Yesterday the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs held a hearing on S. 748, the pending bill before the Senate that would impose, among other things, a penalty period for transfers made by veterans or surviving spouses prior to filing an application for VA pension.

Curtis L. Coy, Deputy Under Secretary for Economic Opportunity, Veterans Benefits, testified on behalf of the VA. (NAELA also submitted written testimony prepared by the VA Task Force of which I am a member, and that is Chaired by EC member Dawn Weekly.)

The entire testimony of Curtis Coy can be found in the link below (you will have to scroll down to S. 748 as there was testimony on several bills today). However, there are two paragraphs of that testimony below that were very interesting, as the VA recognizes that the current bill is overly punitive when it comes to how the penalty period is calculated:

“VA supports in principle the look-back and penalty-period provisions of subsection (a), but cannot support the bill as written because of the manner in which the length of the penalty period would be calculated. Our reading of the bill indicates that the method used to calculate the penalty period in proposed section 1522(a)(2)(E)(i), “the total, cumulative uncompensated value of all covered resources,” could be unnecessarily punitive because VA might have determined that only a small portion of the covered resources should have been used for the Veteran’s maintenance. VA has similar concerns with language in proposed section 1522(b)(2)(E)(i).

VA proposes, as an alternative, that the dividend under proposed section 1522(a)(2)(E)(i) be, “the total, cumulative uncompensated value of the portion of the covered resources so disposed of by the veteran (or the spouse of the veteran) on or after the look-back date described in subparagraph (C)(i), that the Secretary determines would reasonably have been consumed for the Veteran’s maintenance;”. We propose that similar language be used in section 1522(b)(2)(E)(i).”

Link to testimony: http://www.veterans.senate.gov/hearings.cfm?action=release.display&release_id=04a17e8c-da3d-4584-8e39-7f8d6e1d3728

Link to text of the bill and current status: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/s748

New Bill Introduced in the House

Earlier today, Rep. Tom Rooney (R-FL) introduced a bill into the House that would impose a 3-year lookback period for transfers made prior to a VA pension application. The text of the bill is not yet available. However, below is link to Rep. Rooney’s press release from earlier today:

http://rooney.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3517&Itemid=300084

Be sure to check back for additional updates as ElderCounsel continues to monitor these activities.

“Per stirpes,” “by representation,” and “per capita at each generation” are all descriptors that tell the reader how to allocate a gift among a person’s descendants.  They are not shorthand for contingent beneficiary provisions.  (While this discussion applies to all three, I will use per stirpes for the rest of this blog.)

The Good: It’s easy.

To use per stirpes correctly, you just have to follow one rule:  Always make the gift to a person’s descendants, like “to [person's] descendants, per stirpes.”  Note a couple of things: (1) in general, the person should be one person, not a class of people; and (2) the word “descendants” (or “issue”) must always appear.  Here are some examples:

– to my descendants, per stirpes.

– to John Dough’s descendants, per stirpes.

– to my mother’s descendants, per stirpes.

The gift is allocated to the person’s descendants according to the definition of per stirpes, which appears in all ElderDocx® wills and trusts.  If you keep it that simple, you won’t mess it up.

The Bad: It gets messed up all the time.

Think about that last example above.  If I have no children, I might be tempted to take a shortcut and write something like, “to my brothers and sisters, per stirpes.”  It sounds more succinct and clearer than “to my mother’s descendants, per stirpes”—which requires the reader to engage in some mental gymnastics by going up one generation to my mother, then back down to her descendants, and then to know that I have no descendants, finally to realize that I’m talking about my brothers and sisters and their descendants—but it’s just plain wrong.

And thinking that it works is likely the result of the single most common misunderstanding about per stirpes: that it’s shorthand for contingent beneficiary provisions.  It’s not.  Instead, it’s a descriptor about how to allocate a gift among a single kind of class of beneficiaries—descendants.  You can’t use per stirpes with any other class of beneficiaries—not children, nor brothers and sisters—only descendants.  That’s why the word “descendants” must always appear.  The gift is to someone’s descendants, and the descriptor merely says how it’s allocated among those descendants.

And don’t let the fact that my children are my descendants confuse you.  My children are merely a subset of my descendants (well, hopefully, someday).  The word “children” does not have the same meaning as the word “descendants.”

