualized programs to nurture emotional resilience, executive functioning, communication, and academic confidence falconeinstitute.com+1. By merging emotional regulation, cognitive strategy, and family dynamics into a cohesive therapeutic journey, Falcone empowers children to build self-advocacy, autonomy, and lifelong learning—creating meaningful transformation in both school and life falconeinstitute.com+1. ________________________________________ How It Benefits Children (and Their Families) • Personalized, Holistic Care: Programs are custom-built across multiple domains—emotional, cognitive, linguistic, and familial—to fit each child’s unique profile falconeinstitute.com+1. • Bridging Gaps in Support: Families often come to Falcone after exhausting other options; their approach brings fresh insight and renewed hope by ‘seeing’ the child beyond limitations falconeinstitute.com. • Skill-Building for Real Life: Through Mind-Body Integration, Emotional Intelligence, Academic Strategies, and Family Intelligence, children develop tools for academic success and life management falconeinstitute.com+1. • Long-Term Empowerment: The focus on self-advocacy, executive functioning, and emotional regulation equips children to thrive beyond immediate challenges and into adulthood falconeinstitute.com+1. ________________________________________ Hashtags (separated by commas, per your formatting) #HolisticTherapy, #PsychoeducationalSupport, #ChildDevelopment, #EmotionalIntelligence, #LearningHowToLearn, #SelfAdvocacy

Here’s what you need to know: • 👉 Why it matters for seniors: Your taxable income and something called MAGI (Modified Adjusted Gross Income) affect more than just your taxes. They also impact how much you pay for Medicare premiums. For a more detailed explain of MAGI and other matters effecting your taxes and Medicare payments retirement check out Retirement Guidebook- From Planning Your Retirement to Enjoying It available PNnAmazon 👉 The New Senior Deduction (2025–2028): • $6,000 extra deduction for each person age 65+ • Up to $12,000 total for married couples (if both spouses are 65+) Sounds great, right? But there’s a catch — income limits apply. • Single: full $6,000 if income ≤ $75,000 • Married: full $12,000 if income ≤ $150,000 • Deduction is reduced 6% for income above those amounts • Single at $175,000+ = no deduction • Married at $250,000+ = no deduction 👉 How many seniors benefit? • Full deduction: ~50–55% (12–14 million households, mostly single) • Partial deduction: ~35–40% (9–10 million households, evenly split) • No deduction: ~8–10% (2–2.5 million households, mostly married) 👉 Examples of the phase-out: • Single at $85,000 → $5,400 deduction • Single at $100,000 → $4,500 deduction • Married at $170,000 → $10,800 deduction • Married at $200,000 → $9,000 deduction 👉 What is MAGI? MAGI = AGI (Adjusted Gross Income) plus certain add-backs, such as: • Tax-exempt interest (municipal bonds) • Some excluded Social Security benefits • Excluded savings bond interest (for education) • Foreign income/housing exclusions • Employer adoption assistance • Income from U.S. territories/Puerto Rico • Tuition & fees deduction • IRA contribution deduction • Passive rental losses (in some cases) 👉 Bottom line: This “Senior Deduction” helps some retirees, but not all. It won’t make Social Security completely tax-free. 📘 Want to truly understand retirement, taxes, and how to enjoy life after work? Check out Retirement Guidebook: From Planning Your Retirement to Enjoying It — available on Amazon. Also available: • htps://parentsfin.wixsite.com/website/books or our books on Amazon • Retirement Guidebook- From Planning Your Retirement to Enjoying It • Budgeting for Women by Women FREE on our website • Financial Essentials for Women by Women • Investing for Financial Independence FREE on our website • Raising Financially Independent Children • Financially Independent Teens • Financial Essentials for Couples • Scams, Fraud, and Protecting Your Money FREE on our website

