What Is The Upcoming Retirement Security Rule, and Will it Help You?

My Comments: If you’ve read my recent posts, you’ll know I’ve spoken about fiduciary standards and encouraged you to specifically ask whether the money person you’re talking with is willing to declare themselves a fiduciary. That declaration holds them responsible for acting in your best interest. Yes, there will always be the occasional con man, …

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The Pros and Cons of Buying an Annuity For Retirement

My Comments:  You may have seen recent articles suggesting that annuities are the worst thing since sliced bread for your retirement money. What is typically ignored is that for fiduciaries and professional financial advisors like myself, there are lousy annuities and there are excellent annuities to choose from. The challenge for you is to know …

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Five Must-Have Legal Documents

My Comments:  Not all of these are absolutely necessary, but to the extent you’ve not yet considered any of them, much less all of them, now is a good time to get your ducks in a row. Chances are if you’re reading this, you’re well on your way through life and no one has a …

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I’m a Baby Boomer Who Had To Un-Retire: 3 Money Lessons I Wish I’d Known

My Comments: First, I was never a Baby Boomer since I’m from the Silent Generation. But what follows here is good information. I “retired” at age 70 and quickly became what I refer to as “terminally bored” and it wasn't long before I became “un-retired”. Fortunately things have worked out OK for me and I …

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3 Long-term Care Insurance Moves to Make Before You’re 75

My Comments: Some, if not most of you, already know that getting older can become increasingly problematical and costly. Things tend to start going wrong and expensive to get fixed. It’s long been the case that people are living longer these days. A critical issue is whether your ability to function and solve daily issues …

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The History Behind the Width of Roads in the United States

A Quick History Lesson: I have no memory of where or when I found this story. With all the annoying issues currently playing out in our country and around the world, I thought it might be helpful for all of us to focus on something less stressful. So here goes: The US standard railroad gauge …

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As Americans reach ‘peak 65,’ here’s what to know when planning for Medicare, Social Security

My Comments: Never forget that from the day of our birth, not a single one of us knows when we’ll die. It’s largely irrelevant when you’re young, but as we age, we develop clues that most of us pay attention to. If you’ve reached 65 or will soon, you fully understand what I’m saying in …

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Billionaires Pay Lower Tax Rate Than Working Class for First Time

My Comments: In my many years on this planet, there have always been financial issues that affect virtually all of us. Today, there’s fear we’re heading toward a recession, there’s an election approaching which has many people concerned, inflation is an issue with too many of us on the lower end of the spectrum dealing …

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How to Choose Your Trustee or Executor of Your Will

My Comments: Last week I attended a luncheon where the formal program was a panel of professionals discussing trusts. The focus was on trustee responsibilities, the fact we’re living longer, trustees and/or beneficiaries are increasingly likely to become mentally challenged, children are having to wait longer and longer to receive their beneficial interest, and other …

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Annuities are key to American retirement. So why are so few Americans buying them?

My Comments: There are good annuities and there are bad annuities. Most of the bad ones have been created and aggressively sold by insurance companies whose sole objective is to generate revenue for the company and their agents. The study results described below tell us why they have been successful. It’s not easy to find …

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