Does Anybody Know Anything About A Trust Fund?

All I can tell you is that during my stay in the nursing home I had an account that my daughter put some of my money in and I could draw for for different expenditures in the home, hairdresser, etc.

Cats, trust funds are 'accounts' held by usually by banks, that have A LOT of money put into them by someone (usually called a 'grantor') which are used by the trustee (usually called a fiduciary) for the needs of the beneficiary. In other words, someone would have to put a lot of money in an account or "trust" that would be accessed only by the trustee (usually a bank) out of which would be paid the needs of whomever the trust was set up for. Unless YOU were the trustee or the beneficiary you wouldn't be able to access the funds. You would need a lawyer and a bank to set up a trust fund, and a hell of a lot of money. Often the funds in a trust are invested by the trustee and the beneficaries live off the interest of the investments made rather than the 'capital' itself - or original monies put into the trust fund.

I wish I could help cats honey but I really have no idea - I just wanted to say that I think it is great that you are looking seriously into how to make the best of caring for your Mom and Dad - and I love the idea of you getting a job where your Mom is - that is genius! xxx

A trust fund is a fund that is managed by somebody else on behalf on someone else. They are more commenly used for minors. You set up a trust fund and have access to it and nobody else does unless you have it where they are allowed to get the money as well. I really dont think a trust fund is something you would want to open for your parents. I know some parents open them for their children. They put money away in it and the kids cant touch it until they turn a certain age. You can also set some up to where the money is only used for certain things such as college. If you have a nice hunk of money you might want to look into something like a savings account with a higher interest rate. Thats all that I really know about trust funds. My husband was suppose to have a trust fund at one point in time. His mother was killed in an accident and a lot of people rasied money for him and his brothers and it was put into a trust fund. Hes never seen the money because of his moms bf, but thats besides the point. It is an account you set up so nobody can touch the money other than certain people.

For info on trust funds, one of the easier sites to look at(although there are hundreds that will explain what it is) is Met Life. Go to the Financial Planning section, then to "Establishing a Trust Fund"(Its under E for Establishing, not T for Trust Fund, because that makes sense?) Anyways, that will explain a little bit about what a trsut fund is, however that may not be the best thing to use in your case. A trust fund is set up so that interest works in your favor while not taking moeny out to get the maximum amount of interest. If you plan on having to use the moeny for living expenses, or even medical bills, you may be better off putting it in a high-yeild savings account at your bank. Many credit unions offer higher interest rates, but if you prefer Bank of America or some other bank, their interest rates are all relatively close. There are tons of differences between the two, the most important being the east of access to the funds. With a Trust, it's rather difficult to ge the money in a hurry, they are usually set up to have a specific payout date(like when a child turns 18 for instance), or just a random date. The high interest savings account(and I think Bank of America has a checking account where you can earn interest as well) lets you have access to the money immediately. Hope that helps a little, PM me if you have any other questions.