THEY VARY BY STATE

You’ll need to take a look at the laws in your state to see how these are specifically defined, but when we talk about guardianships and conservatorships, we’re generally talking about a judge’s ruling that gives someone decision-making power over another person’s personal or financial life. This could be because of dementia, drug use, or a host of other reasons, but it’s generally initiated because an individual is no longer able to make important decisions for themselves.

JUDGE’S RULING

The judge in a conservatorship case will use the doctor’s assessment, as well as listen to what family and friends have to say, before making her decision about whether someone needs a conservatorship. If a conservator is needed, the court appoints someone to make decisions for the individual. Unless it’s limited by the court, the conservator has the same rights, powers and duties over their ward as a parent has over their child. What’s more, when someone becomes award, the court takes away the civil liberties that we enjoy every day: the right to vote, the right to marry, the right to drive.

POWER OF ATTORNEY…

Once appointed, the conservator is required to report to the court every year. And they truly have power over just about every part of the ward’s life. A conservator can release medical records, has some power over mental health decisions (short of committing them to a mental facility), make financial and contract decisions, file lawsuits, sell their house, and must apply for benefits if the ward could be eligible. A power of attorney, or POA, is your best bet to avoid this mess altogether. It’s a legal document where you can pre-authorize another person to act on your behalf, either for healthcare or financial decisions—such as what happens if you can’t breathe by yourself and need a ventilator.

…OR SOMEONE ELSE

If you don’t have those docs in place and lose capacity, it’s up to the court to get a decisionmaker for you, and the sometimes-messy business begins. Trusted friends and family can petition to be your conservator. And if they disagree? There’s a huge cost in legal fees if people are fighting about who should be your conservator. Not only that, but the person appointed as your guardian/conservator may not be the person who you would have chosen yourself. It may even be someone you’ve never met. With that said, if you don’t have honest and reliable family members, that may be exactly who you want, a neutral third party with your best interest at heart.

Start thinking about who you’d want to be there for you, and who you’d trust to make the tough decisions if they needed to be made. Maybe your sister is great with money, and your brother happens to be a physician’s assistant, so you could make one your POA for property, and one for healthcare. Who are the most trusted people in your life?

A version of this article was originally published on Forbes.

SLOW AND STEADY

Successful real estate investing in hopes of creating a steady passive income stream takes time. Breaking even doesn’t happen overnight and making a profit certainly doesn’t either. But it can happen and when it does, it can significantly increase your cash flow. The best part of real estate investing is that you can’t lose all of it like you can in a fund or in the market. You’ll still have that house or building even if the current value isn’t what you dreamed it would be.

MONEY MAKER

Here’s what’s historically true: you don’t really make money in the house you live in. Let’s say you buy a $200,000 house today and in five years you sell it for $300,000. Well, you need somewhere to live so you’ll have to buy another $300,000 house which is likely pretty similar to the one you just had. Unless you downsize, it’s often a wash. So, can you make money on owning an investment property? I fully understand wanting to have assets that are concrete (pun intended) versus ones that exist as a bunch of numbers and charts. But before you go into an investment property, plan out how much you’ll actually be spending on it versus making off of it.

CAUTIONARY TALE OR SUCCESS STORY?

For every cautionary tale, there is a success story…of people making money, getting great tax incentives and living off that profit. It’s up to you to weigh the risk and reward with not only how you want to make money but also how you want to spend your time. If you are still gung-ho about investing in real estate, then go for it, but do so cautiously and really know what you’re getting into. If you are purchasing a foreclosed property, know that there could be additional tax bills, and outstanding HOA dues that you would need to pay for and may not be disclosed at the sale.

HIDDEN COSTS

Calculating the cost to maintain the property, water heaters and A/C units aren’t sexy, but they are expensive. Know your state laws. In many areas it’s nearly impossible to evict tenants, even if they don’t pay. During the COVID crisis, renters were able to delay paying rent for over a year. That’s right, many landlords didn’t collect a dime in rent for over a year!

An investment property isn’t as simple as the get-rich-quick scheme that it’s sometimes made out to be. This route isn’t for everyone, but if you do decide to invest in property, get smart about it and get after it.

A version of this article was originally published on Forbes.

YOUR CREDIT SCORE IS YOUR FINANCIAL REPORT CARD

If you’re American, your credit score is also American. Even if you have a perfect 850 credit score, your stellar score won’t mean much to the rest of the world. In fact, some countries look at completely different metrics to determine your financial dependability. In the U.S., employment and salary has nothing to do with your credit score. The overall system of evaluating credit is much more formal. In the U.S., your credit score is mostly determined on whether you pay your bills on time and how much debt you have. The biggest mistake you can make is owing too much – either through putting too many expenses on a credit card, or taking out big loans you don’t diligently pay down.

THE US CALENDAR MAY LOOK A LITTLE DIFFERENT

The U.S. is the only country in the world that writes the date starting with the day, then the month, then the year. Let’s say you’re living in Colombia, you’d date that birthday card 7-3-2022. But, if you sent me a birthday card dated 7-3-2022, I would get it, well, late. You can see how this can get confusing and potentially even problematic. Do a little practice writing dates in month, day, year format. Start by writing down all the upcoming important dates in your life and keeping that next to your computer. This will help you get in the swing of writing dates the Americanized way.

YOU SHOULD KEEP YOUR MONEY IN THE BANK

In some countries, there’s a strong culture of mistrusting the banking system. Even though American banks do have their fair share of issues (looking at you, Wells Fargo), in the US, financial institutions are the best places to keep the majority of your money. Sure, keep a little cash stash at home, but only a couple hundred bucks. I do not want to see you keeping any significant amount of your net worth in a safe, or a piggy bank, or God forbid, under a mattress. Not only is your money safer in banks, it also has more opportunity to collect interest.

IT’S EXPECTED THAT YOU TIP 20%

Compared to other countries, the US has some of the priciest norms around tipping workers in service industries, like restaurant work, transportation, hospitality or manual labor. In other countries, service industries aren’t designed for workers’ compensation to depend on tips. So if you grew up in another part of the world, you may assume that when you’re out to brunch, your waiter is making a good hourly wage, so, you rationalize that you can leave just a dollar or two when you’re leaving the table. Wrong. In America, if you leave less than a 20% tip, it indicates to the worker that you consider their service less-than satisfactory.

WITH A PRICE TAG, WHAT YOU SEE MIGHT NOT BE WHAT YOU GET

If you’re from across the pond in the U.K., you’re used to seeing price tags that include sales taxes. In the U.S., not so much. In the US, sales tax varies depending on what you’re buying and which state you’re in. So, it’s easy to consider sales tax “the fine print” of a purchase and do what you do with all fine print, likely ignore it. If you’re not American, it may feel like a major plot-twist if you have exactly $25 dollars to spend on a shirt with a $25 price tag on it and you actually don’t have enough money to make the purchase.

One of the best things to do if you’ve recently moved to the United States is just to get to know our money the old-fashioned way, by holding it in your hand. When you have a little extra time, go to the bank and get some dollar bills – ones, fives, tens, twenties. In the U.S., unlike many other countries, paper bills are all the same size and color. If the U.S. dollar is new to you, it’s a good idea to get familiar with it before you get overwhelmed at a cash register, fumbling through your cash trying to find the right change at check out.

A version of this article was originally published on Forbes.