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Blog Posts in 2020

  • NYE Trivia from the Goldluus

    Team member, Tyler Crowley is our very own walking encyclopedia! Take a look at his New Year's Eve trivia facts... The longest firework display ever, consisted of 810,904 fireworks lasting for a total of 1 HOUR, 1 MINUTE and 32.35 SECONDS! The average babysitter rate increases by 20% on New Year’s Eve compared to any other day of the year. The weight of the Times Square Ball is 11,875 pounds (or ...
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  • He promised his dying wife he'd keep the house. Then he took out a reverse mortgage

    Column: He promised his dying wife he'd keep the house. Then he took out a reverse mortgage By Steve Lopez latimes.com — There is nothing grand about the white one-story house in the middle of Roxbury Drive in San Bernardino, particularly in its current state of disrepair. But to Juan Gutierrez, that house is home. As a young man he worked in construction, saved up for a down payment and, in 1968, ...
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  • Holiday Book List for the Grounded Traveler

    Just in time for holiday break, another team entry of T he Goldluu's ! This post is written by our newest team member, Mollie Grubman. She is a new college grad and adventurer! Enjoy her travel bug turned book critic (thanks to covid). During normal times, you’d find me with my head in the clouds – literally! I am an avid frugal traveler. I’ve gone on many expeditions around the country and the ...
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  • Urgent - Prop 19 - Does It Effect Me?

    We hope you are well. Recently, California voters approved Prop 19 which affects county property taxes. If you don’t own a house, you can skip reading this email. However, if you fall into one of these categories, please contact us to create or update your estate plan around Prop 19: Your current annual property taxes are low You own one or more real properties in CA You plan on giving your real ...
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  • SAFE On-Line Shopping Tips from G&L's Tech Guru

    The next entry in our staff blog series of the Goldluu's is from our "Team Techy," Norman. Stay safe this holiday shopping season with his tips! From Black Friday deals to holiday specials, the holiday shopping season is here again but with a twist . With both statewide and countywide “Stay-At-Home" orders and the fears of in-person, brick-and-mortar shopping, today's shoppers are relying more and ...
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  • Mindful Monday

    For the next Blog in our series from the GoldLuu's, Stephanie offers a quick meditation that fits into anyone's day! "As Thanksgiving approaches, let's share in a moment, at least once a day, to meditate, find something to be grateful for and live in the moment."
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  • READY FOR FRIDAY NIGHT?

    I am going on a hunch here, but my guess is that you and your family are ready for a break from the news? Yeah, us too! So there is no better time to kick off our new Blog Series, The Goldluus . These entries will be from each of our team members; musings, trivia, personal stories and the like! You are going to love it. As a result of the pandemic, my wife Elena and I needed a distraction from the ...
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  • Are Your Estate Planning Documents Up To Date? Do you even need one?

    You probably fall into one of three groups of people with regard to your estate plan. 1) You don’t think you need an estate plan so you have nothing, 2) You have one (great job!) and you’re assuming it’s fine, or 3) You know you need some planning or to update your old plan but you haven’t gotten to it, yet (it’s on the to do list but keeps moving to the bottom). Group 1 – You don’t think you need ...
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  • What's Cookin'

    Healthier Banana Fudgesicles 3 med. very ripe bananas 2 1/2 TBS of unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 tsp of pure vanilla Blend bananas in a food processor until they reach a thick soft serve consistency. Add the cocoa and vanilla, blend again. Scoop mixture into popsicle molds and freeze overnight. (thanks to mamapapabubba.com)
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  • Estate Planning Horror Stories

    Frances Bean Cobain turned 28 this year. You may recall her famous Grunge Rocker dad, Kurt Cobain, front man for Nirvana. He died in 1994 at the age of 27. It may not seem obvious to every 27-year-old that they need an estate plan, even though most are not mega-stars with hundreds of millions of dollars but everyone needs some level of planning, especially if you have kids. Frances Bean was 20 ...
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  • Charley’s Chatter

    Dear humans, My human parents asked me to say hello. This is odd, because my mommy usually just says, “come on, Charley, go pee pee,” or something like that. Same with my daddy. If you know me, you know I don’t talk much but I wanted to share a few things. My mommy has not taken me to the office very much lately. (I promise I did NOT eat any of the snacks she keeps in her desk!) I don’t know why ...
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  • Taryn’s Tidbits

