My Comments: Recently I was reminded that I appear to have strong opinions. This is usually accompanied by a rolling of the eyes, and to which I now hang my head, but without shame. On this topic, I’ve not had an opinion worth talking about until now. I hate it when people bitch and moan …
Continue reading US Should Not Negotiate Free Trade Behind Closed Doors
My Comments: Here are two charts, associated with the authors comments, that show very clearly that good financial planning for retirement is as much a matter of luck as it is skill. The first chart has numbers that reflect 45 years, which seems like a long time, until you remember that so many of us …
My Comments: This post reflects my values about the role government should play in our society these day. Written by Jack Markell, it is long, congratulatory, somewhat self serving, but is so well articulated that I feel compelled to share it. Another resonance for me happens when I recall the two years I lived in …
My Comments: OK, that's too simplistic, but there is a point to be made here. Back in 2007, with the presidential election cycle in full swing, I recall seeing an old, bent and rusty pickup truck. In the front was mom, dad and 2 kids. The truck bed was full of odds and ends that …
My Comments: A conversation yesterday with a good friend resulted from her comment about the absurdity of Obamas’ suggestion that college education should be free for all students. Mindful that some of them will not qualify, and some will not want a college education, I argued that it was a great idea, that many employers …
Continue reading Luddites Fear Humanity Will Make Short Work of Finite Wants
My Comments: A conversation this morning with an attorney friend revealed a world which is far more complicated today than seemed possible just a few short years ago. He remarked that tens of thousands of new laws have entered the books across these United States in the last three decades. It’s impossible to know the …
My Comments: As usual, talking about long-term care with clients, friends and family members is often a difficult conversation. As a financial planner for whom the need for personal long-term care is an increasing possibility, I’m sensitive to articles I run across that offer choices. Here is one of them. I know this looks and …
My Comments: This was written nearly 5 years ago but the message since then has only gotten louder. As more of us get older, and we stay alive, where the money comes from to keep us alive is increasingly in question. We joke about it often, but unless we are willing to let people starve …
My Comments: This article appeared recently in a weekly summary of articles designed for advisors whose clients are typically small businesses. At this point you need to ask for a definition of “small business”. It depends. About 30 years ago I qualified to attend an insurance conference. I was roomed with a fellow advisor from …
Continue reading Retiree Health Costs And Employee Ignorance
My Comments: If you know about Social Security plannning, as I claim to do, the prevailing wisdom is to delay taking your benefits for as long as possible. The argument is that each year you wait, you increase the size of your payments by 8%, even before the expected annual increase due to inflation. What …
Continue reading QLACs Change the Game in Social Security Timing
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