Another point of confusion is that if the ancestor’s children are all living, then per stirpes will allocate nothing to more remote descendants.  For example, if I say “to my descendants, per stirpes,” and if I have 3 children, 9 grandchildren, and 27 great-grandchildren, I have a total of 39 descendants.  And if my 3 children are all living at my death, then they are the only ones who receive anything, and my 36 other descendants get nothing.  This, I think, is another reason people want to say “to my children, per stirpes” (which, of course, does not work).

I probably don’t need to say it, but thinking that per stirpes is shorthand for contingent beneficiary provisions can also lead to the abomination, “to my son, Peter Dough, per stirpes.”

Finally, some want to write “to my then-living descendants, per stirpes.”  After all, we’re not going to give anything to a deceased person, so why not say “then-living”?  Answer: because it’s at best duplicative and at worst creates an ambiguity.  The definition of per stirpes assumes that some descendants will be deceased, so limiting the class to “then-living” descendants might create a problem.  Just keep it simple as described in “The Good” and don’t embellish.

The Ugly: It can get worse.

When the writer uses per stirpes incorrectly together with another descriptor that is used correctly, then it starts to look pretty bad.  For example, it works to write “to my children in equal shares.”  I have a gift to a class of beneficiaries—children—and I want them to get equal shares.  Simple enough, but what if a child has predeceased and I want the share to stay in that child’s family line?  The temptation for some—present company excluded, I’m sure—is to write “to my children in equal shares, per stirpes.”  Of course, this comes from the misunderstanding that per stirpes is shorthand for contingent beneficiary provisions, which we know it is not.

While that’s plenty ugly, what’s really ugly is the court fight between the predeceased child’s children and their aunts and uncles.  Don’t find your documents on display in a courtroom.  Just follow the simple rule outlined in “The Good.”

P.S.

As it relates to the “one person” rule, we cheat a bit in the ElderDocx joint trusts where we say “to our descendants, per stirpes.”  In the document, we define “our children” as those children listed in the trust, and we define “our descendants” as those children and their descendants.  While it violates the general admonition to limit the ancestor to one person, we think it works in the context of a joint trust.

Brian F. Albee, JD

Cheers to the practice of Elder Law!  Cheers to the brave and caring souls who help all those in need of exactly that. There is good reason to “toast” our industry. There is also precedence for such optimism. Living in Denver I am surrounded by the splendor of the Rockies, the many forms of outside activities, a great city with even better people and… beer. Before you scoff, the craft beer industry holds striking similarities and parallels to elder law and its opportunities. 

Think about the pioneers of both industries and their barriers to entry. It wasn’t easy looking at Anheuser Busch or Miller or Coors and saying “I can do that and do it better.” From garages, sheds and basements all across the country, individuals set out to provide a superior product to a specific market and do it on their own terms. Families mortgaged everything for startup money, worked endless days and poured their passions into their work. Sound familiar?

They did it through our country’s biggest and longest economic hardship and they prospered. They grew having a limited (but growing) market and serving them with specific and superior products. Sound familiar? They are thriving by selling a more expensive version of an existing product in a market where people do not have the expendable income they used to and are pinching every nickel. I know that sounds familiar.

There are new entries into the market – in Denver it seems daily. Is there no worry about saturation? No worry about diminishing returns? If this small, three day old, family brewery I visited last weekend is any indication – No. Not to mention the overwhelming market research that shows their market growing faster than their production. This should be deafeningly familiar. Elder Law’s “market” grows like no other in the country and un-like craft brewing this “market” NEEDS what you do. It isn’t a pleasant diversion – what you do is a valuable necessity.

The next time you have a choice – ask to see the tap list. Enjoy a product that was built with as much passion as what you put into your offerings. Salute a fellow entrepreneur who started with little, put it all on the line and was confident enough to charge more for better. Eventually – they will do the same for you.

Cheers!

P.S. For those who may be interested, here are just some of the numbers provided by the Craft Brewers Association:

• Growth of the craft brewing industry in 2012 was 15% by volume and 17% by dollars compared to growth in 2011 of 13% by volume and 15% by dollars.
• Craft brewers sold an estimated 13,235,917 barrels* of beer in 2012, up from 11,467,337 in 2011.
• The craft brewing sales share in 2012 was 6.5% by volume and 10.2% by dollars.
• Craft brewer retail dollar value in 2012 was an estimated $10.2 billion, up from $8.7 billion in 2011.
• As of March 18, 2013, the Brewers Association is aware of 409 brewery openings in 2012 (310 microbreweries and 99 brewpubs) and 43 brewery closings (18 microbreweries and 25 brewpubs).
• 2,347 craft breweries operated for some or all of 2012, comprised of 1,132 brewpubs, 1,118 microbreweries and 97 regional craft breweries.