    We’ve been meaning to write this newsletter for years and what started as a section about a baby is now about a big girl! She’s now 5 ½ and we’re homeschooling due to Covid. Like many, my husband and I struggle to balance work with homeschooling. The flip side of that coin is that we get to spend time together scattered throughout the workday. It’s not often that you get to hear a 5 year old on ...
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  • Team Profile: Marla Simon

    Our employee spotlight is shining brightly on Marla Simon! Marla came to work for G&L just over a year ago. We were in the midst of moving and had a huge change in our team members. She was amazing! As our office manager, she not only helps run our office but she offers our clients and our team the kind of love and support you could only get from a mother. She is our ROCK! Marla is the mom to two ...
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  • Expert Advice: Scott Streitfeld, CPA

    We sat down with one of our favorite CPA’s, Scott Streitfeld, to learn a thing or two about taxes. DO YOUR HOMEWORK: Now that most of us are working at home and not spending hours commuting, research your tax questions on-line . The internet is full of up to date information that can answer even the most specific questions. Go straight to the source and start with the IRS website. You will save ...
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  • World Alzheimer's Day

    Today is World Alzheimer's Day. A day set aside to raise awareness about the disease and the symptoms, and to dispel myths and stigma. Talking openly about symptoms is the first step to break down the walls that stand between us and early diagnosis! Get comfortable talking to your loved one's about the disease now, while everyone is healthy! Here is a list of the top ten things to look for, such ...
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  • Rosh Hashanah Recipe Spotlight

    Our Office Manager, Marla knows her way around the kitchen! Here is just one tasty delight she will be serving up this Jewish New Year. RECIPE : LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District) Sour Cream Coffee Cake (Straight from the LA Times...) Many people have the wrong recipe for this delicious classic. The original article was updated a few weeks after it was published with the correct LAUSD ...
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  • Maybe Love Keeps Us Young?

    Love knows no age. https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/29/world/ecuador-oldest-married-couple-trnd/index.html Have a safe and healthy Labor Day weekend.
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  • #visitationsaveslives

    We have all become painfully aware of the negative impact the Coronavirus visitation restrictions have had on our elderly community. Those living in Assisted Living, Longterm Care Facilities and Nursing Homes are suffering in unimaginable ways because their loved ones and caregivers are unable to see them. Please visit the link below to download a copy of your VISITATION RIGHTS. We encourage you ...
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  • "A breakthrough in Alzheimer’s research"

    Positive news in the science of Alzheimer's! Early detection has been proven to help preserve quality of life for those diagnosed. This is very encouraging. Thank you @nytimesscience! "The test determined whether people with dementia had Alzheimer’s instead of another condition. And it identified signs of the degenerative, deadly disease 20 years before memory and thinking problems were expected ...
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  • Behind the Red Tape: Disposition, Ceremony & Legacy Planning

    Rebecca recently had the honor of participating in a live community discussion centered around rewriting the way we experience death. The speakers on this panel bring a perspective that many of us have never considered. It was a moving and deeply profound conversation. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Reimagine: Life, Loss & Love. Behind the Red Tape Virtual Discussion
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  • Business Law Basics with Aharoni Business Law

    The Covid-19 pandemic has business owners scrambling all over the globe. Watch and learn as Rebecca hosts dear friend and Business Law attorney, Galia Aharoni Schmidt. Free advice for California business owners, large or small.
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  • Where to Keep Your AHCD

    Quick advice on where to keep important documents! #ahcd #estateplanning #undertheoaks
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  • Changing Your Wishes Amid a Global Pandemic

    The coronavirus has touched all of us in different ways but none more than our elderly family and friends. https://www.npr.org/2020/05/30/865310478/i-find-myself-very-seriously-feeling-hollow-documenting-a-pandemic-experience?utm_medium=social&utm_term=nprnews&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=npr
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  • LRB - Katherine Rundell - Consider the Greenland Shark

