How much does long-term care actually cost, and which parts of it can you plan for?

In this episode, Tom Kaminski welcomes back elder law attorney Maureen Lester for a third conversation, this time focused entirely on the cost side of long-term care. Maureen breaks down the three legally defined levels of care, independent living, assisted living, and skilled nursing, and walks through what each one actually costs today, from hourly in-home caregivers to full-time skilled nursing facilities.

Tom and Maureen also get into how families actually pay for long-term care: private funds, long-term care insurance, and Medicaid, and why leaning on public benefits can mean giving up some choice over where you receive care.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• How independent living, assisted living, and skilled nursing are legally defined, and what separates them
• Current hourly rates for in-home caregivers, and what drives that range up or down
• Why "memory care" is a marketing term, not a legal one, and the questions to ask before choosing one
• What assisted living and skilled nursing typically cost per month, and how quickly those costs can climb
• The difference between short-term rehab (usually covered by Medicare) and true long-term care
• How private pay, long-term care insurance, and Medicaid work together, and what relying on Medicaid can cost you in choice
• Why the fine print in an assisted living contract, especially the base room and board rate, matters more than most families realize

Resources mentioned:

• National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA): naela.org, use the Find a Lawyer tool to locate a qualified elder law attorney in any state

This episode is for informational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or investment advice. Please consult qualified professionals before making any financial decisions.

In this episode of the Sandwich Bread Podcast, Tom Kaminski sits down with Dan Sullivan, Managing Director at First Element Insurance Planners, to break down the insurance essentials every young family should understand. Dan brings a background in insurance litigation and law to the conversation, offering a "manager of risk" mindset rather than a "consumer of insurance" one.

Tom and Dan cover:

• How to calculate the right amount of term life insurance, and why "10x salary" rules of thumb fall short
• Common life insurance pitfalls: paralysis by analysis, choosing the wrong product type, and laddering strategies to manage premiums
• Why long-term disability insurance is statistically more likely to be used than life insurance. An individual entering the workforce today has roughly a 25% chance of becoming disabled before retirement¹, and about one in eight workers will be disabled for five years or more during their career²
• How to evaluate employer group coverage versus supplemental disability policies
• The critical difference between "own occupation" and "any occupation" disability definitions
• Property and liability essentials: home replacement cost reviews, auto coverage check ins, especially with teen drivers, and why umbrella coverage is an underrated, low cost safety net

Whether you're starting a family or already raising one, this episode is a practical primer for thinking through your insurance needs at every stage.

¹ U.S. Social Security Administration Fact Sheet, February 7, 2013.
² Council for Disability Awareness, Commissioner's Disability Insurance Tables A and C.

Disclosure: Tom is a fee-only financial planner. He is not licensed to sell insurance and receives no referral fees, commissions, or compensation of any kind from Dan Sullivan or First Element Insurance Planners.

This episode is for informational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or investment advice. Please consult qualified professionals before making any financial decisions.

Estate planning is one of those things everyone knows they should do and most people keep putting off. But what happens when you finally do it and still get it wrong?

In this episode, Tom sits down with estate planning attorney Anne Rahmeier to walk through the five most common mistakes she sees in her practice. Whether you are just starting to think about your estate plan or have not reviewed yours in years, this conversation will give you the clarity to actually move forward.

Anne brings a rare combination of legal expertise and a genuine educator's heart. After more than a decade in the classroom, she now applies that same approach to helping families get their affairs in order before life gets complicated.

What you will learn:

• Why hiring an attorney is not enough and you have to follow through on funding your trust
• The real problem with online estate planning tools (hint: it is not the software)
• Why your estate plan should not look like your neighbor's
• The ancillary documents most people skip and why they may matter more than your will
• How often to review your documents and what life events should trigger an update

This episode is especially relevant for sandwich generation families navigating their own financial lives while keeping an eye on aging parents.

Anne Rahmeier practices estate planning law in the Kansas City at Weese Rahmeier

This episode is for informational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or investment advice. Please consult qualified professionals before making any financial decisions.

Student loans are changing fast, and July 1, 2026 is a deadline that matters.

Tom sits down with David Gourley, enrolled agent and student loan strategy expert, to walk through what is happening this summer in the federal student loan space and what borrowers need to do before it is too late. David has completed more than 700 student loan consultations and helped clients secure over $17 million in forgiveness. He specializes in working with teachers, public servants, and anyone who needs a clear-eyed guide through one of the most complicated corners of personal finance.

What they cover in this episode:

• Public Service Loan Forgiveness is not going away, but nonprofit eligibility rules could change
• New borrowing limits for graduate and Parent PLUS borrowers take effect July 1
• The repayment plan landscape: what is sunsetting, what is new, and which plan you should be on based on when you took out your loans
• Why borrowers who took out loans between 2007 and 2014 need to apply for PAYE now
• The Parent PLUS consolidation deadline and what happens if you miss it
• What 7 million SAVE borrowers can expect after July 1 and the 90-day window to act
• Married filing separately: when it makes sense and how to run the numbers
• How consolidation and weighted average payment credits can actually work in your favor

David Gourley can be found on the links below:

Newsletter link: https://www.k-12planning.com/newsletter

Website: https://www.k-12planning.com/

Student Loan Consultation: https://calendly.com/k-12planning

This episode is for informational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or investment advice. Please consult qualified professionals before making any financial decisions.

