Ben’s Trip to the Las Vegas Bitcoin Convention

Just after Memorial Day, Ben Neiburger attended the Bitcoin Convention in Las Vegas (Ben’s triathlon coach said he should climb a couple of mountains on this bike in preparation for his 3000 mile Race Across America bike race on June 14, so Ben really went for training, but attended the conference anyway).

35,000 people attended the conference, which is evidence that Bitcoin is starting to become a mainstream investment/currency.

Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency that you can buy, sell, and exchange without an intermediary like a bank. An anonymous person or group of people using the name Satoshi Nakamoto created it and introduced it in 2008. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are digital assets that rely on an encrypted network to execute, verify, and record transactions independent of a centralized authority such as a government or bank.

At the convention, many of the speakers and the vendors were using cryptocurrency to facilitate cross-border payments without fees or middlemen. Speakers were espousing using it as a store of wealth and as a hedge versus inflation on the US dollar. For example, if the US government drastically increases the money supply, the value of the US dollar goes down. However, Bitcoin’s limited supply prevents devaluation and, in theory, maintains its value. Of course, this mythical currency derives its value solely from another’s willingness to pay and the attendees firmly believed this would always be the case.

Many people at the conference are using Bitcoin as a savings mechanism and for wealth preservation. There is an estimated $2 trillion invested in Bitcoin. Bitcoin feeds the ethos of many convention goers that, with Bitcoin,  “no one can take your assets away from you”, helps promote the individual independence from any government, and protects against inflation in your investments. Only History will tell whether this is true.

The one thing that was missing from the conference speakers and vendors was how you do estate planning with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency? This harkens back to people burying gold coins in a strong box in their back yard or having lose diamonds in a safe deposit box. Like with these assets, the value is in who physically (or digitally) holds them. There was no acceptable answer to the what happens to cryptocurrency when someone dies. There was no answer on how to protect it and make sure it transfers to a new generation in the way that the owner wants.

The estate planning components will become more and more important as this currency matures as an investment that makes up a larger portion of a people’s net worth.

Stay tuned as we come up with planning options to tackle the thorny issues that estate planning for cryptocurrency raises.

If you have questions about that in the meantime, please reach out to us.

Property ownership is a fundamental aspect of estate planning and asset management. This ownership comes in many forms: individually, with someone else (called joint tenancy), in trust, and with some type of contractual beneficiary.

Different ownership forms each provide distinct asset control mechanisms for the disabled. Different methods exist for transferring ownership upon death. Each of these have different advantages and disadvantages. In this article we we cover the basics briefly and then highlight some surprising issues our clients have experienced with jointly owned financial accounts.

Individual Ownership

When property is owned individually, the owner has complete control over the asset and can decide its use, sale, or transfer. However, this ownership type can pose challenges if the owner becomes incapacitated, as no one may be authorized to manage the property for them. In such cases, establishing a property (financial) power of attorney or a living trust ensures the property is managed according to the owner’s wishes. In addition, if someone dies with an individual asset not held in any other form (such as jointly with someone else, in trust, or with a beneficiary), the asset transfers through the probate process.

Joint Ownership

Joint ownership, on the other hand, involves two or more individuals sharing ownership of the property. This can be beneficial in terms of shared responsibility and ease of transfer upon death, as the property passes to the surviving owner(s) with no probate. However, joint ownership can also lead to complications, such as disagreements between co-owners, issues with creditors, and challenges using powers of attorney. It’s important to consider the implications of joint ownership and to have clear agreements in place to manage potential conflicts. We discuss this further below.

Trusts

Trusts offer significant benefits to individuals with disabilities or complex estate planning needs. A trust allows the owner to transfer property to a trustee, who manages the asset for the benefit of the designated beneficiaries. One can tailor trusts to meet specific needs, such as providing for a disabled family member or ensuring that assets are distributed according to the owner’s wishes. Trusts can also offer tax advantages and protection from creditors, making them a valuable tool in estate planning. Assets that transfer by trust avoid the probate process.

Financial Accounts That Contain Contractual Beneficiary Designations

Financial accounts, such as life insurance policies or retirement plans, often use contractual beneficiaries. Some other financial accounts use beneficiaries in the form of “pay on death” or “transfer on death” accounts. This form of ownership allows the owner to designate a beneficiary who will receive the asset upon their death. Contractual beneficiaries can streamline the transfer process and ensure the asset reaches the intended recipient without probate. However, it’s important to review and update beneficiary designations regularly to reflect changes in circumstances, such as marriage, divorce, or the birth of a child. You cannot control what happens to an asset after death if it transfers through a beneficiary designation. So, don’t appoint a minor or someone with creditor problems as a direct beneficiary of an account. In addition, if you are going to have estate administration expenses after you die (such as funeral, payment of expenses, money to fix up the house), please don’t leave all of your assets to others by beneficiary designations because it requires all the beneficiaries to pitch in with the expenses out of their inheritances — but this isn’t a legal requirement. We have had many estates where some of the beneficiaries refused to contribute towards the shared expenses leaving the “responsible child” to pay those expenses on his or her own. Don’t do that to people you love just because its easier for you to fill out a beneficiary form instead of paying a professional to do it correctly.

Problems with Jointly Owned Financial Accounts

Most people think the most simple planning technique is to hold assets joint with another, since it permits the other person access to the asset and it transfers automatically upon death. While this is true, most people are not aware of some huge downsides to using joint tenancy to manage assets during disability and at death, especially when the joint tenant is not the spouse. (It’s usually appropriate to have your spouse on an account jointly with you.)

All joint owners must authorize any changes to the joint account — adding additional joint tenants, removing a joint tenant, and even using a power of attorney for a mentally disabled joint tenant.

For example, in one case, we had a joint account between mother and someone whom I’ll refer to as “bad daughter.” Mother became incapacitated. Bad daughter became belligerent when our client, the “good daughter,” needed to pay some of her mother’s healthcare expenses. The bank would not let her use her mother’s perfectly valid and legal power of attorney on the joint account without the consent of bad daughter. We believe this was a policy of the bank that holds the account (I recently confirmed with my own bank that this is a policy they sometimes enforce too). To get past this issue, the good daughter hired our office to advocate with the bank’s legal department to find a solution to exercise control of assets in the joint account to pay mother’s bills. While we eventually used the power of attorney to withdraw the money from the account and set up new accounts using the power of attorney, the joint account was problematic because of the belligerent joint tenant. Thousands of dollars in legal fees problematic . . .

Challenges Closing Joint Accounts: If you need to close a joint account, or take someone’s name off the joint account, you need the consent of both holders of the account. When you are managing things without a power of attorney, this can create problems. If you have a non-cooperative joint tenant, this can prevent account closure.

The Joint Tenant May Empty the Account: Also, with a joint account, each joint tenant may take all the money out of the account. Therefore, if you have a child on the accounts, and the child goes rogue, that child can pull all the money out of the account and the other joint tenant cannot stop this.

Assets in the Account May be Considered Assets of a Joint Tenant Even If the Joint Tenant is on the Account for Convenience:  If a joint tenant faces a court judgment, the creditor might attempt to collect from their interest in the account. A divorce may also classify (sometimes wrongly) the account as an asset. Medicaid will consider the entire account to be the funds of the Medicaid applicant.

In another anecdotal horror story, a gentleman we shall call Jack had parents who divorced after many years of marriage.  It was a bad divorce, and a lot of anger.  Jack was added as a joint owner to his father’s account in order to help him with his finances.  A few years later, Jack’s mother made a string of terrible financial decisions, and Jack offered to help her as well, and was added as a joint owner to her account as well.  Jack’s mother made more terrible decisions and ended up in debt that she could not pay.  The bank ended up taking money out of Jack’s father’s account (even though the parents had no contact and no shared financials) because Jack was the joint owner on both accounts.  There was a lot more to it, but the vastly simplified version is that the mom’s debt was seen as Jack’s, and the father’s assets were also seen as Jack’s – and thus used to pay them off.  It was a nightmare to try to rectify. In addition, there was no legal representation during the process, so the bank may have acted wrongly (this was an anecdotal story, so we do not know all of the facts).

So, for disability management and putting somebody on an account, sometimes it’s better for them to be an authorized signatory on the account instead of a joint owner. You can appoint someone as the beneficiary of the account if you still want the account to transfer outside of the probate process and you are not using trust estate planning.

]]> 7318 https://generationlaw.com/2025/04/29/social-securitys-new-identity-verification-measures/ https://generationlaw.com/2025/04/29/social-securitys-new-identity-verification-measures/#respond Tue, 29 Apr 2025 17:18:02 +0000 https://generationlaw.com/?p=7287 By Ben A. Neiburger, Attorney, Generation Law

Social Security is implementing new identity verification measures, and you may be curious about their impact on you. These updates aim to combat fraud, abuse, and waste. However, you may have challenges making any changes to your benefits if you cannot do so online. So, if you think you may have trouble doing that, now is the time to try it (when there is no emergency). Today, I will outline the new procedures and the reasons behind their introduction. For instance, phone applications may soon be phased out, with online applications becoming the sole method of submission.

The reason this is important now, is that in the future, you or a loved one may only have access to Social Security through online means. If you cannot get into an online Social Security Account, the wait to see someone in person could be a very long time. So, we strongly recommend that EVERYONE try to log into their Social Security Account online. If there is a problem and there is a long wait to get access, it’s much better to do that when there is no emergency than when there is one.

If a person cannot get access to their online account, they must schedule an in person meeting with Social Security. Because of shrinking staffing, an in person meeting may take a long time.

Although the current verification system is effective, Social Security is implementing new security measures. One proposed change is to eliminate phone applications and require online applications (although Social Security’s website on April 22, 2025 said they are still taking telephone applications). To apply, you will need to create a My Social Security account at ssa.gov and complete the identity verification process.

The new verification process will require online applications and facial recognition.

Typically, the verification process is done on a smartphone and involves scanning your ID, taking a live photo, and using facial recognition technology to confirm your identity. While some individuals may find this straightforward, others, especially older adults, may face difficulties. Additionally, the planned closure of field offices could make it even more challenging for those who need in-person assistance.

Here is what the Social Security Administration is saying about who needs to prove their identity using the new procedures:

“If you are not applying for benefits or changing direct deposit information for current benefits, there is no need to contact Social Security to prove identity.

People will continue to receive their benefits on schedule to the bank account information in Social Security’s records without needing to prove identity.

If changing direct deposit information for existing benefits, the most convenient and secure way to prove identity is with Social Security’s online services using a personal my Social Security account.

Currently, a person can change where their direct deposit goes as follows:

“Beginning April 28, 2025, you can change your direct deposit by calling 1-800-772-1213. Before you call, go to ssa.gov/PIN to get a one-time code that you will give to the Social Security representative. To generate the code, you will need to sign in to or create a personal my Social Security account. If you are unable to create an account, you will need to come into a local Social Security office or arrange for direct deposit through your bank.”

If you want to receive a paper check, a person must visit a Social Security office before changing mailing address.

