My Comments: Few of us realize as we pass through young adulthood that life is finite. We may lose an elderly family member and we acknowledge the inevitable but few of us are able to get our arms around what it might mean for us. I describe retirement as that point in your life when …
Tag: Alachua County
Trade Wars: Stop Hyperventilating, It’s All About the Dollar
My Comments: Since this article first appeared several months ago, the current administration has doubled down on the idea of import tariffs. For some reason, it thinks that trade wars are what is needed to ‘Make America Great Again’. A reverse analogy that comes to mind are the gas price conflicts that used to appear …
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The Truth About Social Security: Setting the Record Straight
My Comments: Retirement at some point in your life is both a goal and an outcome. It may happen voluntarily or it may be forced on you. Regardless of how you get there, chances are you’ll still have bills to pay. Those bills will be paid from money you’ve saved and accumulated or from Social …
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Here’s The Proof That U.S. Stocks Are Experiencing A Massive Bubble
My Comments: To say I’m uncertain what tomorrow will bring is an understatement. For every article like this one that is pessimistic, there is another with presumably compelling logic that the next market crash of consequence will not be here until 2030 or later. At my age, I'm inclined to be cautious. Yes, I have …
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Here’s What the Average Retiree Spends on Healthcare Each Year Hint: It’s not a small number.
My Comments: As you approach phase two of your adult life, please understand that the economic and financial dynamics can change dramatically. Retirement is when you have effectively turned off the ‘work for money’ switch and have turned on the ‘money works for you’ switch. That implies you have money and credits in place to …
Trump Is Losing His Trade War
My Comments: The article I share with you here appeared in Forbes, which no one thinks of as a liberal rag. The reality is that free markets evolve over time, with some markets proving resilient and profitable, and some going the way of the dodo bird. Putting limits on free trade makes little sense to …
The Stark Reality of Social Security: Someone Has to Take a Pay Cut
My Comments: As a financial planner focused on retirement, I counsel people about where the money is going to come from when they’re 85 and still have bills to pay. And 85 is simply a symbolic number. A critical source for most of us is Social Security. And it’s under attack by those we’ve elected …
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Behold the ‘scariest chart’ for the stock market
My Comments: By now you’ll perhaps realize that whatever I say about what is likely to happen in the markets is wrong, and that you’d be better off doing just the opposite. That’s OK. And if you are young and retirement is a few decades away, it’s OK to ride it out. But if you’re …
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7 Myths About Variable Annuities: Exposing Their Dark Side
My Comments: Anyone now retired or thinking about retirement spends time and energy coming to terms with how to manage their money. Increasingly, fees charged by advisors and/or their companies are perceived as a threat somewhere along the way. However, unless you have the skills to do it all yourself, you are necessarily going to …
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3 Myths About Your Social Security Filing Age
My Comments: Social Security benefit payments are critical for millions of Americans. When you apply and the amount of money you are entitled to is a decision fraught with uncertainty. Since none of know how our life is going to play out, all we can do is develop an understanding of our choices so that …
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Helping Define Your Financial Future 