The Rising Cost of Health Care and Its Causes

My Comments: The subtitle to this was 2 Reasons Why Health Care Costs So Much. Couple this with my blog post from yesterday and it seems appropriate to follow up with an article that might help explain why we pay so much for health care in exchange for relatively poor outcomes compared with much of …

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The Lessons To Be Learned From Old Maps

My Comments: I was drawn to this article by the title: The History of Britain in 11 Wacky Maps. (I see only 8 maps…?)  As an anglophile, with 70 plus years of experience with maps of England, I was intrigued. I’ll not try to replicate all the text and the images in this post. Instead …

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The 16 countries with the world’s best healthcare systems

My Comments: With all the crap going on in Washington about repealing the ACA, it might be helpful to know (or maybe not) where we stand on the global stage when it comes to health care. A London based think tank created a Global Prosperity Index, and among their results is a ranking on health …

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5 Totally Free Ways to Get Ready for Retirement Using the Social Security Website

My Comments: There is a lot of talk these days about the Trump administration wreaking havoc with something that has become synonymous with retirement for many millions of Americans. But I have my doubts since those same millions also vote and are unlikely to sit by idly if their benefits are threatened. Yes, you have …

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How to Get Financial Advice That Is in Your Best Interest

My Comments: Remember the phrase ‘the birds do it, the bees do it…”? Well, attorneys do it, CPAs do it, architects do it, doctors do it, and so should financial advisors. BTW, politician's don't do it. I’m talking about acting in the best interest of the client and/or patient. The Obama administration worked several years …

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How can Britain exit the EU? As a nation state Britain doesn’t really exist

My Comments: the first six years of my life were spent in England. Until I was probably fifteen I had no notion there was anything other than England when it came to where my aunts and uncles and cousins lived. During those fifteen years, I lived also in France, in India and here in the …

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Turning 65 this year? Don’t overlook these 3 steps

My Comments: The transition from working FOR money to having money FOR YOU is full of tension and hard to answer questions. If you’re beyond this stage, then don’t bother with this. On the other hand, if it’s today or in your future, then this is good stuff. Gail MarksJarvis / The Chicago Tribune / …

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Republican Presidents and Recessions

My Comments: As an economist, I readily acknowledge that political parties and recessions have little to do with each other. There are too many other variables that result in economic downturns. But the records suggests they are somehow correlated. We are due for one, and if history is any indication, Trump will have the pleasure …

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What To Do If Social Security Is Your Primary Source of Retirement Income

My Comments: There is talk in Washington that future Social Security benefits will be cut. How real this is I have no idea. But the fact it’s even talked about suggests the threat today is higher than before. I’m not talking about what might happen in 2035, but in 2017. If you are not yet …

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The Basics of Investing

My Comments: This is brilliant. It comes from Rod Rehnborg who is based in Hong Kong. Too often, people in my profession start out in the weeds and drag the reader further into the weeds with every word they write. Before long you have no idea what is going on. For some of you this …

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