You will need to visit a Social Security office in person:

• “If you need to change direct deposit information and cannot do it online or by phone.
• If you apply for benefits by telephone and your claim is flagged as a potential fraud risk.
• If you use a paper application to apply for Retirement, Survivors, or Auxiliary (Spouse or Child) benefits”

Some other tidbits:

You do not need to contact Social Security to continue your monthly benefits at your current bank. If you need to change your direct deposit information in the future, you can change that information online with a personal my Social Security account or automatic enrollment service through your bank.

You can still apply for benefits by telephone (but the wait times are long)

For more answers regarding these procedures, go to this link at Social Security: What to Know about Proving Your Identity | SSA

Advocacy Alert: Contact Your Members of Congress About Cuts to Medicaid in House Budget Resolution

As a board member of the the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) I am always trying to fight legislation that will unfairly impact the people I have dedicated my life helping.

This week NAELA members received an urgent call to action to oppose the proposed budget scheduled for a vote in Congress.  The linked email was sent to all NAELA members, and I want to share it with you as well.  It contains instructions how you can help in the fight plus a sample letter that you can use to contact your Representative and Senators.  As the House vote might happen as early as tonight (February 25, 2025), we ask that you join us now in taking action.  Thank You!

Below is an excerpt from the letter.  Please click here to read the entire letter, which contains a sample letter you can use when emailing your members of Congress.

As the House of Representatives returns this week from its Presidents’ Day recess, members will vote on a budget resolution that calls for at least $2 trillion in cuts to government spending, including cuts to Medicaid that could negatively impact older Americans and those with special needs. NAELA is asking you to contact your members of Congress to share how such cuts to Medicaid would affect your clients.

House Budget Calls for Medicaid Cuts

About half of the total cuts – at least $880 billion – would come from the purview of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and the Medicaid program specifically. Among them are calls to institute work requirements for certain Medicaid beneficiaries to achieve about $100 billion of the total savings needed, according to an analysis by Congressional committees (page 20).

ACA Matching Is the Target

Among the other cuts being considered are eliminating the enhanced federal matching rate for adults who are covered as part of the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion, yielding $561 billion in savings (page 20), and instituting a per-capita limit on the amount the federal government spends on Medicaid beneficiaries, yielding up to $900 billion in savings (page 21). Eliminating the expansion enhanced matching rate could cause up to 20 million people to lose Medicaid coverage. Placing a per-capita cap on federal funding for Medicaid would be a major departure from the current open-ended federal financing structure. The cap would likely be based on spending in a prior year to be determined and grow according to medical inflation, which has historically not kept pace with growth in Medicaid spending. If this happens, states would have to either reduce their spending on Medicaid or cover any amount of spending above the cap with state funds. With less money coming in from the federal government under either or both of these proposed policies, states will have to make some tough choices between Medicaid and other funding priorities, such as education. As a result, states may feel pressure to reduce or eliminate Medicaid services that are considered optional, such as home and community-based services (HCBS). In the event that your state’s HCBS programs begin to involve lengthy wait lists, or could no longer offer the services currently in place, consider how this would impact your clients.

What Can You Do?

These changes could have a direct impact on the services your people are able to access and their quality of life. We urge you to share how this would impact you and the people you know with your members of Congress.

In addition to sharing your own story, you may also want to include the percentage of residents in your area who rely on Medicaid. You can find that information here.

To find an email address and phone number for your member of the House of Representatives, click here. To find out how to contact your senators, click here.

We encourage you to reach out as soon as possible to your member of Congress before the House vote on Tuesday, February 25. This budget resolution has been endorsed by President Trump, and House Republican leadership is eager to pass it this week.

Thank you for your consideration of this request. Please contact Mary Lynn Rynkiewicz at the NAELA National Office with any questions.

In the November/December Newsletter, we reported that for 2025, Ben decided that it would be meaningful for the first part of his 2025 athletic season to be a part of a team that would both do something epic and raise funds for the good things that the American Lung Association does. So, in June 2025, he will be racing in one of the most difficult bike races on the planet, Race Across America (RAAM), covering 3000 miles from sea to sea.

We also reported that in September 2025, Ben will be heading, at age 56, to the Italian and Swiss Alps to complete the infamous ICON Livigno Xtreme Triathlon (swimming in an Alpine Lake, 15,000’ of climbing on the bike, and a trail marathon up a mountain) where he will scout one of the 2026 Winter Olympic venues.

We promised to give you updates as the season (and his exhaustion) progresses.

The Challenge

The main challenge with these races is to have the fitness to complete them and be able to go fast enough to meet team expectations.

First, to pedal faster for his bike race (the team wants to average 18 mph cross country) and to be able to climb European mountains on his bike, Ben would either need to get stronger in his mid-50’s or weigh less, or both. Knowing that he can’t build too much muscle at his age, he hired a sports nutritionist (Heather Fink @ Nutrition and Wellness Solutions) at the beginning of November to help him lose his “food baby” pot belly. She told him to limit his calories to about 1800 per day (with a 40% carbohydrate, 30% fat, and 30% protein mix) and stop drinking tasty craft cocktails with abandon. The trick is that the 1800 calorie limit is independent of how many calories he burns with his training (his workouts burn an average of 800 calories per day). Three months and fifteen lost pounds later (and still missing his cocktails – well, he is cheating once a week or so) he is still trying to keep his calories low and is failing by 300 to 400 per day, but the lost weight is staying off.

What does it take to get an older body ready to bike all day for a whole week and then to do an another all day swim/bike/run in the mountains? Lots of training time, but not too much (or something will break). Plus, you still need to work at your job and have a life. Ben has been training for triathlons since 2014 with his first long distance crazy race in 2018. His body has a lot of time building a fitness base to start training on. Ben also has a Triathlon coach who he has worked with since the beginning. Elizabeth Waterstraat out of Multisport Mastery in Naperville has been making sure Ben doesn’t hurt himself for over 10 years (and in the last 10 years Liz has helped Ben reach almost every single goal he set).

Each week, Liz uploads workouts to Ben’s calendar within a Training Application called TrainingPeaks that are a combination of swimming, biking, running, and strength exercises. He started out training eight hours per week and is now pushing to 12 hours per week of training. Here is what a typical week looks like:

Ben started ramping up his training in November after a four-month break of super easy workouts following his crazy 2024 race in the Scottish Highlands. After each workout, Ben’s smartwatch uploads workout metrics to TrainingPeaks app along with making subjective comments on how the workout went. Liz reviews these, gives Ben feedback, and changes future workouts based on all of that.

The gradual increase of stress on the body along with periodic rests increases his fitness slowly until the race in June. For additional preparation, Ben will need to go away for a bike camp or two and spend a couple days simulating the bike race by pedaling for 20 minutes, taking an hour break and pedaling for another 20 – for an entire day or two.

As Liz said to Ben at the beginning of his current journey, “Why do you do this to yourself?” When the idea of “epic” is not quite enough of an answer to keep Ben motivated, raising money for an amazing cause gets him through the day.

Will you help?  We appreciate anything you can give!

Thanks to your generosity Ben is already just over half of the way to the 30K goal.  Please consider donating to help him get the rest of the way there.  Remember all contributions are tax-deductible. Click here or the button below to make your donation.  Thank you so much!

As the new year begins, the latest legislative changes related to estate planning, long-term care, and Medicaid, as well as annual updates to the Federal tax code, begin to take effect. While some changes clarify the law in these areas, others will have a larger impact. Here is an overview of legislation that took effect January 1, 2025:

Estate Planning & Guardianship (Illinois)

This past year, the legislature amended the Illinois Trust Code to require trustees to search for any unclaimed property that may be associated with the trust they are administering. Before destroying any records, the trustee is also required to search for any property that has been reported to a state unclaimed property administrator. This change also requires trustees to keep trust records for a minimum of seven years after the trust is dissolves.

Also taking effect is Senate Bill 3421, which establishes clear guidelines for when it is reasonable for third parties to refuse to honor a Power of Attorney (POA). The bill provides protections against agents acting improperly or fraudulently, while also outlining specific circumstances under which it would be reasonable to refuse to honor a power of attorney, such as when there is evidence of financial abuse or incapacity.

Under the new law, it would be unreasonable for a third party to refuse to honor a POA if the POA is not in the statutory prescribed form, if there has been a lapse of time since its execution or the agent’s acceptance, or if the document lacks original signatures but is accompanied by a certification. However, refusal would be considered reasonable under certain conditions, such as when the agent fails to provide a required affidavit, refuses to provide a certified copy of the POA, or when there is a suspicion of financial abuse, incapacity, or fraud. Additionally, if there are concerns about the principal’s death, incapacity, or a fraudulent POA, refusal may be justified. For example, if there are issues with the signatures, notarization, or other issues with the documentation that could suggest fraud or invalidity. Other reasonable causes for refusal include evidence of criminal history, prior financial mismanagement by the agent, or concerns about neglect or exploitation.

The legislature also passed House Bill 4251, which clarifies the documents that can be executed in accordance with the Electronic Wills and Remote Witnesses Act. While electronic wills became increasingly popular since the Act originally passed during the COVID-19 pandemic, this bill clarifies that the Act does not apply if the document expressly does not allow electronic signatures.

Lastly, the legislature made a small change to the Probate Act of 1975 regarding the procedures and notice requirement for the appointment of a successor guardian. House Bill 4961 requires that notice of the hearing on a petition for a successor guardian is provided at least three days before the hearing for a successor to a temporary guardian and at least 14 days before a hearing for a successor to a limited or plenary guardian. The notice should be sent by mail or delivered in person to the individual with a disability, the proposed successor guardian, and any others listed in the petition. However, the court may waive the notice requirement if good cause is found.

Medicaid & Long-Term Care (Illinois)

Several pieces of legislation passed in 2024 affect long-term care and Medicaid. Senate Bill 2697, for example, requires Medicaid to cover genetic cancer screening for high-risk patients starting in 2026. This will provide more opportunities for early detection of inherited gene mutations linked to cancer, and also provide Medicaid patients with coverage for proactive, evidence-based screenings and treatment.

For those who may be applying for Medicaid later this year, Senate Bill 3430 mandates that the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services develop a comprehensive guide explaining Medicaid’s look-back period, which determines eligibility for long-term care. By July 1, 2025, the Department is to have available on its website a guide that provides:

• Overview of the Medicaid 5-year look-back period
• Eligibility criteria affected by the Medicaid 5-year look-back period
• Calculation of the Medicaid 5-year look-back period
• Examples and scenarios
• Transfers or gifts during the Medicaid 5-year look-back period
• Exceptions and exemptions
• Documentation requirements
• Planning for eligibility
• Appeals and dispute resolution
• Contact information and resources
• Frequently asked questions

Once available, this guide will be a valuable resource for individuals and families navigating the complexities of Medicaid eligibility and planning for long-term care needs.

Additionally, the legislature passed a number of bills into law this past year focused on improving protections and care for residents of long-term care facilities. House Bill 4276 introduces new consumer protection measures, while other bills, such as Senate Bill 1779 and House Bill 5643, create a program for certified medication aides and expand coverage for at-home pregnancy tests, respectively.

Taxes (Federal)

Inflation Adjustments

Ahead of the new year, the IRS released its inflation-adjusted numbers for 2025, which will affect all taxpayers.

