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BUSINESS Monday 25 noveMber 2019
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5 financial tasks you should tackle by year-end

By LIZ WESTON Some states also have
Associated Press “transfer on death” options
A task without a deadline is for vehicles and even real
just wishful thinking. estate. Like pay-on-death
Sometimes, you can get accounts, these options
away with procrastinating. allow you to pass property
If you never get around to directly to heirs without the
alphabetizing your spices, potential delays and costs
no one’s life will change. of probate.
But putting off some tasks Beneficiaries can be added
could have a huge impact to vehicle registrations in Ar-
on loved ones. izona, Arkansas, California,
The close of the year is a Colorado, Connecticut,
good time to set some firm Delaware, Illinois, Indiana,
deadlines to make sure Kansas, Maryland, Missouri,
you won’t leave a financial Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio,
mess for people you love Oklahoma, Texas, Vermont
if you unexpectedly die or and Virginia, according to
become incapacitated. self-help legal site Nolo. To
Consider putting these add or change a benefi-
items on your to-do list with ciary, you apply for a certif-
a Dec. 31 due date: icate of car ownership with
1. CHECK YOUR BENEFICIA- the beneficiary form.
RIES Transfer-on-death deeds
If you need convincing for real estate are avail-
that updating beneficia- able in Alaska, Arizona,
ries is important, consider Arkansas, California, Colo-
the case of David Egelhoff, This April 2017, file photo provided by NerdWallet shows Liz Weston, a columnist for personal fi- rado, District of Columbia,
a Washington state man nance website NerdWallet.com. Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana,
who died two months af- Associated Press Kansas, Michigan, Minne-
ter his divorce was final in sota, Missouri, Montana,
1994. Because he had not eficiary designations had ciaries online, or you may account. Instead, finan- Nevada, New Mexico,
changed his beneficiaries, to be honored. need to call the company cial institutions may offer a North Dakota, Ohio, Okla-
his life insurance proceeds You’re typically prompt- to request the appropriate “pay on death” option. This homa, Oregon, South Da-
and pension plan were ed to name beneficiaries form. allows you to name a ben- kota, Virginia, Washington,
paid to his ex-wife rather when you sign up for a 2. REVIEW PAY-ON-DEATH eficiary who can receive West Virginia, Wisconsin
than his children from a 401(k) or other retirement DESIGNATIONS the money directly. Other- and Wyoming, according
previous marriage. The chil- account. Beneficiaries also You may not have been re- wise, the account typically to legal site RocketLawyer.
dren sued, and the case are usually required when quired to name beneficia- has to go through probate, To add or change a ben-
went all the way to the you buy annuities or life ries when you opened your the legal procedure to dis- eficiary, the deed must be
U.S. Supreme Court, which insurance. You often can checking account or a tribute your property after submitted to the appropri-
ruled in 2001 that the ben- check and change benefi- non-retirement investment you die. ate county recorder.q

Top lawmakers reach agreement on spending as deadline nears

By ANDREW TAYLOR The measures would fill in ations process, other than er, a top priority for top law- wrestled over appropria-
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ne- the details on this summer's to obtain wall funding and makers like Speaker Nancy tions for decades.q
gotiations on a package hard-won budget and debt to boast about record Pen- Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate
of spending bills to fund the deal. The pact is sought by tagon funding. The annual Majority Leader Mitch Mc-
federal government have a broad spectrum of GOP spending bills are, howev- Connell, R-Ky., who have
produced a key break- defense hawks, Demo-
through, though consider- crats pressing to maintain
ably more work is needed recent gains in domestic
to wrap up the long-de- programs, and a dwindling
layed measures. cadre of Washington prag-
Top lawmakers of the House matists eager to demon-
and Senate Appropriations strate that they can make
committees on Saturday divided government work
confirmed agreement on in an increasingly toxic at-
allocations for each of the mosphere.
12 spending bills, a step The talks come as the Dem-
that allows negotiations ocratic-controlled House is
on the $1.4 trillion budget driving toward impeaching
bundle to begin in earnest President Donald Trump,
to try to pass the measures whose demands for billions
by a Dec. 20 deadline. of dollars more for addition-
Sen. Richard Shelby, R- al wall construction along
Ala., and Rep. Nita Lowey, the U.S.-Mexico border
D-N.Y., announced the have slowed the process.
agreement on Saturday Trump has little interest in
through aides. the often-arcane appropri-