Other U.S. Brewing Industry Facts

• Overall U.S. beer sales were up an estimated 0.9% by volume in 2012.
• Imported beer sales were up 1% in 2012 and up 1% in 2011.
• Overall U.S. beer sales were approximately 200,028,520 barrels and imported beer sales were 27,712,665 barrels in 2012.
• 2,403 total breweries operated for some or all of 2012, the highest total since the 1880s.

]]> http://www.eldercounselblog.com/2013/05/cheers-to-the-practice-of-elder-law/feed/ 0 http://www.eldercounselblog.com/2013/05/round-2-what-changes-will-be-coming-to-the-va-pension-program/ http://www.eldercounselblog.com/2013/05/round-2-what-changes-will-be-coming-to-the-va-pension-program/#comments Mon, 13 May 2013 18:30:17 +0000 admin http://www.eldercounselblog.com/?p=242

Last year S. 3270 was introduced, proposing numerous changes to the VA pension program, including a lookback period and a penalty period for transfers made prior to qualifying for the VA pension program.  The bill was not passed, and on April 17^th, a nearly identical bill was introduced, S. 748.

A hearing is set for May 15, 2013 before the United States Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs.  For more information on S. 748, visit http://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/748?q=s748.

ElderCounsel is closely monitoring these activities and will post updates as they become available.

Included in ElderCounsel’s membership is a practice building roadmap that many new ElderCounsel members follow.  We call it, “Your Practice Gameplan™.”  This Gameplan is a combination of one-on-one coaching, webinars, and self-guided instruction which are all overseen by the member’s personal Member Representative.  The goal of Your Practice Gameplan™ is to help the attorney become profitable in their elder law practice as quickly as possible!  As part of Your Practice Gameplan™, members are offered the opportunity to be coached by Steve Riley, a Certified Atticus Practice Advisor.  Through a series of webinars, worksheets and phone calls, Steve works with attorneys of all firm sizes to help them take better care of their clients, increase their income, decrease their stress, and improve the quality of their life.  All who have completed Your Practice Gameplan™ rave about its success and have the thriving practice to prove it!

                I’ve embarked on the Your Practice Gameplan™ journey as part of my professional development to grow in my role with ElderCounsel and to help ElderCounsel be successful.  The member is asked to come up with a vision for their practice when completing the Gameplan. The next step is to come up with ten crucial goals and explain why these goals are crucial to their vision, and to develop an action plan to achieve these goals.  I thought I’d share how I’ve already achieved success by participating in Your Practice Gameplan™ through the steps I’ve taken to attain just one out of the ten goals I laid out.

               The very first goal that Steve advises you to create is a health goal.  Since I run for exercise, , I decided I would take my running to the next level and create a goal to run a half marathon before the end of the year.  You may be asking, “Why is this a crucial goal to the vision that I’ve laid out for myself?”   Well personally, I believe physical health dictates mental health. If I’m at my best physically, I will be at my best mentally allowing me to succeed in my professional endeavors. Once I established my goal and the reason for why it is crucial, my next step was to spell out the action plan I would need to follow to achieve my goal.  First, I wrote that I’d need to run at least five times a week.  Second, I wrote that I would sign up and participate in races to prepare me for the half marathon.  Then for my third action item I thought,  well what can I do to make sure I will want to run a half marathon and whatever that is, it will be the third action item.  I decided I had to make running fun!  Many would say this isn’t possible but I’ve found ways to make it so!

 This past weekend I participated in the Graffiti Run 5k in Denver.  In this particular race, runners wore all white and ran through an amusement park while volunteers, spectators and fellow runners threw colored powder at them.  The color throwing started before the race had even begun and by the time my wave was at the start line, I was already covered head to toe in pink, orange and blue.  The race was a joy, whenever it got tough there were other excited runners cheering you on and to run through the amusement park was such a great experience, I felt like I was getting a behind the scenes tour!  By the end of the race, each runner’s previously bland outfit (and entire body) had been tie-died all colors of the rainbow.  Most of us didn’t even realize we had just completed 3.1 miles, we were having too much fun!  I completed that race excited to do other races and motivated to push myself even more.  I returned to work the next morning in a great mood, energized and ready for the day.  I was also able to say with pride that I had accomplished at least two of the action items I laid out to achieve my health goal.