The standard deduction will increase to $15,000 for unmarried individuals and $30,000 for married couples filing jointly. Additionally, individuals who are blind or aged will benefit from an additional deduction of $1,600, or $2,000 for those who are unmarried and not surviving spouses.

The tax brackets for trusts and estates have also been adjusted for inflation. If taxable income is $3,150 or less, income to the trust or estate will be taxed at 10%, while income over $15,650 will be taxed at 37%.

Additionally, the estate tax exclusion has increased to $13.99 million for those who die in 2025. The annual gift exclusion increased to $19,000, with a special provision for gifts to noncitizen spouses, which remain exempt up to $190,000.

The IRS also increased the gross income limitation for a qualifying relative (a person who can be a dependent under the tax code). While the tax code allows taxpayers to claim certain individuals as dependents on their returns (a “qualifying relative”), these qualifying relatives must earn income below a certain threshold. In 2025, a qualifying relative will need to earn less than $5,200 annually to be claimed as a dependent of another.

Long-term care premiums eligible to be deducted as medical costs are based on the taxpayer’s age but are also adjusted for inflation. Individuals aged 40 or younger can deduct premiums up to $480, while those between 40 and 50 can deduct premiums up to $900. Individuals aged 50 to 60 can deduct premiums up to $1,800 and those between 60 and 70 can deduct up to $4,810. For individuals over 70, they can deduct up to $6,020.

Starting in 2025, workers will be able to contribute up to $23,500 to their 401(k) accounts, an increase from $23,000 in 2024. Those over the age of 50 can still make additional contributions, which will remain at $7,500 in contributions over $23,500. A new provision for workers aged 60 to 63 will allow them to make even larger catch-up contributions of up to $11,250 over $23,500, replacing the previous $7,500 limit for this age group.

Lastly, the tax imposed on the first sale of any arrow shaft is $0.63 per shaft in 2025. We have been amused about this tax for at least the last 20 years and believe everyone should know about it if they are thinking of becoming a bow and arrow hobbyist.

Other Changes

The IRS is continuing to phase out the exclusion for income from savings bonds used for qualifying education expenses. Starting in 2025, this exclusion will no longer be available to joint returns with incomes exceeding $149,250, and will not be available for other returns with income exceeding $99,500.

The Illinois legislature amended state law to allow unused funds in college savings programs to be rolled over into a Roth IRA. While this change has been in effect under federal law since 2022, the Illinois legislature needed to act in order for this change to apply to Illinois’s Bright Start and Bright Directions 529 plans. Now, parents will be able to use those leftover funds to start retirement savings for their child.

On the digital front, cryptocurrency tax reporting will see an overhaul. Starting in 2025, cryptocurrency exchanges will be required to issue a Form 1099-DA reporting sales to customers. Additionally, taxpayers must report their cost basis for crypto sales based on the specific wallet or account where the assets were held. This change eliminates the “universal wallet” approach that was previously allowed.

Starting in 2025, the Illinois Gives Act (Public Act 103-0592) introduces a nonrefundable state income tax credit for 25% of charitable gifts made to qualified community foundations, effective for the next five years. This benefit is particularly advantageous for donors over the age of 70, as they can use their IRAs to make charitable contributions and itemize these gifts on their federal income taxes. As a result, they can reduce both their federal and state income taxes. The credit is capped at $100,000 per individual.

Chicago Tax Changes

The Chicago City Council passed its 2025 Revenue Ordinance to make several changes to Chicago-specific taxes that took effect January 1. The city raised the tax on leases for personal property to 11%. Additionally, the city’s tax on television, streaming, and online games increased to 10.25%. Parking, including valet services, are now taxed at 23.25% and bags issued at check-out incur a tax of $0.10 per bag. Effective January 6^th, the city began imposing a surcharge of $1.50 for rides from rideshare services in the Downtown Zone between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. Lastly, the taxes on software licenses, cloud services, and other digital items increased from 9% to 11%.

A Cross Country Race for Lung Health

In 2025, I will combine my passion for crazy endurance events and helping people by joining “Team Breathe America” to help raise $200,000 for the American Lung Association while completing one of the hardest endurance events in the world, the Race Across America.

The Race Across America (RAAM) is a world famous 3000-mile road cycling race starting in San Diego and ending in Atlantic City.  Last year, one of my friends, Philip Hammer, asked me to contribute to Team Breath America for RAAM in 2024. I did. Two hours before the Team approached the starting line in June 2024, COVID took them down, and they never started the race. Despite the irony of being derailed by a major respiratory disease in their campaign to raise awareness of lung health, they delivered over $240,000 to the American Lung Association (ALA).

Despite (something) in the road, they are trying again in 2025. The team was short of their full 2025 compliment, so I volunteered to take one of the empty cyclist slots. In addition, my son Levi, his girlfriend Katie, and my nephew Sammy (all of them schoolteachers) agreed to be part of the 20 crew members for the Team. We are now hard at work training, planning, and, of course, fundraising.

Team Breathe America will be at the starting line on June 14, 2025, ready to go.

How Does the Team Work?

The Team divides the eight cyclists into two groups of four. Each group will have an eight to 14-hour shift. During the shift, each cyclist will take a turn riding alone, hard, for 20 minutes. So, there is only one cyclist on the road at a time. After a cyclist completes his 20-minute turn, the other three will take their 20-minute turns. After the one-hour rest, the first cyclist will go out for his 20 minutes again. We repeat this pattern for one entire shift and then the other group takes the next shift. We will do this for more than a week, straight.

Why Lung Health Matters to Me

Lung diseases transformed my life. It started as a young college graduate watching my grandmother die from lung cancer, it followed by the next 30 years watching my spouse’s struggles with asthma compounded in the last several years by long-COVID, and seeing clients in my Elder Law practice who suffer from COPD and can no longer fully interact with life and family in a way that protects their dignity. This has ignited a passion within me to make a difference. I’ve witnessed firsthand the devastating impact of these diseases, and I’m determined to help.

The Difference that the American Lung Association Makes

By donating to Team Breathe America, you’re helping the American Lung Association

• Send more than $25 million towards groundbreaking research through the American Lung Association Research Institute
• Support policies and legislation that can lead to better lung health across the nation.
  • Laws to protect children from deadly air pollution and tobacco products,
  • Support funding for critical lung disease research and health programs at the federal level, and
  • Provide affordable quality healthcare for more people.
• Support public health infrastructure funding research for lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, tuberculosis and other lung diseases.
  
• Establish online support community for those facing long-Covid symptoms and their loved ones.
• In 2023, they launched the American Lung Association patient & caregiver network providing work, education and access to research for the 34 million people nationwide living with lung disease.

Will you help?  We appreciate anything you can give!

I’ve already made what is, for me, a big gift. And I’m back on the bike, training hard.  Remember all contributions are tax-deductible. Click here or the button below to make your donation.  Thank you so much!

This post is the third and last installment in a series. Click here to read Part 1 of my Celtman! adventure, and here to read Part 2.

The Run

Transition 2 (“T2” bike to run) was in a grass field with a tarpaulin in the middle (rain shelter) and two porta potties. The athlete supports parked their cars in a cordoned off section of the field. Once they spotted their athletes, they moved gear from their car to the tarp, where the athletes changed from wet bike gear into less wet running gear.

The long bike ride and rain disoriented me. I was mumbling and not thinking intelligibly. The only thing in my mind (other than how quickly I could get to the porta potty — which was out of toilet paper — but I had brought some with me, a win!), was whether I should quit. The bike was okay, but I was near the cut off time, and I couldn’t imagine a hiking marathon in the chilly rain. I started a hypothermic shiver. My mind shut down. Levi asked what he could do or bring, so I asked for a few minutes to put my thoughts together enough to decide. I put a handful of gummy bears in my mouth. The heavens continued to release their downpour. Under the tarp (a race marshal came by to push up the tarp to let all the water drain in large torrents), I considered my options as I shivered. I remembered how much fun hypothermia is from my Norseman race. The situation did not look promising. Next to me were two Scottish racers, my soon to be new friend, Lorna, and another guy — he was half naked trying to change into wet running gear. Lorna was dressing for what looked like a winter run. Since I was already there, and wet, I decided I would give the run a try. I asked Levi to stay nearby in the car in case I wanted to bail after the run started. Transition took over 20 minutes for me. That’s a long time in a race.

During our course reconnaissance, we tried to find the run course. There were no markings, no information of exactly where it was. We barely knew where T2 was. I found out why after lacing up my trail shoes, shorts, running shirt, waterproof jacket, running cap, hydration vest with 7 hours of gels, a bag of dry socks, blister kit, and gloves. I also brought bug spray with me, but why would you ever want to put that stuff on while it’s raining?

The “run out” signs directed the athletes to the edge of a meadow. From the edge of the meadow, the path winded into the woods. I followed Lorna’s cheery blue form. She seemed to be eager about running. I was just hoping my body movement would warm me up and I wouldn’t twist an ankle on anything. Luckily, Lorna was running at my “training pace”. This was a 13 minute per mile pace with walking breaks. I could almost go that fast. We ventured into the woods as the rain lessened to a drizzle.

By this time, I had screwed up the timekeeping on my sport’s watch. I had pressed too many buttons and the “triathlon” timing function was already off (according to the watch I entered transition four hours ago and have been running since then). I stopped the watch “workout” and started another timer for just a run. I set the run function to “auto stop,” so when I would stop as stoplights when running back home, I wouldn’t have to press the pause button. However, when you slow to a walk or stop, it stops. The watch timer is important for several reasons. If you are trying to run a specific pace, it gives you that feedback. If you want to know the distance you traveled, it tells you. If you want to know how much time goes by since you plan to eat a gel every 30 minutes, it tells you, unless auto stop is on AND YOU HAVE TO “RUN” THROUGH A BOG.

A BOG.

I’ve read about bogs. Archeologists find preserved ancient remains in bogs. Objects vanish forever in bogs, never to resurface. They make whisky from stuff found in bogs. I didn’t realize racecourses passed through bogs. After a rainstorm. In Scotland.

F*ck me.

The run course followed a river towards Torridon Village. The boggy side. It’s not quite like the mud you find in the United States. It’s this mucky, loamy, flotsam that seems it would suck you down to the center of the earth, but somehow loosens its grip to let you sink your feet in again. As we entered the bog, the path got muddier and muddier. I tried not to get my feet wet by hopping from one pile of vegetation to another. After a short while, that became impossible. In addition, I did not want wet feet for the remainder of the marathon. Fail. And then the loamy mud got deeper. Path weaved through sheep pastures. We opened and closed gravity gates between the pastures. The muck got worse. In a race. Really? Across gurgling, fast-flowing streams. You could jump over the first one. But then they grew too wide, forcing you to walk through them without falling. Discovering the tricky traverse to be an excellent method to clean off boggy loam from your shoes.

