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
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 Thoughts: Employment numbers are higher than normal, though coming down slowly, and the argument made by those who oppose this idea is that it will cause more unemployment. Some marginal workers will lose their jobs, but the ability of those who do not and instead receive higher wages will spur consumption. That will have …
Continue reading A Higher Minimum Wage is the Tonic America Needs
My Comments: Amid all the discussion about whether to raise the minimum wage, or whether it’s in our best interest for ALL of us to have health insurance, and how to keep the Social Security system solvent for the next generation or two, it’s easy to forget how it was before all that happened. I …
My Thoughts: Having the IRS look closely at you is not something you are likely to enjoy. But the good news is there are fewer agents than before and unless your “mistake” is grievous, you are likely to be overlooked. But you can’t count on it. With computer technology advancing by the minute, it will …
My Comments: We live in a world of competing economic forces that in the past were almost always resolved by conflict. Since the end of WW2, those types of conflicts have diminished, even though the media would have us believe its the end of the world as we know it when they happen. All of …
My Thoughts: I can see! Sort of! But I have to wait a couple of weeks to get my new glasses. In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving to all, and here is a idea that some of my clients have asked me about. Personally, I like to effect a rebalance every 12 months. by: BLOOMBERG NEWS …
Continue reading The Worst Investment Advice I’ve Heard All Week: Barry Ritholtz
My Comments: You may be sick and tired of this discussion but how this plays out is going to be critical to the health and well being of every possible reader of this blog, for years to come. Only with a good understanding of what is going on can you somehow make the outcome benefit …
Continue reading Hospitals as Insurers ‘The Future’ Under Obamacare
My Comments: Just in time for Christmas! No, wait, it's not even Thanksgiving yet. Increasingly, I find myself buying items over the internet. My son and daughter probably purchase almost everything short of groceries and gasoline. They have bought into the “free shipping” concept, paying an annual fee whenever it seems reasonable, especially from Amazon. …
Continue reading How to Snag Totally Free Two-Day Shipping Indefinitely
Helping Define Your Financial Future 