Ready to run through the “Green Zone”

The Aftermath!!

                While I can go on and on about running, the point of this story is to give an example of how working on your crucial goals is conducive to your professional success.  I felt good about myself after I completed that race and more driven to continue to reach my goal of completing a half marathon.  Moreover, keeping myself active allows me to have a clear head and I actually feel more invigorated while I’m completing my work.   This in turn allows me to be a better ElderCounsel team member and perform at a higher level.  I’m achieving the vision that I set at the beginning of Your Practice Gameplan™ and I’m only on my first goal!  Steve advises you to keep your goals posted in plain sight, somewhere you will always see them and therefore be held accountable to them.  I keep my goals right above my desk and I always smile when I see how much I’ve already achieved.  While I have nine other goals that I am working on and have more work to do to achieve my health goal, I’ve come full circle already.  More importantly, I already see the effect of how Your Practice Gameplan™ is helping me to succeed.                 

               To learn more about how to become an ElderCounsel member and participate in Your Practice Gameplan™ please contact our Member Recruitment team at sales@eldercounsel.com. 

Aylin Guven

Administrative Assistant, Member Recruitment

I knew exactly what I was going to write about when we were asked to contribute to the blog at ElderCounsel…..and then it became a national news story!  While this story was reported a few weeks back, I still feel the trek to Base Camp on Mt. Everest by a vibrant teenager from my hometown of Bend, OR bears repeating.

Elisha Reimers is the eldest of 5 kids, loves the outdoors, sports, and has Downs Syndrome. In March, a friend of mine joined his team on the trek with the purpose of documenting the journey as well as to tell Eli’s story as he attempted to ascend to the foot of the world’s highest mountain. He is the first person with Downs Syndrome to attempt such a feet. The purpose of the trip was to raise awareness and funds for ‘The Elisha Foundation’ (TEF)http://theelishafoundation.org/. Their goal was to raise $85,000 and they are well past $100,000 as this story became a national headline. Here is Eli as he reached Base Camp on Mt Everest.

The struggle the team faced on the mountain poetically mirrors the struggle of a family caring for a loved one with a disability. The difference….a trek to Base Camp will last a few weeks, but caring for a person with a disability will last a lifetime. This is where The Elisha Foundation (TEF) comes in. Through its Respite, Retreat & Reach programs, TEF provides encouragement, community and rest to those burdened with the care of a disabled person. They also help educate and support people around the world with resources to provide proper care and help to break down barriers that are faced by families caring for those with a disability.

A tidbit from the trail that wasn’t in the news……from my friend that went on the trek with Eli:

“The very first time I met Eli (at LAX for this trip) he told me many tales about his beloved [gluten free] BBQ chips We had one can of chips that we left back at our hotel in Kathmandu, it served as a lot of inspiration for Eli’s trek to Base Camp. We literally made up songs about these chips on the trail, talked about them dozens of times a day, and would dream each night about these tasty little snacks. TODAY (back from the mountains and a successful attempt at Everest Base Camp) we have opened the BBQ chips and celebrated Eli’s victory!”

TEF has recently begun a ministry in Ukraine. There is a huge social stigma in Ukraine against people with disabilities and generally speaking, they are not seen as real people. Parents are strongly encouraged to put their special needs children into an orphanage which has led to over-crowding and poor conditions. Parents who decide to keep their disabled children at home are faced with unbelievable challenges and live in isolation. The new work in Ukraine is a grassroots effort near the city of Chernigiv that was launched this past summer when Justin (Eli’s father) took the whole family (including all 5 kids) to live in Ukraine for 3 months while they got the programs started. They are empowering locals to educate their community and providing resources for families that are caring for someone with a disability.

Although we are not hiking mountains, the work of our members and team at ElderCounsel benefits those adults and children with special needs.  And, this year we have made a commitment to greatly enhance our existing special needs planning library of documents and education as this is an area that we feel very strongly about.  Our goal is to equip attorneys with the best documents and education possible!

