Ideas with no specific focus
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 …
Continue reading The History Behind the Width of Roads in the United States
My Comments: As someone licensed to sell life insurance policies for over 4 decades, I know for a fact that many of them go missing. People move, people die, there are no records for family members, sometimes a house burns down. These and for probably dozens of other reasons, a life insurance company is never …
My Comments: Despite my advanced age, I’m increasingly fascinated by AI and am now using it almost daily to help me with chores on my office computer, things that would have not been possible a few months ago. My first effort was last March as my granddaughters birthday approached. I asked ChatGPT to draft a …
My Comments: As a former investment advisor, I find myself scouring the internet to get a better understanding of the current economy and the markets in general. So far my conclusion is everyone is as clueless as I am. We're in un-chartered waters. Yes, there have been dramatic market drops in the past, some of …
Continue reading US economy unlikely to recover as rapidly as it collapsed
How old are you now? Your answer will direct you toward different decisions about the money you will need in the future. The current Covid-19 driven mess is probably the catalyst many of us have been expecting for the past several years. Not because we’re wizards but because sooner or later, something would happen on …
As I grew up in America, there was a prevailing narrative about the success of what was known as the ‘middle class’. These were people who clearly were not poor and yet could not be considered ‘rich’. As the decades passed, the ‘middle class’ began to collect another description. People were categorized as ‘lower middle …
My Comments: What are your thoughts about climate change? Do you believe it’s real? If it is, how will it impact your life? Or the lives of your children and grandchildren? Will it affect where you choose to live, what to eat, how to invest your money? Personally, I think it’s very real, that it …
My Comments: Readers of my posts know that most of them share ideas first articulated by others. This one got my attention since I had never heard of the “Noah Rule”. Early on, once you get past the definition, it becomes obvious that for too many of us, the rule should apply to a great …
Continue reading Expecting a Market Downturn? Follow the “Noah Rule”
My Comments: I recently had a conversation with someone close to me about them making a renewed effort to stop smoking. It was triggered by the price of a carton if cigarettes when purchased here in Florida vs in Virginia. If the topic of this article wasn't so disturbing, it would compete with the effects …
Continue reading 4 Ways to Ensure You Won’t Run Out of Money in Retirement
My Comments: Millions of American are petrified of changes taking place in society. The old order of things has an appeal that causes them to take steps to preserve the past that would otherwise seem bizarre. As it is with retirement. The concept of working much of your adult life and then ‘retiring’ and living …
Helping Define Your Financial Future 