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No matter how much money your client has, it's crucial to have a basic estate plan simply because such a plan will then ensure that the financial goals of the client are met after the client dies.

The most comprehensive cost analysis in long term care in the industry and the only one that provides comprehensive data for the past five years was released by Genworth Financial. The study found that nationwide the cost of long term care in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and in the home increased for the fifth consecutive year. The national average for a year in a private nursing home is now $76,460, more than one and a half times the average annual household income in the U.S. of $48,201. In short, most long term care services in this country are rising at a rate faster than inflation. In fact, for one year in a private nursing home in Miami, the cost is an astounding $91,022. Each year Genworth surveys the cost of care in more than 10,000 nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and among home care providers in all 50 states and 90 geographic regions including the District of Columbia. This year, it also included adult day health care costs for the first time. The study also reveals an imminent shortage of caregivers. In actuality, the U.S. will need to recruit 200,000 new direct-care workers each year to meet future demand among the 78 million Baby Boomers as they age. Moreover, the care-giver workforce is dwindling and faces issues of retention. “Rising long term care costs are creating significant financial planning challenges for millions of Americans and their families,” say Buck Stinson, president of Genworth Financial’s Long Term Care Insurance business. As it stands now, a private one-bedroom unit in an assisted living facility has an average annual cost of $36,090. For home care, the average rate for a non-Medicare certified, state licensed home health aide is $19.18, a cost that translates to $43,884 per year for 44 hours per week of care. As far as adult day health care is concerned, first year research findings indicate the average annual cost for five days a week in an adult day health care facility is $15,236 nationally. The survey, 2008 Cost of Care Survey, along with a research paper, “A Workforce to Care for Our Aging” is available at Genworth./com/CostofCare.

Financial Executives International, a 15,000-member group of CFOs and senior-level financial executives, has formed the Corporate Roundtable on International Financial Reporting, a forum where companies can address issues related to implementing International Financial Reporting Standards.

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission has released an exposure draft document offering guidance on monitoring internal control systems.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued an exposure draft of a proposed standard for expanding the required disclosures of certain loss contingencies.

The International Accounting Standards Board has formed an advisory panel to deal with the controversial topic of determining the value of financial instruments in inactive markets.

Six hundred bucks won’t pull people out of debt, but their accountants could help steer them in the right direction. Accountants know which of their clients are receiving stimulus packages from the government—some of whom have not yet received them because of the schedule for paper checks based on individual Social Security numbers, the last of which won’t go out until July. These people likely don’t need advice on how to spend or save that money. Most of them have probably already decided. What they might need is advice on how to budget their checkbooks throughout the year, however. Interestingly enough, the clients who aren’t receiving the stimulus because their gross incomes exceeded the limit may need the most help of all. An article in The New York Times this past weekend talked about some of the hardships high-net worth individuals, especially those with families, are undergoing in the slumping economy. When someone who is worth $8 million complains that he can no longer afford to take monthly trips on his private jet, it might spark us to pick up our tiny fiddles. But when that person’s net worth was $20 million the previous year, it’s a big deal, and some of them are worried about the effect such a loss will have on their family lives. Some people who don’t earn that much to begin with started making smart decisions, like driving less to spend less money on gas, bringing brown-bag lunches from home instead of eating out at work and even, gasp, clipping coupons. More wealthy people might need some advice on how to be frugal (some reportedly started getting haircuts every eight weeks instead of six or claiming they wanted to be brunette to save money on $350 highlights). They aren’t likely to ask for the help, according to the Times’ article, at least not from their friends. But they are willing to discuss their monetary concerns with those who are privy to such information anyway, including their shrinks and, yes, their accountants. One woman I know who works for a New York firm is tasked with helping such clients get a handle on out-of-control spending. She actually had to ask one client to put her on the phone with the salesperson at a jewelry store to stop her from purchasing a luxury item she could no longer afford. That’s an extreme example, but the point is that client recognized she needed help budgeting and the firm was willing to offer such a service to her. Now that tax season is over and things have slowed down a bit, it might behoove accountants to take a look at their client roster and determine who might benefit from additional financial advisory services. If paying their accountants a few extra bucks could help them save a few thousand, they may be interested. And there’s no rule saying firms have to charge for such services, either. It doesn’t take much time to put together a checklist of money-saving tips, especially if they package it with suggestions on how those clients can pay less in taxes next year. It makes those firms look like they care about their clients beyond the once-a-year service they provide, and might entice some of those clients to come back more frequently and stimulate their firms in return.

Richard Hatch, the first-season winner of the reality TV series "Survivor," has appealed his conviction on tax evasion charges to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Government Accountability Office has issued a report containing dozens of recommendations for ways the Internal Revenue Service should improve its internal controls.

Canadian accounting firms Horwath Orenstein and Meyers Norris Penny have merged, allowing MNP to expand eastward to Toronto.