Just how tough is it for older workers to find a job?

In today's paper I wrote about a study that found women 50 to 62 applying for entry level jobs are far less likely to get a shot at an interview than 35 to 45 year old women with similar work experience. You can read more about those findings here.

The response I've received to this article includes this excerpt from an email  from a woman who said she is 52 and her husband 58:

"It is obvious that because of our age we are not employable at jobs other than those that don't pay a living wage, regardless of our good health, our job experience, and having our own life and health insurance and pensions. The people I feel sorry for are aquaintances and family members we have who are our age, but not as healthy as we, who have to work miserable service industry jobs just to pay for food and heat."

What has your experience been? I'd be delighted if you'd post your comments on this blog.

Can a widow be held responsible for her husband's debts?

Q. Would the widow of a deceased man be responsible for his unpaid debts even though they have been separated for the past 3 years? These are newer credit card debts on cards issued after their separation which she had no part of. They had been filing separate tax returns for those 3 years. And, if the credit card companies attempt to go after her for these debts, what should she do? He left no estate.

A.  His estate is liable, but if he died penniless, the widow doesn't have to pay the bills. The key point is that she had nothing to do with the credit cards--She wasn't a co-applicant or an authorized user and she doesn't possess items bought with the cards. If she gets a letter or phone call, she should immediately ask the debt collector to validate the debt--provide proof that she owes the money. (A credit card application she signed is an example of proof.) If the debt shows up on her credit report, she should dispute it through the credit reporting agency. If the debt is not removed from her report or if she is sued, it may be necessary to hire a lawyer to straighten things out.

My financial planner won't advise me

Q. My financial planner refused to advise me about the proxy I got regarding one of the funds in which she placed me. Would it be a clear conflict of interest for her to do so?

A. Clear, no. Conflict, maybe. Since you don't describe the issue behind the proxy vote, I can only guess. However, it's not impossible to imagine a conflict. Suppose the issue affected the compensation of advisers who sell the fund? The best way to understand her position is to ask her to explain it to you.

New card comes with parental controls

Here's the latest MasterCard version of the popular Visa Buxx card. Called the Allow Card, it's a prepaid MasterCard with parental controls that allow you to set daily spending limits and even stop it from being used at certain types of merchants. You can load your kid's allowance on the card instead of handing over cash. Another card aimed at kids is the PAYjr card, which also carries a the MasterCard brand. I thought these cards sounded like a pretty great idea for older teenagers and young adults until I went to the Allow Card Web site (click on the "parents" tab) and read about the cost: $23.95 to get the card in the first place and $3.50 a month after that, plus a bunch of other fees. The place you can find a complete rundown of fees is the "cardholder agreement," found on card Web sites. In some circumstances, a card like this might be worth paying some fees--when your child is going out of town for example, and you don't want her carrying a lot of cash. But you'd think credit card sponsors would make these programs really low cost in the name of "business development." After all, these are credit cards with training wheels, and the kid who uses one as a child is likely to grow up to be an adult customer.

(Photo credit: Allow Card)

Are reverse mortgages a good idea?

Q. With the cost of homeowners insurance, the maintenance fees and property taxes, we are trying to determine the best way to approach our home here.  A number of friends have suggested a reverse mortgage.  Is there an unbiased evalaution on a reverse mortgage that we can obtain to make our decision? We do not know enough about this type transaction and don't want to be misled by companies that could take advatage of us.

A. AARP publishes some good consumer info (here and here) on this topic. Fees are the big drawback of a reverse mortgage, so it's only something to consider if you plan to be in your home for the long haul. If you were to sell in a couple of years, it wouldn't be worth it.

Also, in case you didn't see it, here's my column about homestead tax deferral, which is basically a "mini" reverse mortgage without the fees.

How can I get homestead status?

Q. We have owned a home on Long Island, NY for 50 years and also have owned a condo in Florida for about 20 years. We pay full real estate taxes on the condo and wonder if there is a way to apply for homestead?  Our Florida taxes are $1,600 and our full-time neighbors pay only $300. If we were to make Florida our permanent residence, how would this affect our New York residence as far as real estate taxes go and also the $500,000 tax exemption if we were to sell the New York residence? Would greatly appreciate an answer to this perplexing question.

A. To qualify for homestead, you must become permanent Florida residents and live in your condo. The recommended procedure: Get a Florida driver's license, register your cars in Florida and register to vote at your condo's address. Then go to the property appraiser's office in your county in person before March 1 to apply for homestead exemption for 2007. Your property taxes will NOT be rolled back to the level of your neighbor's. However, you will be eligible for a $25,000 homestead exemption in 2007 and the following year you'll get the benefit of Save Our Homes' limit of 3 percent annual increases in your assessment.

Regardless of the homestead status of your Florida condo, you can get the benefit of the capital gains exclusion on your New York home IF you have lived in it and owned it at least two of the five years preceding the sale. This ownership can be added up in increments - five months per year for five years equals 25 months and meets the two-year test. Once you use the exclusion, you must wait two years before using it again.

However, New York probably will not give up its claim on you as New York residents as long as you keep your home on Long Island. Thus you will be expected to pay whatever taxes New York residents are required to pay. Any other questions about that would be addressed best by a New York tax adviser.

