B U S I N E S S • R E A L E S T A T E • H O M E I M P R O V E M E N T business A QUEENS COURIER SUPPLEMENT • MARCH 2017 Employment Matters: Five Tips to Manage Your Time Dear Mindy – I often feel overwhelmed at work and don’t know how to get everything done in the day. Do you have any tips to help me manage my time? Overwhelmed in Queens Dear Overwhelmed - When we complain about not having enough time in our day, we are really talking about the inability to prioritize what’s MOST important and eliminate or reduce what isn’t. When you learn how to effectively manage your time, you can stop feeling overwhelmed and focus on being more creative and productive. Try these five ideas to become more productive and put more joy in your day! 1. Know your personal TIME WASTERS - Write down how much time you spend on each task for one week. Then analyze the tasks that take the most time. When you see how much time you’re spending on a particular task you may choose to spend that time differently or find more effective ways to accomplish the same thing. Take some time to discover technology tools that may help you organize your tasks. 2. Find one new thing to DELEGATE - Do you really need to do everything on your plate? Or could someone else, perhaps a team member or a friend develop and learn from doing one of your tasks? Give someone else the opportunity to learn something new and reap multiple benefits! 3. SET A TIMER when using Social Media - It’s easy to get drawn into the wide variety of information on the internet. There are pictures to view, interesting links to open and updates from friends and colleagues. Before we know it an hour or more has passed and we end up scrambling to finish what we started to do. Sometimes the time spent on the internet is positive because it may energize us or give us the opportunity to connect with others. Other times it is just another Time Waster! The trick is to do it CONSCIOUSLY. Whether it’s for work or pleasure, set a time limit and then enjoy guilt-free internet time. 4. CHALLENGE the interruptions - We tend to assume interruptions are important and therefore drop what we’re doing to help someone else. While we can’t stop people from interrupting us, we can change how we respond. So, PAUSE before saying YES and ask yourself, “Is this interruption more important than what I’m currently doing?” OR can it wait until another time? 5. TOP Three List - Make a list every night of the top three things you want to accomplish the next day. The items you prioritize could be anything from sending birthday wishes to finishing a project or writing a blog post. Then make a commitment to start each day by completing the top three items on your list before anything else. Mindy Stern, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, ACC is a trusted HR advisor, career and leadership coach, author, speaker and president of AIM Resource Group Inc. Visit the website at www.aimresourcegroup. com or call 718-217-1074 if you would like to learn more about leadership or provide leadership training to your staff. The Elder Law Minute TM Use Care When Making Distributions to an SNT Beneficiary By Ronald A. Fatoullah, Esq. and Eva Schwechter, J.D. One of the most important goals for people with disabilities is to preserve funds for the long-term, to help maintain a higher quality of life. A special needs trust is a vehicle that holds funds for the benefit of a disabled individual, and is designed to supplement a beneficiary’s income so that he or she can continue his/her standard of living, without jeopardizing his/her eligibility for public benefits, such as Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”). The trustee of the special needs trust can utilize trust funds to provide items and services for the beneficiary. When serving as the trustee of a special needs trust, it is crucial to be careful when making distributions for the benefit of the beneficiary – distributions should not be made directly to the beneficiary. This is particularly true if the beneficiary receives SSI. The Social Security Administration (“SSA”) has strict rules regarding unearned income for SSI recipients, and a distribution made directly to a beneficiary could potentially violate Social Security’s rules. If a distribution violates these rules, the SSA will treat the distribution as unearned income on behalf of the beneficiary and reduce the beneficiary’s income dollar-for-dollar after the first $20 of the distribution. For example, a trustee cannot provide a cash reimbursement to a beneficiary for a purchase the beneficiary has made. This is true even if the beneficiary has a receipt. If the trustee reimburses the beneficiary directly, the reimbursement will be considered unearned income and the beneficiary’s SSI will be reduced dollar-fordollar for the reimbursement. It should be noted that there are ways to make purchases for beneficiaries that will not negatively affect the beneficiary’s SSI benefits. Here are four examples of appropriate disbursements. The trustee can distribute the requested goods directly to the beneficiary in person. For example, if a beneficiary wants a specific item from a brick-andmortar store, he can communicate that information to the trustee; the trustee would then go to the store, buy the item using trust funds, and deliver it directly to the beneficiary. The beneficiary would receive the goods quickly, and shipping costs would be avoided. One potential downside to the beneficiary is the cost of having to compensate a professional trustee for the time spent purchasing and delivering the goods. The trustee can purchase services or goods with trust funds and have the goods or services delivered directly to the beneficiary. For example, a trustee can purchase an item for the beneficiary online and have the items shipped to the beneficiary’s residence. This can be a very efficient way to handle a beneficiary’s request for an item. The trustee can also reimburse a third party who pays for a service. For example, a relative might pay for a beneficiary to attend an event and the trustee can reimburse the relative for the cost of the beneficiary’s ticket. In such cases, it is important to have documentation of the cost of the service and the date on which it was provided. In certain circumstances, the trustee can pay a beneficiary’s credit card bills. It is important to note that this does not include debit cards, which are considered cash and should not be used. Credit cards offer a way for the trustee of a special needs trust to avoid giving the beneficiary cash while allowing the beneficiary more autonomy. However, there are additional restrictions for paying off a beneficiary’s credit card bill, including not paying for food or shelter, and in the case of a Sole Benefit Trust, not paying for goods or services that were used by other people. When used correctly, a Special Needs Trust can be an important tool for individuals with disabilities to ensure that they keep their government benefits while also enjoying a higher quality of life. Ronald A. Fatoullah, Esq. is the principal of Ronald Fatoullah & Associates, a law firm that concentrates in elder law, estate planning, Medicaid planning, guardianships, estate administration, trusts, wills, and real estate. Eva Schwechter is an associate with the firm. The law firm can be reached at 718-261-1700, 516-466-4422, or toll free at 1-877-ELDER-LAW or 1-877-ESTATES. Mr. Fatoullah is also a partner with Advice Period, a wealth management firm, and he can be reached at 424-256-7273. elder law ROnald Fatoulah ESQ, CELA* EMPLOYMENT MATTERS MINDY STERN SPHR, SHRM-SCP, ACC
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