Melissa Johnson

Project Coordinator/Executive Administrative Assistant

I have been a vegan for two years which means I don’t eat any animal products.  No meat, no dairy, no fish, no eggs, not anything from animals.  One of the most common reactions I get from others about this is, “But where do you get your protein?” 

Most of us know that protein is an important nutrient.  However, it seems widely unknown that there are many other alternatives to meat for our protein source.  I am by no means an expert on nutrition, but I am really interested in it and love to learn about it.  Two years ago I was eating meat and dairy every day.  Ever since I adopted a vegan diet, I’ve really enjoyed discovering all of the plant-based and whole food protein sources, as well as many delicious meat alternatives.

Did you know that plant-based protein sources often have a significantly lower percentage of calories from fat than animal protein sources?  For example, 80% of a steak’s calories are from fat (mostly saturated), while only about 5% of a cup of beans’ calories are from fat (unsaturated).  Plant-based sources also tend to be higher in fiber and complex carbohydrates, AND they are cholesterol-free. 

Some plant-based protein sources:

Legumes – beans, peas, lentils

Grains– oats, quinoa, rice

Vegetables – kale, spinach, brussels sprouts, broccoli

Some tasty meat alternatives that are high in protein:

Tofu

It’s made from soybeans.  Pretty bland all by itself, but it absorbs the flavors of the other ingredients you pair it with.  It’s high in protein and iron, low in fat and calories.  Tofu is also an amazing alternative to eggs.  When you break it up into an eggy texture and cook it with other vegetables and seasoning, you can make some really convincing tofu scrambles!

Tempeh

My personal favorite.  It’s also made from soybeans, but it has a firm, nutty texture.  Originally from Indonesia, but it’s becoming more and more popular here.  You can find it in the refrigerated section of most grocery stores, and they even have different flavors now – like maple bacon or sesame garlic.  You can cut it into strips, or break it down like ground meat before cooking it.  I like to put it in tacos, use it in a vegan “Bolognese”, mix it into vegetable stir fries, or use it as the bacon in a vegan BLT.

Veggie burgers or sausages

Veggie burgers are delicious.  You just have to find the right kind.  I’ve had them that are boring tasting, and others that are super tasty.  Have you ever had a black bean burger?  You definitely need to try one.  My boyfriend is not at all a vegetarian, but even now he prefers veggie burgers…… sometimes.  He likes that they never make him feel overly full and weighed down.  Vegetarian sausages are also available at most grocery stores.  I love the Field Roast brand and all of their different flavors.    

So now you have an idea of other protein sources that do not come from animals.  There is also a lot of research under way to create more plant-based alternatives to meat.  You can check out this Bill Gates video (it’s only about a minute long) that explains more about “The Science Behind Plant-Based Proteins”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jjlVq5GiHbo

Enjoy!

Courtney Santoro

Member Services Representative

If you are a member who subscribes to ElderDocx and/or WealthDocx in the Cloud – or if you are considering it, you may have asked yourself what to do with the documents and answer files that you currently have on your local computer or network.  The good news is that you can transfer them to the Cloud, giving you access to your files wherever you have internet access and an internet capable device.

When you are logging in to the Cloud, you have the option to allow access to your local files and locally connected devices.  Once you permit the access, you can now ‘see’ your local drives from Word, or when browsing using Windows Explorer in desktop full screen mode.  The names of any local drives will be followed by a ‘$’ sign, so your C: drive will be named C$.  Your Cloud drive is G:\Law Office Files, and you can create subfolders there to fit your needs.  You can open files, including documents and answer files, on your local computer and on your cloud drive, and copy files between them.

Why would you want to store your answer files and assembled documents in the Cloud? Imagine working on an interview at the office, and then continuing where you left off on a different computer away from the office.  It doesn’t matter if one device is a Windows PC, and another is an iPad, Mac, tablet or smartphone – you can start on one device and continue on another.  As long as you have internet access, you are good to go!

To learn more, please visit http://www.eldercounsel.com/Attorneys_CloudAccess.aspx

]]> http://www.eldercounselblog.com/2013/04/yes-you-can-take-it-with-you-accessing-your-files-in-the-cloud/feed/ 0 http://www.eldercounselblog.com/2013/04/a-personal-story-about-diabetes/ http://www.eldercounselblog.com/2013/04/a-personal-story-about-diabetes/#comments Mon, 08 Apr 2013 22:22:29 +0000 admin http://www.eldercounselblog.com/?p=187 This is a personal story from of member of our ElderCounsel team who lives with a son with diabetes.