(Photo credit: Getty Images)

The IRS will let you keep a few more bucks next year

Personal exemptions will be worth an extra $100 ($3,400 total) and standard deductions will increase even more. The deduction for married couples goes up $400 to $10,700, while the one for singles is up $200 to $5,350. Tax brackets and income limits for IRA contributions also have been adjusted for inflation. You can read all the gory details here.

(Photo credit: Getty Images)

Handling a gift from overseas

Q. My father-in law is looking to gift some money to my wife and myself as well as our two kids this year. The money is coming from the United Kingdom.  Would he need to send us a separate transfer for each one of us or can he send us one lump sum with a letter indicating that the amounts that he is gifting to each one of us Would there be any tax consequences? The gifts he is giving to my children will be placed in their 529 college savings plans.

A. Neither you nor your children will owe any taxes. Whether your father-in-law owes any will depend on UK law, assuming that's where he lives. Although the letter would document his intentions, I'd recommend three separate transfers to make it completely clear that he made separate gifts to each of you. You don't want the IRS to think that he gave the money to you and you gave part of it to your kids. Your best bet is to open 529 accounts for each child and then have your father-in-law make direct contributions to those accounts. And of course you and your kids should write some great thank-you notes!

Need an umbrella?

If you're looking for help weathering the financial storms of life, Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Central Florida & the Florida Gulf Coast hopes you'll consider its umbrella. It offers budget and housing counseling and debt management programs. The new logo is part of an image upgrade that also includes a redesigned Web site.

(Photo Credit: Consumer Credit Counseling)

That email isn't from Social Security

If you get an email from Social Security, click the delete button. A new round of "phishing" emails has gone out purporting to be from Social Security. It starts with the recent press announcement about the cost-of-living increase, then claims "We now need you to update your personal information. If this is not completed by November 11, 2006, we will be forced to suspend your account indefinitely." Readers are asked to click on a link, which takes them to a phony Social Security Web site where they are asked to enter personal information, including bank account and credit card numbers.

"We would never request that type of personal information from someone," said press officer Mark Lassiter.

He said government investigators are working this morning to shut down the phony Web site.

Watch out for the "Pump and Dump"

Stock-touting emails that land in your inbox are worse than worthless - they're designed to trick you out of your money. But just in case you didn't know this, the NASD issued a warning Monday to be on the lookout for a special variety of this "pump and dump" scam, the email that pretends to be addressed to someone else. Maybe it even says "I hope this is your email." The idea is to make you think you've received someone else's private communication and are now in possession of "inside" information. A variation of this scam uses supposedly misdirected voice mail messages. The point is to get you to go out and buy the stock, driving up the price, so the perpetrators can sell their stock and cash in. When they do, your stock becomes worthless.

"Don't be fooled - the email is almost certainly from someone who's being paid to send it to thousands of people, in hopes that some of them will fall for the scam and buy shares of the recommended stock," said NASD Senior Executive Vice President Elisse Walter. "The best way to avoid being taken in is to ignore the email entirely. And a cardinal rule of investing is to never rely solely on information you receive from an unsolicited source - whether it's in the form of an email, a fax, a text message or a phone call." 

Read more about this and other stock scams.

(Photo credit: Getty Images)

Do I need a new will?

Q. My wife and I have both a will and a living will prepared by an attorney here in Florida. Is the will still valid or do we need a new one prepared by an attorney in Ohio?

A. When you move to a new state, you should always have your estate planning documents reviewed by a lawyer in that state. Simply moving to a new state does not invalidate your will. However, each state has its own rules for probate and using the right language can prevent potential problems for your beneficiaries. Just for example, states have rules about witnesses and who can serve as your personal representative or executor.

Go ahead and be generous

I get many questions about the taxability of gifts to individuals, so I wrote a column for today's paper explaining the ins and outs. Key points: 1. If a person gives you a gift, you don't owe any taxes on it. 2. The giver only owes taxes once lifetime potentially taxable gifts exceed $1-million.

Keep in mind that the free ride only applies to gifts from one individual to another. If a company gives you a bonus, a prize or some other type of gift, it might be taxable.

(Photo credit: Getty Images)

Life estates and homestead exemption

Q. Will I lose my homestead exemption if I set up a life estate deed for my property?

A. No. As long as you retain the right to live on the property for your lifetime, you will not lose your homestead exemption. You can find this in     Florida Statutes 196.041 (2).

However, I do not recommend the use of life estates. It really is simplest if you keep title in your own name.

New rate for I-Bonds

I-bonds just got to be a better deal. Those issued over the next six months will pay 4.52 percent interest, up from 2.41 percent. The interest rate on this type of savings bond has two components, a fixed rate that applies for the life of the bond (currently 1.4 percent), plus an adjustable rate based on the rate of inflation (currently 3.1 percent). If you shop around, you can do better than that in a short-term CD, but you won’t get the tax deferral savings bonds offer. Read more about I-bond rates here.

Can I discharge my student loan in bankruptcy?

Q. I have a $75,000 student loan that I have consolidated. Can I go bankrupt on it? I won't be able to make the payments, not even interest only, and I already have used up my deferment time.

A. Probably not. It is very difficult to prove severe hardship, which is the only condition under which student loans can be wiped out in bankruptcy. In many cases, judges require that you have made efforts to repay the loan. However, getting rid of other debts might make it easier to repay your student loan. Your best bet is to talk to a bankruptcy lawyer. You also might be interested this good article on Nolo.com and this one.