Community property rules can have major implications for couples, especially if you have children from a previous marriage. There are nine U.S. community property states: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin (plus Alaska, where couples may opt in). Want to go in more depth into your finances. Check out all our books on amazon ahttps://tinyurl.com/r8xy3ve or via our website https://parentsfin.wixsite.com/website/books Financial Essentials for Couples has an in depth discussion on this topic Can you opt out of community property? Yes — in all community property states, couples can enter into a premarital (prenuptial) agreement before marriage that changes or waives the default community property rules. These agreements can state that all assets and income remain separate, or that only certain assets will be community property. If properly executed, the agreement overrides state community property laws. You may want to consult an expert. What does “Community Property” Mean? In a community property state, most property acquired during marriage is owned equally (50/50) by both spouses, regardless of who earned the income or whose name is on the title. Separate property is those Assets owned before marriage, gifts, and inheritances if kept totally separate and NOT co-mingled remain separate property. Retirement Accounts & Pensions 401(k)s, IRAs, pensions earned during marriage are considered community property, even if only in one spouse’s name. Implication: At divorce or death, the other spouse has a legal claim to half. For seniors, this impacts retirement income planning and survivor benefits. Long-Term Care & Medicaid In community property states, one spouse’s assets may be treated as half-owned by the other, which affects Medicaid eligibility for nursing home care. Spousal impoverishment rules may allow one spouse to keep more assets, but planning is essential. Debt & Liability Debts incurred during marriage are generally community debts. A spouse is generally liable for their spouse’s medical bills, credit cards, or other debts, even if only in one spouse’s name. As you can see, it is important for your financial future to be aware of the implications of community property Check out our books on financial independence at htps://parentsfin.wixsite.com/website/books or our books on Amazon Retirement Guidebook- From Planning Your Retirement to Enjoying It Budgeting for Women by Women FREE on our website Financial Essentials for Women by Women Investing for Financial Independence FREE on our website Raising Financially Independent Children Financially Independent Teens Financial Essentials for Couples Scams, Fraud, and Protecting Your Money FREE on our website Subscribe to our channel

Here’s what you need to know: • 👉 Why it matters for seniors: Your taxable income and something called MAGI (Modified Adjusted Gross Income) affect more than just your taxes. They also impact how much you pay for Medicare premiums. For a more detailed explain of MAGI and other matters effecting your taxes and Medicare payments retirement check out Retirement Guidebook- From Planning Your Retirement to Enjoying It available on Amazon 👉 The New Senior Deduction (2025–2028): • $6,000 extra deduction for each person age 65+ • Up to $12,000 total for married couples (if both spouses are 65+) Sounds great, right? But there’s a catch — income limits apply. • Single: full $6,000 if income ≤ $75,000 • Married: full $12,000 if income ≤ $150,000 • Deduction is reduced 6% for income above those amounts • Single at $175,000+ = no deduction • Married at $250,000+ = no deduction 👉 How many seniors benefit? • Full deduction: ~50–55% (12–14 million households, mostly single) • Partial deduction: ~35–40% (9–10 million households, evenly split) • No deduction: ~8–10% (2–2.5 million households, mostly married) 👉 Examples of the phase-out: • Single at $85,000 → $5,400 deduction • Single at $100,000 → $4,500 deduction • Married at $170,000 → $10,800 deduction • Married at $200,000 → $9,000 deduction 👉 What is MAGI? MAGI = AGI (Adjusted Gross Income) plus certain add-backs, such as: • Tax-exempt interest (municipal bonds) • Some excluded Social Security benefits • Excluded savings bond interest (for education) • Foreign income/housing exclusions • Employer adoption assistance • Income from U.S. territories/Puerto Rico • Tuition & fees deduction • IRA contribution deduction • Passive rental losses (in some cases) 👉 Bottom line: This “Senior Deduction” helps some retirees, but not all. It won’t make Social Security completely tax-free. 📘 Want to truly understand retirement, taxes, and how to enjoy life after work? Check out Retirement Guidebook: From Planning Your Retirement to Enjoying It — available on Amazon. Also available: • htps://parentsfin.wixsite.com/website/books or our books on Amazon • Retirement Guidebook- From Planning Your Retirement to Enjoying It • Budgeting for Women by Women FREE on our website • Financial Essentials for Women by Women • Investing for Financial Independence FREE on our website • Raising Financially Independent Children • Financially Independent Teens • Financial Essentials for Couples • Scams, Fraud, and Protecting Your Money FREE on our website

Turn an outing with your child into an education about money, budgeting, and spending even at a young age! Check out all our books on amazon https://tinyurl.com/r8xy3ve or via our website https://parentsfin.wixsite.com/website/books SUBSCRIBE NOW https://www.youtube.com/@financialliteracy-t8c This video covers planning a trip to the zoo for kids 5 -8 where we will describe how you can make this outing fun and stress-free. If you discuss the options that your child will have during the trip in advance and make a plan, this will greatly reduce stress during the trip. You are also teaching your child the very basics of a budget and how to plan ahead. We discuss how to involve your young children in making decisions before you go. This develops their abilities to make trade-offs and leads to less wasted time and difficult choices during the outing. You will be teaching basic budgeting and how to make choices within a set of parameters in advance. Do you want to take a sandwich from home and go on a ride or do you want to buy food during the outing and not ride on the bus? Check out our books on financial independence at https://parentsfin.wixsite.com/website/books or our books on Amazon https://tinyurl.com/r8xy3ve Raising Financially Independent Children Financially Independent Teens