    Yes, we’re all animal loves at Goldfarb & Luu but not necessarily of sea creatures (eek!). This shark should be the exception given how long they live. I had no idea an animal could live this long — hundreds of years! This is a must read and tell us what you think!!
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  • Peyo the Healing Horse

    I’m not just posting this because I’m a horse lover but because it’s a touching example of how we can help each other feel better in times of need, even in the most surprising ways! Please watch and share your thoughts!
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  • Happy Mother's Day Message from Rebecca

    The coronavirus pandemic has certainly changed the way we work and live and maybe even the way we love? Many of my friends are more connected to their families than ever before. Not just those in their homes, but those that live at a distance (no matter how far)! FaceTime and Zoom have allowed them to casually keep in touch more often and their relationships are less tense, unhurried and relaxed. ...
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  • "Deal With It" Video - What Happens When You Don't Have a Will

    The information in this video is too good not to share! This panel from the 2019 Deal With It: A Women's Conference takes you step by awful step through what happens when you don’t get your affairs in order and leave your loved ones holding the bag. Featuring Rebeca Goldfarb (Goldfarb & Luu, Estate Planning and Elder Law Firm), Dina Kuperstock, (Chaplain/Spiritual Care Provider, MPTF), and Anne ...
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  • Caregiver Cabin Fever During Covid-19: Advice from Alz LA

    Our friends at Alzheimer's LA always offer the best advice for Alzheimer's patients and their care givers. This post in their "Ask Miriam" column offers tips for those of us sheltering in place with our loved ones. Check it out! https://www.alzheimersla.org/ask-miriam-2020-04/
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  • Coronavirus Resources - One Stop Shopping May Be Better for Your Health

    If there is one thing that we have learned during the Covid-19 pandemic, thus far is that information overload is exhausting. In some cases, access to too much information is mentally draining, confusing and induces unhealthy levels of fear and anxiety. To combat this, some companies are offering their friends, clients and neighbors resource pages to serve as a "one stop shop" on their websites. ...
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  • Even Coronavirus Can't Stop Centenarians in Love

    The Covid-19 pandemic has brought us all enough doom and gloom for a lifetime, don't you think? Here is a little ray of sunshine for you, wrapped up in a package of two love-birds name Anita and Joe. May we all live and love for more than 100 years! Though their combined age may be 207, Joe says, "the years we can look forward to, whatever they be, whether they be many or few, and even if they're ...
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  • COVID19 at Home with Special Needs

    We can all admit that by now we've collectively felt the stress involved in school at home. We are 3 weeks into the coronavirus pandemic, stay at home order and for many of us we are settling into to this "new normal" routine. But what about those of us that are not adapting as quickly? Where the disruption is works against all they've worked so hard to achieve? There are over a million children ...
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  • CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) & Estate Planning

    CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) & ESTATE PLANNING During times of crisis most of us share similar fears and concerns. The Coronavirus pandemic is no exception. Collectively, we are all worried about our families and friends, livelihoods and neighbors. What used to be a nagging voice in our head is now a full conversation with the volume cranked up to ten! What will happen if I get sick? What will happen if ...
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  • Coronavirus: Managing Your Mental Health

    If you are anything like me, you vacillate between calm and positive to fearful and nervous, about 25 times a day. The stress we are experiencing from the uncertainty of the Covid19 pandemic is real and tending to ourselves should not be ignored. Our mental health is equally as important as our physical health. But what can we do to protect ourselves mentally? We cannot become socially distant ...
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  • Social Distancing from the Hackers and the Scammers?

    Thanks to the Coronavirus/Covid19, by now we are all becoming aware of the ups and downs that go hand-in-hand with working from home. (In case you missed our blog with tips on WFH, you can read it here ). One thing you may not have considered is how this new normal opens us up to the online scammers, lurking in the shadows. Our intention, of course, is not to give you more things to worry about ...
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  • More People Are Thinking About Their Wills, Forcing Lawyers to Improvise

    Rebecca was among the few attorneys interviewed for this article. Thanks to Bloomberg LP for bringing awareness and important insight during this uncertain time in our history. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-25/death-fears-fuel-demand-for-wills-forcing-lawyers-to-improvise
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  • Suddenly Working from Home?