The forest sections had unclear paths. I tried to stay away from the vegetation because of the ticks the race organizers said were out there in force. Then Scottish Highland Midges attacked. That’s where I questioned my decision to not apply bug spray. According to the Internet, midges are biting flies much smaller than mosquitos. I could have told you that without searching. They are found in the Highlands of Scotland because they like to lay their eggs in wet soil. Fantastic. All the damp moss and rushes in the Highlands, therefore, makes it a paradise for midge egg-laying. Helpful fact. Allegedly, only half of them bite—male midges prefer chilling and eating not humans – but the females need the protein in your blood to help grow her eggs. And that’s where athletes crossing bogs slowly come in. After the race, I had a million bites on my lower legs.

The vegetation closed in as the loam stuck to your body. There was no escape. Oh yeah, I had brought extra socks with me to make sure my feet stayed dry. LOL. I even took a video of my predicament and texted that to Coach Liz so she could see what I was going through.

“Are we having fun yet?” She replied. Ummm “No.”

Near the top of an 800 foot climb on a gravel road. The sun came out for just a little bit.

The mile or more of bog running ended, and the course changed into rocky paths and then a gravel road. Some people ran past me. I attempted to match their pace, but could only manage a feeble shuffle. Then the gravel road climbed. Steeply. And the rain started again. And the road climbed more. Two miles and 800 feet of elevation gain. My lower back complained (and didn’t stop screaming at me for a week). Hiking pace slowed. At the top of the hill, it stopped raining. If only it signaled a deliverance.

T2A – End of my race. I was only 45 minutes late for the cut off.

All in all, I shuffled for 10 miles over various surfaces, none worse than the trek across the bog. I emerged from the hills onto the road to Torridon. Levi waited patiently for me there. We were still a mile from T2A. The time was 6:08pm. The 13-hour cut off for continuing the race after T2A expired 8 minutes ago. Oh well. It was probably for the best. I didn’t have to think about quitting. I didn’t have to walk, shuffle, run for 16 more miles (think, 6 to 8 more hours), and risk Levi getting sicker.

My race was over.

The Aftermath and Continuation of Rental Car Tire Hell

We walked a couple of miles back to the car. To turn in the GPS and wrist tracker, we drove past the athletes finishing their last 10k to Torridon hall. We saw athletes coming off of the mountain. They were running, after that mountain climb, fast. I watched them in awe. I wondered what I needed to do to perform as well as them (probably lose weight, stop drinking and train more).

Little did I suspect that my gauntlet in the Scottish Highlands wasn’t quite over. After finishing the buffet at Torridon Hall, we made the hour drive back to the Airbnb in Gairloch in the dimming daylight. Levi was being extra careful driving on the one-track road so he wouldn’t run over other exhausted finishing athletes, some running straight in the roadway and others going not too steady. We got back to the Airbnb around 9pm, had some snacks, and went to bed. We slept in, relaxed and watched movies all day Sunday (I didn’t want to do another two hours round trip to the race headquarters for the awards ceremony—I didn’t finish the race so no need to spend that amount of time and effort to see awards and not get a t-shirt (you get a race t-shirt only if you finish the race).

On Monday, the children drove the second rental car back to Glasgow to continue their summer adventure in other cities. Levi wanted to leave at 8am for the five-hour drive to catch his girlfriend at the airport as she arrived in the country. Barbara and I were eager to speak with the garage about collecting our car and its two new tires that afternoon, in order to head to the Isle of Skye. The only catch is biking for an hour to cover 13 mountainous miles to the garage. Taxi services and Uber drivers are nonexistent in the remote Highlands. Besides walking, the only option is going to town and talking to people until finding a ride north.

We called the garage at midday, eager to learn when the car would be ready. The garage said they needed to order the tires from Inverness, and it would not arrive until 2pm the next day, Tuesday. This meant we would miss one and a half days on the beautiful isle. We then spoke with the rental counter in Glasgow (you can get telephone numbers of personnel when you really have problems) to discuss our options. They could call “recovery” to come pick us up and deliver us somewhere. To reach Inverness, a 90-minute drive in the opposite direction, we might consider getting a new car. Alternatively, we could explore Skye, but I’m unsure how we would manage without a car. Perhaps we could take the train with our heavy triathlon race luggage. LOL. We could also call a taxi service to pick up us and our mountain of luggage and deliver us to the airport in Inverness and Avis would pay for it. Online, the earliest pick up was at 8:45pm with a fee of £220. We called the garage twice after that to understand our options with them better, including hiring one of their drivers to get us somewhere. But he wasn’t working and, “We already ordered the tires.” Barbara and I talked and agreed that a one-day delay isn’t catastrophic. Better than a late-night delivery. We walked the 1.5 miles to our *new* favorite haunt, the Millcroft Hotel, to drown our sorrowful delay in pornstar martinis and local single malt Scotch Whiskey.

The next morning, I was up early doing laundry and noticed that Levi left my 10-year-old wetsuit in transition an hour’s drive away (I need a new wetsuit anyway, right?) and stowing triathlon gear in large bags. To burn some time, I took a long walk to Gairloch Harbor and the estate across the street, searching for an advertised waterfall that eluded me. Barbara completed her packing. We were told by the garage that the tire was expected at 2pm. We both crossed our fingers and prayed for the tires to come. I called the Garage and spoke with Mary, who was so nice and helpful. She said the tires arrived and they’ll start putting them on the car now. I confirmed that nobody could bring the car to me (30 min drive each way), so I’d have to bike there. As I prepared the bike, I wondered if my leg muscles would still respond to neuronal commands and if my extremely sore lower back would force me to stop on the side of the road. As an afterthought, I also packed rain gear. I am starting to learn that rain is bound to happen on Scotland’s western coast, regardless of the weather report.

My legs worked, and I retraced the western edge of the Celtman bike course. Ahead, I knew there was 1000 feet of vertical climbing and 13 miles between me and deliverance. I set my bike computer to track mileage and vertical climb to help me pass away the distance and time. 30 minutes later, of course, it rained. Then the wind picked up. It’s the Highlands. At least I didn’t get a flat on the bike. I hoped this would be my final post-Ironman “shake out” mountain ride after a mountainous race. After an hour, I arrived at the village of Aultbea, just a little wet.

I stopped two women walking their dog on the road and asked where the garage was. One of them responded, “I’m not telling you” with that wry Scottish smile that means they are messing with you, just because. Then, after laughing, she pointed down the street, and I found the shop. It was an auto repair operation with a bunch of tow trucks parked in the lot. Just as I pulled up, a technician opened the door after parking my rental car and handed me the keys. Now we have service. It made my aching back feel much better.

I set my bike against a bench and walked into the reception office. And there was Mary, with the appearance of a loving grandmother in her 70s, who promptly offered me coffee.

“Did I need any water?”

“No, ma’am, I have a water bottle on the bike.”

“Well, step over there. You’re dripping wet. Give me a few minutes.”

£575 later, I had the car and two new tires on the passenger side. Sweet!

I texted Barbara and carefully drove back.

Barbara had everything of hers packed when I got back. I did some quick recovery eating, found dry clothes, packed the rest of my belongings and we were ready to go to the Isle of Skye, only 30 hours later than we wanted.

I asked Barbara to drive, so we wouldn’t have a repeat of me hitting a pothole. We left Gairloch behind for what we thought was the last time as we started the next leg of our journey. Three miles later, Barbara hit a something on the edge of the road. The tire, seated on the car rim for a mere two hours, flatted. At least we only had one flat this time.

Other than my hyperventilation, the car was completely silent. We looked at each other in disbelief. How could this happen again? We were going slow.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. And no cell service.

Dead tire #3. Only on the wheel rim for two hours.

Barbara said she no longer cared about tires. She was driving back to Gairloch to park the car, even if she ground the rim down to the axle. She would park the car at the service station there. We couldn’t believe this. When our cell signal returned, we called Glasgow Avis and asked for help. Someone answered immediately and said we needed to call the “recovery number” and the contracted service would handle things. We called them. The operator said someone would have to come out to us to look at the tire and advise us on our options. We told him that this is exactly what happened Friday night, they had one contractor in the area, we just visited them two and a half hours ago, and they don’t have any tires for us because we used the last two they ordered.

“I’m sorry, sir, this is what we need to do under our rules. Someone will call you soon.”

Then we discovered the hotel next to the service station. We each ordered two double pink gins.

Having a live number for the Glasgow Avis counter was comforting. Today, Greg was on duty. Bless you Greg. He answered the phone each time I called and helped discuss options. We decided that once we got the tire service to look at the tire to see if it could be fixed (ha! It was almost off the rim. Fix that up!), we would get the car towed somewhere,  get a new car, and a hotel room for the night.

The hotel that served us our gin was also fully booked for dinner. We were going to be hangry soon. After a good amount of alcohol and a game of Connect Four (we were in the hotel lounge room with games), my phone rang. “Hiya Ben, this is Mary, which tire is it?” Mary! Beautiful, kind, understanding Mary.

“Mary, please have someone send a flatbed to take us and the car to Inverness. Can you do that? And I wasn’t driving this time, passenger front tire.”

“Sure, Ben. Our flatbed driver is 45 miles away and can be there just before 8pm.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mary.”

“Ben, you are welcome. Make certain there is a car for you in Inverness. Double check for me, will you?”

I had Greg on the phone 30 seconds later. He said that the Inverness airport rental counter was open until 10:30pm and he would email them to see if they had any cars for us. He couldn’t guarantee availability, but would let us know.

We walked to find a dinner spot before the flat bed came. We found comfort food at the Myrtle Bank Hotel, one half mile down the road, and awaited our deliverance from the Highlands.

Midway through my fish and chips, Mary called to say the driver was close to the car, waiting for me. I left my uneaten chips and started hobbling towards the door. The bike ride aggravated my lower back and the last thing it was going to permit was a run or a jog. So, hobble it was. I found our flatbed driver, Bill, waiting at the hotel. I hopped in the truck with him, and he loaded up the Volvo x60 and its tough tires ready to take us to Inverness. We left the service station and headed towards Myrtle Bank to pick up a slow walking Barbara.

Bill was a nice but quiet guy in his 60s. He told us he was a fisherman. His boat was being serviced, and he drove for the recovery service part time. He looked at his watch: 8:35pm. He asked when the AVIS Inverness desk closed. I told him. Inverness was 1:45 hours away. He pressed the accelerator on the flat bed, deftly navigating around the potholes on the single track.

We called Greg. Greg said he did not get a reply from the email to his colleague in Inverness, but he would let me know when he heard something.

“Don’t you have a phone number for them? Don’t they give you guys phones to speak with each other?”

“No, we don’t Ben. Email is the best I got. But I’ll be here until 11:30pm if I can help you.”

No phones? Really?

Barbara then got on her phone to work on booking a hotel in Inverness. I unwisely told her I thought I could drive to the Isle of Skye after we picked up the car. She gave me a look. I conceded she might be right. Bill and I then engaged in a bunch of meaningless small talk (with Bill gently tolerating my nervousness), because what else are you going to do as you learn that it’s possible to drive a fully loaded flatbed truck down windy rural roads at 60mph and not die?

He even passed a car moving too slowly. I took a deep breath and called Greg for an update. No response. Oh well, maybe AVIS could pick up their broken car from the middle of their terminal and we’ll sort it out in the morning.

Bill gets us to the airport at 10:15pm.

God Bless Bill.