August 31^st 2012 is a date that I will never forget.  This is the day my 10 year old son was diagnosed as a Type 1 Diabetic.  My son plays youth football and is usually pretty active during both practice time and game days.  I started to notice the slowness and lack of energy with both football and school.  There was also the excessive drinking and more than usual bathroom trips.   I chalked it up to coming off of summer break and getting back into the routine of both School and Football.  Finally I had enough and wanted to make sure there wasn’t something more to his behavior change.  While describing my son’s symptoms to the Pediatric doctor, he immediately pricked his finger and tested his blood on what I now know was a Glucose monitor.     The Doctor said three numbers “563” and at the time I didn’t understand what that meant, and then came the dreaded word Diabetic.  I was in complete shock.  The only words that came from my mouth were “Are you serious”.   I was in total dismay that this was happening to my baby who was also totally clueless as to what Diabetic meant.  The Doctor scrambled quickly to get us to our local hospital that specializes in Endocrinology.   The drive to the hospital felt like an eternity and in all actuality it was only 30 minutes, I began making phone calls to my family in which I could no longer hold in my emotions.  I think I cried my eyes out to everyone I spoke with.  My son’s life was changed forever.

As my husband, son and myself spoke with the Endocrinologists and went through a short class on how to treat Diabetes it was quite overwhelming, so much to learn in a short period of time.  The three of us were shown how to perform a Glucose test and administer insulin and shown what to eat and what not to eat.  I know my brain was spinning out of control trying to soak up all what we had been taught.  During the class my son was given insulin and it was so amazing at how his attitude became up beat and his energy level increased.  He was like a new kid.  I was so sad to have this happen but on the other hand I was happy to know that he could be the happy, energetic kid he’s always been.

For those who are not familiar with the facts about Diabetes I have shared a bit of information below that I have learned.

Diabetes is a disease that affects how the body uses glucose, the main type of sugar in the blood. Glucose comes from the foods we eat and is the major source of energy needed to fuel the body’s functions.  After you eat a meal, your body breaks down the foods you eat into glucose and other nutrients, which are then absorbed into the bloodstream from the gastrointestinal tract. The glucose level in the blood rises after a meal and triggers the pancreas to make the hormone insulin and release it into the bloodstream. But in people with diabetes, the body either can’t make or can’t respond to insulin properly.

Since our families discovery, I have spent hours researching and learning about diabetes. It has brought more awareness to our life of those that are challenged by health related issues.  My position at ElderCounsel as a Member Services Representative has allowed me to work with attorneys who help children and adults with special needs. It has been rewarding to work with a community of professionals that are committed to helping individuals that face special challenges every day.

Several members offered some very good answers including:

• Direct mail is much more likely to be opened and read.
• It is more targeted.
• Your social media audience may not even be online.
• Direct mail may have a shelf life.

When someone is reading your direct mail piece, they are not reading something else at the same time (compared to being on the web).

All of these responses are great tactics about TRAFFIC and REACH.  They are not, however, STRATEGY.  The tactics question, however, is relevant only subsequent to a well thought out and articulated marketing strategy.  Solutions to achieve TRAFFIC (number of readers) and REACH (speaking to your target audience) are only effective when incorporated into a marketing strategy.

In the franchise world, successful brands begin with “FOUR WALLS MARKETING” before executing “traffic” and “reach” tactics.  By four walls marketing, we mean, what is happening in your business: What is the experience of a client who calls your office?  How well is your office managed?  Are your employees happy?  Is customer service and professionalism a daily dynamic in your practice?  What is the appearance of your waiting room?  Do you have documented systems? Have you made accommodations for elders?

If your “Four Walls Marketing” is meeting your expectations, then it is time to lay out a six-month marketing plan.  A good plan will include:

1. An accurate description of your target market (and what are his/her needs, stress points and areas where you can uniquely help him/her).
2. A geographic description of where your clients are located.
3. It will have a good mix of firm branding and traffic building communications.
4. A financial budget and calendar.
5. And most importantly, a way to track results.

This is a very brief commentary and ElderCounsel is excited to work with its members in all areas of practice building and excellence.

John Shickich, JD (Certified Franchise Executive)

Director of Member Recruitment

ElderCounsel, LLC