My Comments: Years ago, it was simply a matter of waiting to reach 65, showing up at the Social Security office and then waiting for a check to appear in the mail. Today, that idea is quaint and naive. As the baby boomers reach age 62 and beyond, it’s become a chore to figure out …
Continue reading Restricted Application for Social Security Benefits
By John Gapper | The Financial Times The New York minicab service I used to favour communicated in code. When you rang and gave your address, the radio dispatcher would reply “five minutes” and hang up. This meant a cab would arrive at any time from one to 10 minutes later. “Seven minutes” meant 20, …
Continue reading Why Taxi Cab Drivers Cannot Put Down Their Smartphones
Right now, it's about 9:30 in the morning of Christmas Eve. But in parts of Australia and New Zealand, Santa has already come down the chimney and is on his way back to the North Pole. (Does he have a distribution center at the South Pole?) So, just as an early glass of Scotch causes …
My Comments: Who knew? If I'd known this before, would I have planned any differently? Maybe. By Dan Kadlec Dec. 12, 2013 With a savings crisis so deep that more than half of American adults are unsure they could scrape together $2,000 within a month for an emergency, it may seem tone deaf to worry …
My Comments: In part this is a follow up to the posts about the US-Iran deal recently completed. What is often not seen or talked about is our increasing lack of dependance on Middle East oil. That dependency has been the reason for our friendship with Saudi Arabia. This despite where most of the 9/11 …
My Comments: Recently, I have developed an “expertise” in Social Security matters. I wish I'd had this knowledge when I reached what is known in the system as Full Retirement Age or FRA. For me, this was when I was 65 and 8 months old. I signed up and I’ve been getting checks every month …
I’m sure you agree that we live in a world of political correctness. Sometimes that’s a good thing and many times it just gets in the way of common sense. Right now, I have to tell you I am NOT licensed or qualified to dispense tax advice. But as a financial planner, for which I …
My Comments: Yestersday my post declared that the cost of what we call Long Term Care will go up for women in 2014. This is because there are more and more people reaching the age where bad things start to happen. The law of supply and demand says that when the demand increases, more people …
My Comments: This has always proved to be a difficult conversation with clients. When they are relatively young, the topic is far away unless they have a parent with issues. And then the money has to be reserved for their care. And when you reach my age, there is still a strong denial that you …
Continue reading Long Term Care Insurance Rates for Women Will Go up in 2014
The idea of simply signing up for Social Security checks once you reach at 62 used to be a good idea. Not anymore. For each of us, there are 92 possible months to sign up. How do you know which one is best. And once you sign up, there is no turning back. I’ve recently …
Continue reading 6 Things About Social Security You Should Know
Helping Define Your Financial Future 