I find the AVIS counter in the empty dark terminal and there is a lady there. I say, “Hi. I have your car. It’s broken and I need a new one. Where should the flat bed drop the car with three working tires?”

She smiles at me, looks up my contract number, sees that I have the £41 per day maximum insurance, and says, “Follow me.”

We go out to the parking lot as she directs Bill where to dump the Volvo. Then she says, “Well, I have another Volvo for you, but it’s a different color. Is that okay?”

She looks at the car after we give Bill farewell hugs and says, “I’ve seen worse. Every day, we see cars coming in with damage. The Highlands roads are rough on cars.”

I transferred our luggage from one Volvo to the other, extra thankful that Barbara booked a hotel nearby, admitting to her again that she was right. Then she lets loose a river of “stress is over” tears.

I check the settings on the Volvo to make sure the wireless charger works for our phones. As I go through various settings menus, I come across an “off-road” suspension mode.

Damn. If I only had known.

Summing It All Up

Wetsuit strangle marks. It healed in a mere 10 days!

Despite our car trauma and not being able to finish the Celtman course, this race was a win for me in many ways. I pushed myself to the limit but didn’t succeed. Considering my age (55), body composition (20% + fat mass — I ain’t one of those fast skinny athletes no matter how much I think about passing on that next scotch), time I have to train while running my business, and keeping social and family connections vibrant and alive, I think this is an acceptable result.

I finished healthy and uninjured!

(I walked funny for two days, have 100s of midge bites on my legs, and have a weird friction burn around my entire neck from the wetsuit and warming vest — which has never happened before.).

My son didn’t get sick!

Aftermath of the Biting Midge attack in the bog.

We had a family trip to Scotland with our adult children (no whining!).

I met fantastic people and got to experience one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world.

Sometimes you stretch yourself too much. Sometimes the course beats you despite your best efforts. Sometimes it takes four days to get replacement tires for your rental car when you are in a remote location.

Celtman is a fantastically hard course. I will give it a 10 out 10 for hard. The race is well run with ample doses of Scottish humor. Although I don’t know if this is something I want to do again, I highly recommend it to someone with more athletic ability than I. Maybe I would have finished the race if there was no bog. Probably. I’ve finished 3 of the 10 hardest triathlons out there and only failed once, but what an epic day.

The End!

To click here to see absolutely stunning photos from the race by Ariel Wojciechowski.

This post is the second installment in a series. Click here to read Part 1 of my Celtman! adventure, and here to read Part 3.

The Race Start

I set my alarm for 1:30am. I woke at 1:25am. 5 minutes stolen. Levi was up at 1:35am, popping decongestants and chugging coffee, but upright and ready to go. During the hour ride to the race start, I couldn’t stop talking about the car and the tires. That’s when the son comforts the father for the first time. I wasn’t nervous about the race, the cold water, the epic bike, or unknown run. Just the damn car and leaving my wife and other son stranded without a second car. Blah blah blah.

The GPS said we would be in Shieldaig by 3 am. Levi was trying hard to not hit any potholes. And it’s raining. In Scotland, the rain is everything. All the time. As we drove, cars filled with other athletes joined in a little caravan until we had a small convoy in tow. The convoy arrived at the one lane village at 3:15am to a traffic jam. We were supposed to board the buses to Sheep Shit field by 4:00am and time was running short. At 3:30am the race officials directed us and six other cars to some empty spots along the road. We got the parking spot next to the coffee shop, which is opening surprisingly early to get the business while its there.

I take the bike out of the back of the car, forgetting to calibrate the bike’s power meter. I start to get my wetsuit on, squeezing into the warming vest first. I am marginally successful at putting the legs and lower wetsuit torso on. I delay putting on the upper wetsuit torso and long sleeves on until later because the wetsuit becomes excessively warm when not submerged in cold water. Then I try to put a contact lens in my left eye. Lately, I have been doing the swims with one contact in and one out. Since I am near-sighted, that will allow me to see both near and far. The brain is a little wiggy until it gets used to the difference, but I’ve done it in Xtri’s before. Now, I take the contact out after the swim and just use my regular glasses for the bike. Well, that is when you can get your contact in. After 5 minutes of panicky left eye poking, I gave up on seeing anything beyond 12 inches from my face (took my second daily wear left eye contact case with me for a second try later) and asked Levi to find my bike rack number and headed to the check in. I picked up my GPS tracker box (there were only 5 left — how could I be this late? I GOT UP AT 1:30AM!!!!) and a doohickey I had to wear on the arm opposite of my watch arm to register when I cross race timing mats and out the door we go.

Athlete bikes were set up in the middle of the main road in Shieldaig Village.

Instead of laying out my Transition 1 (T1) bike gear on the ground in a nice neat pile, like I would for “normal” races, I put the packing cubes with the equipment I packed a full week ago in a large black garbage bag just under the bike. It should be good enough. Then I caught glistening (because of the drizzle) plastic bins that some other athletes used, neatly organized. Locals. See if you can bring a bin like that on a plane.

After racking my bike and setting up my transition gear garbage bag at 3:55am (the sun rose at 3:30am), the athletes trudged the path up the hill to the top of the village where the three large busses (and biting midge flies) awaited to take us to our date at Sheep Shit (and thistle) Meadow start. Oh, last bathroom sighting: 1:55am and there were none in transition. Should be fun. With one more try at the contact and using Levi’s phone as a mirror, poking my eye with contact number two was successful, and we were off and running to the bus. I sat in the second-to-last open seat on the bus, where I met Thor, the Norwegian. I think he is around my age. We talked about our respective adult children and the challenges of running our respective businesses and then he told me this was his 9^th straight Celtman race. And then he was doing Swissman coming up next week, and then Norseman six weeks after that. All in one year. And he said he wasn’t training that hard for this. I asked him how he could get a race entry so often (Celtman is a highly sought after lottery race entry).. He responded, “Well, my name is Thor, what do you expect?” (and Thor finished the day with a mountain climb and finish.) Thor indeed (super nice person despite my sarcasm).

6am means Party Time at the Swim Exit.

The path to the Village hosting Sheep Shit meadow was a snake-like single-track road through the forest. I think the bus barely fit through some of the turns. At the bottom of one dip in the road, just before a large hill, the road was so tight that the ass end of the bus scraped the ground loudly (as Thor exclaimed, “It was me. I’m the one weighing down the bus.”) After a short and pleasant ride, we arrived at the Meadow and three porta potties. I quickly got in line. While waiting, they took the “beginning of the race” picture. So, I missed it. And the midges were biting. I carried a mosquito net for my head, but no time to wear it.

Ready to Go!

The Swim

Athletes began in the water from the rocky beach entry. I put on the top part of my wetsuit, goggles, gloves, and neoprene swim cap and was ready to wade into the water with everyone else.

I wear booties to keep my feet warm during cold swims. That morning, I discovered another reason — Toes vs. rocks protection. If I didn’t have those on, I would have hurt my feet and toes on the hard, round, algae-covered rocks. I noticed my goggles were not fitting well on my face well and they were leaking as we waded towards the kayaks holding the start line. I went back towards the shore to adjust the tightness of the goggles and position the straps higher on the back of my head to prevent leaking. To do that, I needed to take off the pink silicone racing cap, loosen my Velcroed neoprene cap, and adjust. As I tried to put the neoprene cap back on, the Velcro closer stuck to my gloves instead of itself. Ack. I couldn’t take off the gloves to adjust them. I had fastened my watch over one glove while still on shore, and the race was about to start. After attempting three or four times, the only thing I could attach the closer to was my glove. I enlisted the help of some of the other athletes to attach the cap closer, instead it stuck to their gloves. I took a deep breath. Asked yet one more person, and he figured it out. Breathing out, I turned toward the start. The 5 am starting horn went off.

Face in the water, swim towards the left side of visible islands, watch for jellyfish. Since I’d done the pre-race swim the day before, I was no longer surprised by the water temp and acclimated without pain. The water felt pleasant. We swam with no thoughts of rental cars anywhere.

Swim Course – 3400 meters and 53 degrees F.

We needed to swim across Shieldaig loch to reach the other side navigating two islands and the loch’s central current. The swim started very fast because we were swimming with a current. Then everyone else started outpacing me. Dammit. I hate being the slow swimmer in these races. More passed me. Why do I do this? I think I’ve lost the race already.

OK Ben, just swim your race.

You don’t have to compare yourself to any of these people, because you are old. No, that is not a gray bearded guy who just passed by you.

The swim was beautiful. The water, flat. The air, still. No jellyfish in sight. Just wooded islands in the remote Scottish loch. We pass by two islands off of our right shoulder, then sight off the white house. I swam. Kept my pace appropriate for effort. I had a long day ahead. The heads-up display on my goggles told me pace and distance as I swam. I started at a 1:30 minute per 100yds pace and because of the changing currents as we crossed the loch; the speed slowed as the swim went on. I found some people to swim with. There was no kicking or pushing. We drafted off each other. I would look up and around to sight the proper landmark and try to absorb the breathtaking surroundings. Very special.

Several fires and a long rubber runner extending over rocks from the seawall to the water marked the swim exit. It was not easy to walk on any part, particularly after swimming. Nevertheless, after one hour and nine minutes of breathtaking swimming, it was finished. I happily tripped, got help standing from two people, and then ambled into T1.

The Bike (a tour of the countryside and some history)

The first leg of the bike course went up a steep hill to exit the village and then the 17-mile single track road to Kinlochewe. I probably finished the swim in the middle of the pack. The problem is that my cycling ability is not strong.

As I pedaled at a sustainable pace for me, another third of the field passed me. Every couple of minutes, another bike went by. In addition, this first section was up hill. My strength lies in the downhills. In these races, it’s the mental game that gets you. My mental game is dealing with the internal perception that I must be better than everyone else, or it’s not okay. Having people pass you because they are stronger athletes is not okay. Having someone finish the race before you is not okay. Your worth is diminished by not being faster than them. Then I told at least three people I was riding with (before they passed me) about my rental car tire woes. Oh. Come. On. After a few rounds of rumination on this, you need to kick yourself and get a better perspective. First, the scenery. This is one of the most beautiful bike courses I’ve ridden on. I have the fitness and health to do this. Live in the moment. Enjoy being present. Appreciate what you can do. In two weeks, you’ll be sitting in your office, on the phone, answering e-mails and bitching about the summer heat.

124.5 mile Bike Course with 6700 feet of Climbing over more than eight hours.

Get over yourself. Cut it out and be fully present, Ben. Big picture. It’s a once in a lifetime ride.

That first part of the bike was a ride along Loch Torridon, touching, for four miles, the foot of the 3000 foot quartzite scree and sharp ridges of Beinn Eighe. (According to a guidebook in the Airbnb[1], “In 1962 W.H. Murray published his influential book Highland Landscape, a survey of 21 areas of outstanding natural beauty in Scotland. He wrote: ‘Glen Torridon, its loch, and the mountains to either side, exhibit more of mountain beauty than any other district in Scotland.’” And you are bitching about your rental car.)

