AARP Crash Course in Estate Planning: The Essential Guide to Wills, Trusts, and Your Personal Legacy [Paperback]

Michael T. Palermo (Author), Ric Edelman (Foreword)

Book Description

Series: AARP | Publication Date: December 11, 2004

Here is the absolutely essential and totally comprehensive guide to wills, trusts, estate planning, and crafting a personal legacy.

Scrutinized for accuracy by AARP’s legal specialists, this indispensable volume covers every aspect of planning an estate and creating a will. A crash course in one handy volume, the book walks readers through the entire process, from understanding the distinction between probate and nonprobate property to delegating a durable power of attorney, and from resolving possible tax issues ahead of time to safeguarding your assets.

In these pages you will find:
• comparisons of wills and simple living trusts;
• advice on guardianship and advance medical directives;
• explanations of the role and powers of a trustee—and what steps to take in the case of suspected misconduct;
• a primer on marshaling and protecting retirement assets;
• help in planning for children with disabilities;
• ideas for making sure your money stays in the family in case a spouse remarries; and much, much more.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Sterling (December 11, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402718381
• ISBN-13: 978-1402718380
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,078,866 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A remarkably complete and understandable A+ reference, February 13, 2005

By 

Stephen M. Cox (Kentucky) - See all my reviews

This review is from: AARP Crash Course in Estate Planning: The Essential Guide to Wills, Trusts, and Your Personal Legacy (Paperback)

I've been waiting 3 years for Michael Palermo to write a book. I first stated reading his sage wisdoms on the internet. It is a rarity indeed for a national expert on estate planning and asset protection that can write a book that can explain to a regular person like me the complex matters of estate planning.

I'm a physician. I know that abdominal surgery is not a do-it-yourself project. Neither is estate planning. I made the mistake of doing it myself. Thankfully, before it was too late I consulted a professional and found that I had made some serious errors which were corrected. I would have eventually lost more than half my estate had I not sought professional assistance.

So, the lesson is we need a certified professional for estate planning. However, for the estate planning professional to help us in the most efficient manner, we need to have some basic understanding of estate planning. That way the estate planner does not have to spend their time explaining every elemental detail.

If you read this book you won't find yourself nodding your head up and down in the midst of your estate planner's explanation and advice, when you honestly haven't the foggiest idea what they are really talking about.

If you are considering whether or not to buy this book I would STRONGLY advise you to do so and to follow his advice before it is too late.

While you are at it, purchase Jean Chatzky's book "You Don't Have to be Rich" which will help you to build your estate.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Have If You Know Nothing About Estate Planning, August 15, 2005

By 

B. Fagan (Urbana, OH) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: AARP Crash Course in Estate Planning: The Essential Guide to Wills, Trusts, and Your Personal Legacy (Paperback)

This is the second book I purchased to help me gain some understanding about estate planning before talking to an attorney. It has been extremely helpful in giving info on many aspects of estate planning. I even took it to the trust dept at my local bank when talking to them about trust accounts. The trust adviser was very impressed with my knowledge and the level of planning I had already done and commented that this looked like a good reference source. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to know about estate planning.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best advice, October 27, 2005

By 

it (Sunnyvale, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: AARP Crash Course in Estate Planning: The Essential Guide to Wills, Trusts, and Your Personal Legacy (Paperback)

This is not a "how to" book. It is an exhaustive discussion of all of the options people have in planning their estates. This includes what can go wrong and how to avoid these problems.

It covers all of the possible ways to minimize taxes for your estate and your heirs.

The writing style is concise.