You've opened the 529. Now what? In Part 2 of this series, Tom and Ann Garcia pick up where they left off and get into the practical side of college savings: how much to actually put away, how to invest it, all the ways you can get the money out, and the question every parent asks, "does this hurt my kid's financial aid?"

Ann walks through her savings benchmarks, explains why the gifting page is one of the most underused tools in a college plan, and breaks down exactly how 529s are treated on the FAFSA. The short answer: better than almost any alternative.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• How much to save (and how to think about it if the full amount isn't realistic)
• Why small annual increases compound into big results
• How to invest inside your 529 as your goals evolve
• Every legitimate way to get money out -- qualified and non-qualified
• How to handle a 529 if your child attends private K-12
• How 529 assets and distributions are treated on the FAFSA

Resources mentioned:

• How to Pay for College by Ann Garcia - available on Amazon
• Ann's website: howtopayforcollege.com
• Utah My529 plan: my529.org

Missed Part 1? Start there -- we cover what a 529 is and how to pick one.

This episode is for informational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or investment advice. Please consult qualified professionals before making any financial decisions.

529 plans are one of the most powerful tools in a college savings strategy -- and one of the most misunderstood. In Part 1 of this two-part series, Tom sits down with Ann Garcia, author of How to Pay for College and one of the most respected voices in college planning, to break it all down.

They cover what a 529 actually is, how it compares to a Roth IRA and a 401k, and where it fits alongside your other savings priorities. Ann shares her 10 percent rule for balancing college and retirement savings, makes the case for why college is still worth it (even with everything changing), and gives a dead-simple framework for picking the right plan.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• What a 529 plan is and how it works
• How to balance college savings with retirement savings (the 10 percent rule)
• Why college still delivers strong ROI financial and otherwise
• The two-plan framework for picking a 529: your state plan or Utah My529
• How to use a gifting page to get family contributions into the account
• Why advisor-sold 529 plans are almost never the right choice

Resources mentioned:

• How to Pay for College by Ann Garcia -- available on Amazon
• Ann's website: howtopayforcollege.com
• Utah My529 plan: my529.org
• Morningstar annual 529 plan ratings

This is Part 1 of 2. Part 2 covers funding strategies, growing your balance, qualified distributions, and the FAFSA question.

This episode is for informational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or investment advice. Please consult qualified professionals before making any financial decisions.

When one stock makes up a disproportionately large portion of your portfolio, knowing what to do with it, especially if it's highly appreciated, can feel overwhelming.

In this episode, Tom talks Lauren through considerations when looking at a portfolio with a highly concentrated stock position. They walk through what concentration actually means, why context matters more than any single percentage threshold, and a range of strategies worth knowing about.

Topics covered in this episode:

• What a concentrated stock position is and when it typically signals a need for closer attention
• Why there is no universal answer, and how the bigger financial picture changes everything
• Tax loss harvesting and how losses elsewhere in a portfolio can help offset gains
• Direct indexing as a technology-driven way to generate losses at scale
• Exchange funds and the trade-offs that come with them
• Options overlays, including collars and covered calls, as tools for managing risk
• Slow selling as a straightforward, often underused approach
• Charitable gifting, direct stock donations, and donor-advised funds
• Estate planning considerations, including the step-up in cost basis at death

Many of these strategies involve significant tax and legal considerations. Throughout the episode, Tom emphasizes the importance of working collaboratively with your financial planner, CPA, and estate planning attorney before taking any action.

This episode is for informational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or investment advice. Please consult qualified professionals before making any financial decisions.

When it comes to aging and caregiving, clarity ahead of time can make all the difference.

In this first episode of our on-going series, Building Your Team, we introduce one of the most overlooked and valuable professionals in aging in place, the occupational therapist.

Dr. Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP, occupational therapist and founder of Ask Samie, joins us to explain:

• What occupational therapy actually is
• When it makes sense to get an OT evaluation
• The difference between reactive and proactive home assessments
• How OTs help reduce fall risk and improve daily independence
• What certifications to look for when hiring an OT
• How to access occupational therapy through insurance or private pay

If you are helping a parent stay safely at home, or hoping to plan ahead before you are in a crisis, this conversation will help you understand when and why occupational therapy belongs on your team.

Resources Mentioned:

AskSamie - AskSAMIE is a digital health ecosystem that connects older adults and those with a disability to expert guidance from occupational therapists to make daily living easier. We do this by empowering them both with vetted adaptive equipment, services, and resources that are specific and available 24/7 through SAMIE, our AI tool.

For aging in place specialists, look for certifications such as:

• Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS)
• Certified Living In Place Professional (CLIPP)

This episode is for informational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or investment advice. Please consult qualified professionals before making any financial decisions.