It took a bit more than an hour to get through that first 1000 feet of climbing through Glen Torridon to reach the Village of Kinlochewe (“Head of Loch Ewe”). The next 18-mile section of the course follows along Loch Maree and the Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve (the first British National Nature Reserve established in 1951) to Gairloch (where I am trapped right now four days after the race waiting for a service station another 13 miles up the road to get the tires needed to have a working rental car- and that’s why you have a long race report.)  According to the Guidebook, Loch Maree is one of the most beautiful Scottish lochs. It lies along a major geological fault line and 2-billion-year-old Amphibolite and Semipelite rock formations scoured clean 11,500 years ago following the last ice age. The dividing line separates “The great wilderness” from the Torridon Hills (in Scottish, “hill” means “mountain”).

The road past Gairloch.

Gairloch is a collection of villages with a population of 1100 people. It got its first roads and wheeled vehicles in 1849. My two-wheeled vehicle passed through it two minutes before my stranded rental car-less nonsupport family came out to cheer me on. I stopped by the Airbnb at a bank parking lot to wait for them, but Levi said he stopped another quarter mile down the road to wait for me. Before I left, I gave my greetings to the other parking lot resident, another athlete support crew dressed in Power Ranger costumes. I met with Levi for my first support stop at the grocery store up the road. I was 2:30 hours on the bike and stopped for a couple minutes with him to re-fill a Gatorade bottle.

The next section of the bike was 13 miles through Poolewe to Aultbea. It became hilly, and that took me another hour to get through. Interestingly, Poolewe contains a famous garden once owned by the Laird of Gairloch as part of his 12,000-acre estate, created in the mid-1800s and given to the National Trust for Scotland in 1952. To the east of Poolewe is The Great Wilderness. There lies the remotest point in Britain, and, of course, its remotest Munro (a Scottish mountain).

Aultbea is just across from the Isle of Ewe in Loch Ewe, an important naval base during World War I and II. In 1939, a U-Boat placed a mine that hit the British flagship HMS Nelson. Aultbea became a major naval base and assembly area during the wars. I did not know this as I rolled by — I still couldn’t let the rental car go.

Amazing views from the bike course (taken two days before the race)

From Aultbea the course crossed a finger of land to Gruinard Bay next to the Wester Ross Marine protected area. A beach exists there. The guidebook says you can see seals on the beach. No wildlife cheered me on. It’s stunning as you look across the blue bay at the island in the middle. Beyond the bay and beach, there is a 200-foot climb into Gneiss hills that originated 3 billion years ago. The course also passes two little settlements, one called First Coast. The other Second Coast. They each contain one hut. Not much nightlife there. The guidebook states that in the early 1800s, a landowner forcibly relocated residents to this area from more fertile land to establish a sheep farm. Despite the rain, the “Coasts” land seemed barren. In 1835, the malevolent landowner sold it to Meyrick Bankes, a wealthier and more tyrannical English landowner. Could that explain why there are no inhabitants even after almost two centuries?

On this stretch of road, my phone rings. Why would I answer a phone in the middle of the race? It appeared to be a UK number, likely associated with the rental car. So, I stopped. I answered the phone. Told the caller where to send the tow truck. Told them to call my wife. They said okay. The needle on my stress scale was pointing lower.

The course then climbs up a two mile, 575 foot hill to a beautiful valley along Little Loch Broom. This was the halfway point of the course, just before six miles of rolling downhill terrain. I let the bike speed up to 40mph. The pavement was straight and free of bumps. Waterfalls cascaded in the distance. The only hazards were feral goats (none appeared for me) and trying to spot whales and dolphins in the Loch. The stretch ended at a salt marsh in Dundonnell.

Dundonnell has one hotel, just off the road.

Five hours of biking complete, and I could still climb the one flight of stairs to the loo. Yes!

Levi happily giving Ben Gatorade on the road after Garve

After Dundonnell, the course climbed up 1000 feet over eight miles of pine forest at an average 3% grade. Beautiful. Three miles in, my phone rings. I stop without falling off the bike and answer.

“Hi,” she says. “We can’t dial your wife. She doesn’t pick up. The tow truck driver found your car. He’s sitting there, waiting.”

“OK, I will text her. Can you ask the driver to go three additional miles down the road and pick her up from the parking lot at the Bank of Scotland?” (That lot was across from the road to our Airbnb.)

I texted Barbara. She answers and leaves the house to go meet the tow truck driver. I hop back on the bike. Three athletes passed me. I start grinding up the hill again, marveling at the waterfalls and overhanging cliffs of ancient stone. The road crosses a geologic formation called the Moine Thrust (this is where my guidebook stopped its commentary — but something big happened 430 million years ago where one tectonic plate crashed into another, causing a rock “bow wave” to the west. This wave created the hills and lochs along the course.)

After the climbs, the course descended for 10 miles into Garve. At mile 100, after 7 hours on the bike, there was a turn in the course. In total, there are only four turns in the entire course. The joke from the race organizers is that if you need the bike route programmed on your bike computer to guide you, you are a moron. This was the second turn. It’s nearly impossible to get lost. Race marshals manned each intersection.

After the Garve turn, Barbara texted me, “They towed the car and will put on new tires Monday”

Lies! All lies!

Well, at least I didn’t need to ruminate about that anymore. Rain drops then poured from the sky.

A forced smile for social media.

How I really felt.

The section after Garve was open highway. Not much climbing, gentle traffic passing you at 60mph, roads with vistas giving you that relaxed open feeling. Only 25 miles to go. Then it rained more. It got cold. I texted Levi to turn around and bring me rain gear. Communicating this took a while because iPhone screens struggle with texting in the rain. Eventually, I dried it enough to communicate with him and he doubled back. At a safe spot to pull off the highway, he gave me my raincoat. I felt warmer and continued the last couple of miles. The rain got worse. I couldn’t see very well. Then the course went downhill, fast. The bike speed hit 30 mph. Thoughts of dying in a wet bike crash replaced thoughts of drivable rental cars.

I tested the bike’s rim brakes. They worked – kinda.

The course ended: 125 miles, 8:16 hours of active riding (and another 30 minutes of stopping), 6700 feet climbing, 5900 feet descending, some of the best scenery in Scotland, longest bike ride of my life, and one hour ahead of the bike cut off.

Epic ride!

(The best riders finished the bike course in under 6 hours.)

Click here to read Part 3 of the 2024 Celtman! Report.

To click here to see absolutely stunning photos from the race by Ariel Wojciechowski.

[1] Guide to Gairoch and District. Loch Torridon to Little Loch Broom: West of the Moine Thrust. Unknow Author. Unknown Date. But the guidebook has a 4 pound price tag.

This post is the first installment in a series. Click here to read Part 2 of my Celtman! adventure, and here to read Part 3.

What are “Extreme Triathlons?”

They are called Xtris, for short. These races form a challenging series. The races have an “Ironman” race distance format: 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, followed by a marathon. However, most Xtri swims occur in freezing lakes or oceans, the bike courses are long and extremely challenging (with substantial elevation gains — there was nearly 10,000 feet of ascent on the bike portion of the crazy race I did in 2023 – Starvation, unfavorable weather conditions, amidst stunning landscapes), and the runs are so difficult they feel like forced hikes. The Ultimate race in the Xtri series is the original extreme triathlon in Norway, called Norseman. Because of the remote location, more than 6000 athletes try by lottery (or skill) to get one of the 300 slots for participants. I was lucky enough to get a lottery spot in 2019 and deferred until I did the race in 2022. When you finish enough Xtri races, you get points you can use to get priority entry into other Xtri races. Post-Starvation, I acquired sufficient points to enter any race in the Xtri series. Opting for Norseman once more was solely driven by the desire to outperform my previous attempt. However, my heart wasn’t in it. I was doing it “just because.” When I discussed this with my triathlon coach of 10 years, Liz, she responded with sage advice: “You already did that one. Let someone else have a turn.” That sounded reasonable, so I did. I used my points to get into the second most popular Xtri, Celtman. Later, I found out that an athlete friend of mine got into Norseman by a lottery slot. I am thrilled for her, and she is positively brimming with anticipation of the race.

These races are in such remote locations that the race organizers provide only limited support for the participants. Each participant must bring his or her own support crew to collect gear, refresh food and water, and to make sure you remain alive. In addition, during the tougher parts of the run, your support person runs with you and carries survival equipment. Without your support person, you cannot complete the race. This year, I had a new support person, my 25-year-old son, Levi. Levi is not an athlete, but he agreed to train up to accompany me during the back end of the marathon, which would either be a climb up a Munro (Scottish mountain) or a long trek along the “low course” around that mountain. I think this could be his last athletic adventure.

Preparation and Luck

Preparing for a race like this takes a lot to be successful. That means consistent training, nutrition, avoiding injury, and making sure the rest of your life goes on despite the heavy mental and physical load from the training. With work pressures, it’s a crucible. You strive to be something harder, not just carbon that disintegrates to the touch.

I would say the preparation was consistent and heavy for how my life is – running a law firm and keeping social ties going. The training loads ranged from 9 hours per week to 16 hours per week, which is a lot given the other demands in my life. I understand athletes can dedicate more training time to their triathlon hobbies, but I did my best. The weekend workouts got quite long, included three hour runs, and many weekends with a bike training session that took between 6 and 8 hours to complete. With that type of training load, I could do nothing but work, plan the race, and sleep (or walk around in a tired zombie like state on the weekends). It’s something you can do for a couple months, but it gets old when you are missing a lot of life for a selfish athletic pursuit.

Last year, I completed an extreme triathlon called Starvation. This triathlon had the toughest bike course I’d ever experienced (including a climb late in the race that I could not do—I had to hop off the bike and walk part of it), and a trail run and rock scramble at an average elevation of 9000 feet. Out of the 64 who started the race, only 26, myself included, could complete it. I doubted the existence of races more challenging than that. Since I had finished that race and two other grueling triathlons in Norway and Chile, I thought I could finish this one. Well, they say you are always learning and sometimes hubris has a way of backfiring on you.

I have always relished tackling tough challenges and reaping the fruits of my efforts. It’s even better when you can do things others cannot do. I guess it’s an insecurity validating mechanism, but it harms no one and you have an adventure too. Long course extreme triathlon completes that process for me. Working through three sports, my inability to starve myself to be a fast skinny person, and trying to remain sane while not shutting down the rest of my life.

Completing a big race takes planning and luck. Not only do you need to make your body ready, but all the logistics must work too. You must arrange race gear, supplies, nutrition, travel (make sure your bike arrives on the airplane), rental car, lodging, and that everyone stays healthy enough to take part. An unlimited amount of “life happens” events have the potential to disrupt a race. So, you try to be very careful while training (to avoid injury), logistics (I had a 7 page supply list broken down into sections of the race and stuffed in different packing cubes. Examples include: swim, transition 1 (bike gear), cold bike bag (extra gear for rain or low temperatures), transition 2 (running), mountain gear, and nutrition.), and keeping everyone healthy.

You must get lodging the minute you get your race entry spot after the lottery, since the local infrastructure can only house so many people. The limited lodging availability fills up quickly. For example, the closest location to the race was our gorgeous Airbnb, a one hour drive from the race start. We booked it only two days after the organizers announced the race entry lottery results.