    Working from home is something I have been blessed (and cursed) to do since my son was almost a year old. He is now 11. There are a million reasons to love this set up and probably as many to hate it. Let's begin with the obvious; I am writing this in my pajamas with wrecked hair and I don't care. Sure, I can run a brush though my hair and change my shirt and be ready for a zoom meeting in 25 ...
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  • COVID19 - Student Loan Payments on Pause?

    As we navigate this new pandemic landscape with no map, no compass, no tour guide - we will try to share as much of the positive news as we can. 60 days may not be enough, but at least it is a start! Read this article published by the American Bar Association. https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/federal-student-loan-payments-suspended-with-no-interest
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  • Trying to Be Calm in the Chaos

    If you follow our blogs at all you know that we love Steve Lopez of the LA Times. He published this ** article on Saturday, just a few days after the Governor mandated that residents stay home and most businesses shut down, in the state of California. As Americans, we are used to a certain level of "control" in our life. We have routines that we follow daily; we go to work, we socialize with our ...
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  • What to Do Now That You are Home...

    Coronavirus (Covid-19) - What to do now that you are home…. In addition to staying safe and spending quality time with family, you now have time to complete those pesky projects that have been hovering over your to-do lists for months or years. Let’s pick; organizing old photos or working on your estate plan ? While many might pick the first one and boy does that feel good to get done, the second ...
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  • Coronavirus/COVID-19 in California and Your Estate Plan

    Coronavirus/COVID-19 in California and Your Estate Plan . We are in uncharted territories with the Covid-19 pandemic. We hope everyone is staying safe and isn’t dangerously affected by it even though it will clearly impact many. We hesitated to write anything about the virus that related to estate planning because for most of us, even if we get sick, it will not lead to incapacity or death. ...
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  • Coronavirus? WHO is Most at Risk

    "As public health officials move to confront the coronavirus , they are targeting their most urgent messages to the elderly and frail who are at greatest risk from COVID-19 ." https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-08/coronavirus-elderly-frail-people-at-risk
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  • Ted Talk - COVID-19

    Informative Ted talk (Q & A) on COVID-19 and who is most at risk. https://www.ted.com/talks/david_heymann_what_we_do_and_don_t_know_about_the_coronavirus?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare
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  • Saving the Planet Never Gets Old

    Nothing warms our heart more than hearing about seniors that are active in their communities and enjoying life! So obviously, this article by our friend, Steve Lopez of the LA Times caught our eye! Being active is one thing, but saving the planet? Why yes, yes indeed. At 101 no less... https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-02-01/retirement-home-seniors-fight-climate-change
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  • Happy Heart Day!

    Darlene Love is the perfect person to talk about on Valentine's Day! Why? Because, well... her last name is LOVE, it is American Heart Month, and it is the time of year that the American Heart Association celebrates, GO RED For Women, an event that encourages awareness for women's heart health and stroke prevention. Here is her story from heart.org... "Darlene's heart story is unique because she ...
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  • Kirk Douglas, a Star of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Dies at 103

    Rest In Peace, Kirk Douglas. You were a holiday legend. May we all live to be 103! Here is Mr. Douglas' New York Times Obituary .
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  • Let's GO RED!

    In case you were wondering, GO RED is an acronym... see what it means in this quick read by the American Heart Association... https://www.goredforwomen.org/en/get-involved/give/wear-red-and-give/what-it-means-to-go-red-for-women?fun_cid=15819710201623651613
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  • What Kobe Bryant Meant

    What Kobe Bryant Meant "A tragedy in California takes the life of one of basketball’s best modern players and eight others, including his daughter, Gianna" Read Wall Street Journal article here...
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  • Happy National Winnie the Pooh Day!

    Today is "Winnie the Pooh Day!" Make today your favorite day...
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  • Follow Steve Lopez to the Senior Center

    Happy New Year! What changes do you plan to make in your life or daily routine this year? Take a look at this article from one of our favorite writers, LA Times', Steve Lopez (@LATstevelopez) and see what his plans are for this new decade. It is witty and heartfelt as usual but also provides great information on what it means to be aging in 2020. Especially in Pasadena. https://www.latimes.com/cal ...
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