I spent the two months before the trip training, packing the bags, worrying about booking transportation, and complaining about having a mental block finding lodging in Scotland for after the race. My wife, Barbara, stepped in and took care of the lodging with a couple of hours of internet work. In addition, we made this trip into a family trip. It would be me, Barbara, and our two adult sons: Drew (21) and Levi (25). This was our first international trip as a family and would be very special. The logistical challenge was finding a vehicle for rent that was large enough to carry four adults, their luggage, and all of my triathlon gear (including an assembled bicycle). In addition, we encouraged the children to travel to the UK and Europe. So, after the race, we all would go in different directions. The solution was renting two rental cars. Even though the cost doubled, it remained a practical decision. Levi and I had to travel between the race course and various race meetings. While we did that, Barbara and Drew could pursue their own activities on their own time schedules, miles and miles away from wherever Levi and I would be. So, I made two reservations, one shorter, so the children could return the rental car to the Glasgow airport on their way to their travels and a longer booking for Barbara and me to tour northern Scotland after the race.

From Chicago to the Scottish Highlands

Travel to Scotland was uneventful, other than my frenzied packing and trying to get the last bit of office work done. We booked flights on Iceland air (opting for a brief stay in Iceland on the way home). I’ve taken Iceland air to Europe several times with a bicycle in luggage, and it always goes smoothly for me with short and efficient stopovers in Reykjavik to change planes. We arrived on time in Glasgow and stayed for a couple days downtown (in case the airlines delayed my bike bag arrival) before picking up rental cars and driving five hours to get to the Western Scottish coast.

Levi, Barbara, and Levi with all of the triathlon luggage in Glasgow.

Glasgow is lovely.

We arrived in Glasgow on Monday and left on Wednesday. We got free upgrades on the cars and opted for the £41 per day extra car insurance. In addition, I learned that one person cannot rent two cars, so we switched one rental to my son and kept the other for me.

The drive to our Airbnb in Gairloch was uneventful, with a stop at a pub in Inverness for lunch. The Airbnb location is in the woods up a winding slope with a gravel driveway you need to back into while navigating a fence. The car must face downhill to back into driveway due to the tight turn from the gravel road. You also needed to open a gate at the same time. The car ballet proved to be challenging, exacerbated by rental cars equipped with beeping and squawking noisemakers to alert proximity to objects. With the limitation of one car exiting the driveway at a time, there was extensive car rearranging. Being early in our trip, we were up to the challenge, but wishing we could turn every warning sound the cars made off (a warning sound squawked while backing up; another bleated when the back of the car or the front of the car got too close to something; and the car pinged when the sides of the car approached too closely to something). So, navigating tight corners in an enclosed driveway was an affair.

Celtman Locale

Amazing view from our Airbnb.

Celtman takes place in the Central Wester Ross area of the Scottish Highlands. The Highlands have a rugged, beautiful coastline, lush greenery, and weather. You are never without the prospect of wind and rain and cold. The area is teeming with plentiful flora and fauna, including whales and jellyfish in the cold waters. The locals are very delightful full of a dry wry sense of humor.

According to Wikapedia, “Wester Ross has one of the lowest population densities in Europe, with just 1.6 people per km², who live mostly in small crofting townships along the coastline of the region. The area is renowned for the scenic splendor of its mountains and coastline, and the range of wildlife that can be seen. It is a popular tourist destination, receiving around 70,000 visitors each year. Tourism forms a major part of the economic activity of the area, accounting for 35% of all employment. Other major economic activities in the area include commercial fishing, renewable energy, agriculture and fish farming”

The swim course starts at a special place called “Sheep Shit Field” in a small village, Inverbain. The participants swim across the cold loch to Shieldaig Village, change and jump onto bicycles for a 125 mile tour, and then run an extremely challenging multi-surface gauntlet of a marathon.

Course Preview and Race Registration

On Thursday, Levi and I left the Airbnb to go drive the bike course. I’ve learned from prior races that knowing the course ahead of time helps minimize surprises later and reduces athlete and supporter stress. In addition, spending time with your twenty-something adult child is even more valuable (especially when he gets to see how his old man can endure suffering). We had a fun afternoon driving the 125 miles and seeing course’s beauty. It is world class sightseeing and shouldn’t be missed.

The single track road up Torridon Valley

Following the course tour, we drove to Torridon Village for race registration. From the main road at Kinlochewe (pronounced kin lock you), Torridon Village is 10 miles down a single track paved road. While I’ve done single track bicycle trail riding, I’ve never experienced what that is in a car. A single track road is a one lane road with little bump outs every tenth of a mile or so with a sign reading “Passing Place”. When two cars going in opposite directions meet, one pulls into a passing place and the other drives by. It’s a fun exercise in being overly polite to fellow drivers. It becomes a more intricate dance if you are in a small caravan of two, three, or four cars. As you travel more in the remote country, the roads switch between single track and double track to keep you alert and alive.

I think they take these pictures so they can identify you during search and rescue operations.

The Thursday night registration at the Torridon Village Community Hall was quick and efficient. Race staff checked our “mountain bags” to make sure we had all the equipment necessary if we became stranded on the mountain. Athletes who reach the first run checkpoint after the second transition (Bike to Run – T2) within 11 hours of the start of the race, can climb the “high course” up 1100 meters of Beinn Eighe and along its ridge. Sometimes the weather on the mountain can turn nasty, so our mountain kits needed a map, compass, headlight and emergency kit (foil blankets and first aid). The other key run time cut off was to get to T2A by 13 hours to go on the low course, or your race is over (for safety).

We left registration after shopping in the race store (I bought  coffee cup and passed on the branded hoodies, bike kits, and hats). After our one hour drive home in the rain, the family went out for a nice dinner in Gairloch.

On Friday, I had to make two trips to the race site (two hours each round trip). The Village Shieldaig pier, located another 7 miles past Village Torridon, hosted a practice swim at 9 am, while a race briefing took place in Village Torridon at 4 pm.

Because the water was cold, I wanted to make sure to test all my swimming gear and get a feel for the temperature so that I wouldn’t be shocked on race day. At 9am, a group clad in wetsuits, gloves, warming vests (an extra neoprene layer over the torso), booties, caps, goggles, and hoods assembled. Then you marched down a long concrete platform into the cold depths.

Swim Practice. Doesn’t that wetsuit look slimming?

The moment I put my body in the 53-degree water, I knew I did the right thing taking part in this practice swim. Despite all my preparation, the water felt too cold on my face. Panic inducing. Then my goggles leaked. The temperature was frigid. Skin was not turning numb. Shit. Then I took a couple of deep breaths and shut off the dialog in my head. I moved back to the ramp, adjusted my goggles and by that time my face became nicely numb and stopped hurting. Once I was back in the water, I started swimming towards the practice buoy. I wondered where the infamous jellyfish would show up, but not there. The successful trial swim boosted my confidence for the next day’s swim. I stopped at the coffee shop in town to be social, but only waited 50 minutes for a good cup of coffee and left. I returned to Airbnb in Gairloch at noon, had lunch with family. Levi was getting sick, so I told untrained Drew that he might have to prep to be my emergency runner (he never would have made that one if we needed him). Deer in headlights look. I was regretting not forcing him to train with a coach since January. Levi slept and felt better before we had to depart for the race briefing.

The swimmers go around the Island in the background during the swim.

I thought about how delicately balanced life needs to be to pull off doing a race like this. If one kid was sick, you needed to always have a backup. Jeez. I hoped the decongestants Levi bought would work and he wouldn’t get sick, especially during the run portion of the race the next day.

The drive to the race briefing was tedious, but uneventful. The hour long race briefing was what you would expect in Scotland, lots of dry humor and pertinent information. As the race briefing ended, I thought, well, the bike course didn’t look Starvation hard, the swim was going to be okay. I couldn’t see the run course except for the mountain section (which I likely couldn’t make the time cut off for anyway), so the race day was going to be long, beautiful, but uneventful, with no noteworthy details for my race report. How would I make this interesting? Maybe I shouldn’t write a race report at all.

While driving back to Gairloch on super rainy roads at 6:08pm

BANG. Thump thump thump.

We pulled over.

Flat tire. Shit.

Dead tire #1

Dead tire #2. Can you see the very scary sidewall bubble?

We were on a very curvy, almost one-track road. So I drove on the bad flat tire for another half mile until I found a small parking lot next to a hydroelectric plant. I had hit a pothole and flatted the passenger side front tire. I opened the back of the Volvo x60 rental and found no spare. In addition, There was a noticeable bulge on the outside of the passenger rear tire. That can’t be good. And no cell signal. Thankfully, the car was safe and not on the road. We were 2.5 miles from our Airbnb. We couldn’t actually call for help, so Levi and I started walking. In the rain. We tried to hitchhike, but no one stopped for us. After a mile of walking, we got a cell signal so we could message Barbara and Drew. They took the other rental car and came searching for us. 20 minutes later, they found us. After we returned to Gairloch, we dialed the help number posted on the rental car windshield and learned that our phones weren’t set up for UK dialing. After we figured that out, the operator of the emergency call line said that we needed to provide her the correct tire size before she could help. The tire size numbers didn’t appear on the pictures I took of the tires before abandoning the car. Barbara drove out to the car to take more pictures. Her pictures still did not contain information on the tire size. The helpline reiterated that they could only assist us if we provided the correct tire size to determine if any contracted tire shops in the area had the tire size in their inventory. I went out to the car again. I had to move the car so the wheels turned enough to see the tire size markings. Took pictures.

After logging into T-Mobile and purchasing an unlimited UK telephone and data pass (instead of $0.25 per minute) and 45 minutes on the phone with the rental car tire help line (the operators were super pleasant and calming), they said that no car shop in the area had the tire size needed, or even two of them. Did someone need to pick me up? It might be several hours. I declined this offer around 9pm and asked if they could call Barbara the next day to arrange. I had to finish packing for my race day wake-up at 1:30am.

The gear collection before loading it into the car.

Levi went to bed at 9pm so he would have less of a chance of being sick the next day and I needed to finish all the gear arranging and load the car. Usually, I’m pretty unflappable in stressful situations. I can deal with whatever happens stoically, but the last several months of race pressure, work pressure, family pressure found an outlet in two messed up tires and a pothole in a wet single track road. And then I lost my shit.

Race packing and tire fixing rumination ended at 11pm. Fortunately, after 10 years of racing and guidance from coach Liz, I’ve learned that the crucial night for sleep is not the one before the race, but the second night before the race. I had nine hours in that bank. All we needed to do was not oversleep my two or three hours of restfulness and hope my son wasn’t sick when he woke. I still was unable to fall asleep after all was done.

Click here to read Part 2 of the 2024 Celtman! Report.

To click here to see absolutely stunning photos from the race by Ariel Wojciechowski.

Melissa Johnson and I are active members of the legislative committee of the Illinois Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) (I am the co-chair). From January, through the end of April this committee meets weekly to review, comment, advocate for or try to stop legislative bills. This year, we worked on 102 bills.

One of the bills we were most excited to work on was a change to the financial power of attorney statute (see I. Power of Attorney, SB 3421 below). This is something I have worked on for two years, negotiating with 10 different lobbyists and the amazing sponsors in the Senate, former Senator Ann Gillespie and Senate President, Don Harmon. This law passed both the Illinois House and Senate on May 22, 2024. The Governor signed this bill on August 9, 2024.

In addition to the POA/SB 3421, below we are also including other highlights from our 2024 legislative session, where the main focus was on providing healthcare for the most vulnerable and making healthcare more accessible through substantial insurance reforms.

I.  Power of Attorney (SB 3421)

Amends the Illinois Power of Attorney Act.

• Makes it unlawful for a third party to unreasonably refuse to honor a statutory short form power of attorney properly executed in accordance with the laws in effect at the time of its execution.
• Provides that it is unreasonable for a third party to refuse to honor a statutory short form power of attorney properly executed in accordance with the laws in effect at the time of its execution, if the only reason for the refusal is any of the following:
  1. The power of attorney is not on a form the third party receiving such power prescribes regardless of any form the terms of any account agreement between the account holder and third party requires;
  2. There has been a lapse of time since the execution of the power of attorney;
  3. On the face of the statutory short form power of attorney, there is a lapse of time between the date of acknowledgment of the signature of the principal and the date of the acceptance by the agent;
  4. The document provided does not bear an original signature, original witness, or original notarization but is accompanied by an attorney-certified copy; or
  5. The document appoints an entity as the agent.

Amends the Illinois Power of Attorney Act.

• Provides that it is unreasonable for a third party to refuse to honor an Illinois statutory short form power of attorney properly executed in accordance with the laws.

NAELA initially drafted this bill, then over course 18 months negotiated with banks (credit unions, large and community banks) to find common ground and pass an agreed bill.  It is intended to assist bank employees and protect POAs by giving clear grounds for rejecting or accepting a POA.

II.  Marriage of Ward (SB 2758)

Amends the Probate Act of 1975.

• Allows a ward in guardianship to marry if the ward understands the nature, effect, duties, and obligations of marriage.
• Provides that prior consent of the guardian of the person or estate or approval of the court is not required for the ward to enter into a marriage.
• Provides that a guardian may contest the validity of a marriage under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act.

While NAELA fully supports the right to marriage, the legislation as written could take protective oversight away from guardianship judges and subject mentally disabled individual to potential predators.  NAELA members applied full-court press to work against bill as written, and stopped bill from passing Senate.  NAELA engaged with stakeholders on many calls, emails and presented alternative language to the drafters of the bill.  However, the parties could not come to an agreement in the issues.

III. Marriage of Ward (HB 4444)

Amends the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act.

• Requires the form for an application for a marriage license to include whether either party is under a court-ordered guardianship in any State in the United States.
• Provides that a county clerk shall issue a license to marry and a marriage certificate form, among other requirements, upon being furnished satisfactory proof that neither party to the marriage is under a court-ordered guardianship, or that if at least one party is under a court-ordered guardianship, there has been a judicial determination that the marriage is in the best interests of the person or persons under court-ordered guardianship.

Amends the Guardians For Adults With Disabilities Article of the Probate Act of 1975.

• Requires the court, when determining whether a marriage is in the best interests of a ward, to follow (rather than consider) specified standards.
• Provides that if a best interests hearing is not held before a judicial officer prior to a ward entering into marriage, then the marriage is without legal effect and void ab initio.

Initiative in response to an older adult with dementia who was taken advantage of through a marriage he could not consent to.  Tragically, he passed away before family could intervene.  Lobbyists and NAELA legislative committee members engaged with Rep. Ness and support this approach.  The NAELA will continue working with sponsor over summer/fall to assist in these efforts.

IV. Supportive Decision Making (SB 2663 / HB 4275)

Amends the Probate Act of 1975.

• Provides that upon the filing of a petition by a reputable person or by the alleged person with a disability himself or on its own motion, the court may adjudge a person to be a person with a disability, but only if it has been demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence that the person is a person with a disability and the person cannot be supported through a supported decision-making agreement.
• Provides that at the time of the appointment of a guardian the court shall inform the ward of his right to petition for termination of an adjudication of disability using a supported decision-making agreement.
• Makes other changes.

Amends the Supported Decision-Making Agreement Act.

• Changes the definition of “principal” to mean an adult (rather than an adult with intellectual or developmental disabilities) who seeks to enter, or has entered, into a supported decision-making agreement with a supporter.
• Allows a principal to elect to nominate the supporter as the principal’s health care surrogate and may act as the principal’s health care surrogate when the standards set forth in the Health Care Surrogate Act have been met.
• Makes conforming changes.

Amends the Health Care Surrogate Act.

• Provides that a supporter designated under a supported decision-making agreement has second priority to make decisions on behalf of a patient.

NAELA worked against this overly broad bill. Again, the concern is that this legislation takes power away from Guardianship judge who is best positioned to determine the care of the person under the guardianship. In addition, this legislation adds a category of advocate that muddies the waters on whose directions a third party can follow. .  Lobbyists worked with senate and house legal staff as well as with sponsors to detail the problems of the bill.  Through those efforts the bills were NOT called for a vote.  NAELA lobbyists and legislative committee members engaged in numerous discussions with the sponsors and provided alternative language.  We expect this issue to resurface in 2025 and be part of discussions prior to the start of next session.

V. Guardianship Guardrails / Guardian – Adult with Disabilities (HB 4884)

Amends the Probate Act of 1975.

• Provides that if guardianship is necessary and the petition for guardianship is filed by a person, corporation, nonprofit organization, or other entity with no legally recognized relationship to the alleged person with a disability, the court shall appoint the county public guardian as temporary and permanent guardian.

Lobbyists and NAELA legislative committee members engaged on improving the introduced bill and attending all meetings and hearings on the bill.  More work is ongoing and we expect this bill to be filed in 2025 with changes.

VI. Nursing Facility – Residency (SB 3723 / HB 5012 and HB 5151)

Amends the Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act.

• Provides that the assessment conducted upon the identification of a significant change in the resident’s condition shall include, but shall not be limited to, a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia.
• Provides that a written service plan shall be based upon the assessment, the resident’s interests and preferences, dislikes, and any known triggers for behavior that endangers the resident or others (rather than only the assessment).
• Requires the resident and the resident’s representative to be given a copy of the most recent assessment, a supplemental assessment, and a service plan.
• Requires an establishment to notify the resident and the resident’s representative when there is a significant change in the resident’s condition that affects the establishment’s ability to meet the resident’s needs.
• Prohibits an establishment from terminating or reducing any service without the consent of the resident or the resident’s representative for the purpose of making it more difficult or impossible for the resident to remain in the establishment.
• Provides that an establishment may not initiate a termination of residency due to an emergency situation if the establishment is able to safely care for the resident and
  1. The resident has been hospitalized and the resident’s physician, the establishment’s manager, and the establishment’s director of nursing state that returning to the establishment would not create an imminent danger of death or serious physical harm to the resident; or
  2. The emergency can be negated by changes in activities, health care, personal care, or available rooming accommodations, consistent with the license and services of the establishment.
• Provides that a resident has the right to not be unlawfully transferred or discharged.
• Makes other changes.

Amends the Nursing Home Care Act.

• Prohibits a resident from being transferred or discharged in violation of the Act.
• Provides that a resident has the right not to be unlawfully transferred or discharged.
• Provides that a facility that fails to comply with an order to readmit a resident who wishes to return to the facility and is appropriate for that level of care and services provided, shall be assessed a $2,500 fine.
• Requires a facility that complies with an order to readmit a resident that has been deemed to have been unlawfully discharged to notify the Department of Public Health within 10 business days that the resident has been readmitted to the facility.
• Provides that a facility may involuntarily transfer or discharge a resident because the facility is unable to meet the medical needs of the resident, as documented in the resident’s clinical record by the resident’s physician for medical reasons.
• Provides that the Department maintains jurisdiction over the transfer or discharge irrespective of the timing of the notice and discharge.
• Provides that if the Department determines that a transfer or discharge is not authorized, then the Department shall issue a written decision stating that the transfer or discharge is denied.

NAELA strongly supports this bill as it would be very beneficial to nursing home residents.  It would add a considerable number of protections for nursing home residents in a variety of situations including involuntary discharges and refusals for readmission.

VII.  End of Life Options (SB 3499)

NAELA members are engaged in larger coalition seeking to finalize language that is passable.  The bill may be called in late 2024 or in 2025 session.

VIII.   Notary Public – Training Exempt (SB 3513)

• Provides that an applicant to renew an appointment as a notary public or as an electronic notary public is not required to complete a course of study or pass an examination if the applicant is a licensed attorney or judge or employed by a licensed attorney or the court.

NAELA supported by witness slips and lobbying.

Just a quick communication to let you know what is going on in the world of property taxation in Cook County.

2024 Triennial Property Tax Update

In Cook County, the new 2024 triennial reassessments are out for properties in Lakeview Township. Many homeowners are seeing increases of between 25%-60% in their taxable values from 2023 to 2024. While shocking, we see that a substantial number of these increases are merely keeping up with the fact that values in these areas remain strong and on the rise. Many parts of Chicago, like the Lakeview area, have real estate markets that are quite robust. That said, a new assessment that could double your taxes is not something that is fun to receive. To date, only three (3) of the Chicago townships that are part of the 2024 re-assessment have been opened for appeals, and they include West, Rogers Park and now Lakeview.

On a related note, the new 2023 Cook County equalization factor is 3.0163, up from 2.9237 last year and 3.0027 in 2021. Coupled with the increase in many tax rates this means that the overall effective tax rate (equalizer x tax rate) has increased from 2022 to 2023. In Chicago we estimate the increase to be about 2%. In some areas of New Trier Township, it is closer to 6%. This is all occurring without any increase in the assessment and/or taxable value.

“Senior Freeze” on Property Taxes

Lastly, in light of the increases that have and will hit residential property in Chicago, now may be the time to apply for a Senior Freeze. This is different than the regular Homeowner and Senior Citizen Exemptions, which provide a set dollar reduction to a tax bill per exemption. The Senior Freeze Exemption freezes a property’s base year assessment and thereafter reduces any future increases. The trick here, and this is where the most confusion occurs, is that the exemption does not help if values go down or stay the same. An applicant will not benefit from this exemption if they buy at the height of the market before a downturn. On the other hand, people who applied during the 1990’s or after 2008 or before the 2021 boom will now reap the rewards of having this exemption in place. To qualify for the Senior Freeze, the applicant must be over 65 years of age and have less than $65,000 of household annual income.

Go to cookcountyassessor.com/senior-freeze-exemption to review other qualifications and to apply.

Please reach out if you would like us to review the assessment for a house, multi-unit, commercial or industrial-type property that is not in our tracking system.

We are always available for consultations, which should especially be done before any purchase is made or before any change to a property is considered as even something that most people would consider to be a minor change to a property can have sizable results.

Please also contact us if there is just something about your assessment that you feel needs to be noted and discussed.

I may be reached at either adam@bossovlaw.com or 312-421-7232 or 312-401-0995. Karen may be reached at 312-826-0491. We also share info@bossovlaw.com.

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