On July 13, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) published the Consumer Price index for June of 2021. The results were not surprising to people who buy cars or drive them: used cars prices were through the roof (up 10.5% for the month) and gasoline prices were up 2.5% for the month. Overall, the all
Retirement
The McKinsey Consulting Group launched their “American Opportunity Survey” in May 2021 and concluded the results “put a spotlight on how Americans view their economic opportunity, the obstacles they face, and the path ahead to create a more inclusive economy.” McKinsey used opinion-polling firm Ipsos to survey 25,000 Americans in the spring of 2021. Their
The HECM reverse mortgage – a product designed for those 62 and older – is by far the most complex financial instrument that homeowners are likely to encounter in their lifetimes, and they must deal with it after many have passed their intellectual prime. Shopping for HECMs on lender web sites is an exercise in
For many people reading this, Social Security is your largest retirement asset. For decades you have likely seen payroll taxes debited from each paycheck. Here are a few things everyone should know about Social Security benefits. Marital Status Could Impact Your Benefits Those who are married should coordinate with your spouse as to when you
In the United States, medical care costs, especially for surgical procedures requiring one or more overnight hospital stays, have skyrocketed over the past 20 years. As a result, more and more Americans are traveling across the border or across an ocean to receive their medical care. Obviously, if you are in crisis in a hospital and
Should you be worrying right now? Are we about to go back to the future where economic malaise brings a sorrowful stew of high inflation and rising interest rates? Or is this just a temporary temporal anomaly caused by a fixable mix of bad luck and bad decision making? You might have noticed inflation hitting
Having money for those rainy-day events is crucial for Americans and their financial situations. But most Americans have a hard time funding an emergency expense. A recent GOBankingRates survey found that 57.4% of Americans have less than $1,000 saved for emergencies. A separate Bankrate.com survey found that 39% of adults in the U.S. wouldn’t be
Before my wife and I got married we had the “money talk”. Since we were relatively young, and neither of us had that much money, the talk was pretty short. We discussed how much we were making, our projected future income, and how we would handle the small nest eggs we had each accumulated before
Your aging parent may have demanded something from you long ago: “Promise you’ll never put me in a home!” And you may have promised that. Perhaps you never thought through the implications. For elders who saw what healthcare was like before Medicare in 1965, their fears are founded in what things looked like then: unregulated
The fields of behavioral finance and economics have been around for decades. They represent bodies of knowledge that have been applied, for better and for worse, by many. But they’re only now entering the mainstream. The oversimplified lesson could be summarized as the following: You’re all a bunch of irrational dummies. But at least one
By Richard Eisenberg, Next Avenue Managing Editor America’s retirement savings system is a mess (that’s a technical economic term). “System” is actually too grand a word for the ad hoc retirement savings plan edifice that has been built up over years. To be sure, the system works reasonably well for those on the payroll of
The ultimate goal for a Roth IRA is for it to qualify for tax-free distributions. Spouse beneficiaries must take care to choose the option that leads to tax-free distributions. A dilemma faced by spouse beneficiaries of IRAs is whether they should move the amounts to Beneficiary IRAs or their own IRAs. For inherited Roth IRAs,
By Lisa Nerenberg, Next Avenue For years, those of us in the field of elder abuse prevention have pushed for law enforcement to take financial elder abuse more seriously, pointing out the economic and emotional devastation it often wreaks. Victims have lost homes and savings, gone into debt or even been implicated in crimes committed against
By Sheila Weller, Next Avenue At 76, Sandi Bachom is one of the most tireless documentary filmmakers of the past 10 years of political turmoil, from Occupy Wall Street to the January 6 insurrection. “Like Zelig with a camera,” as the liberal cinematographer/director/producer/editor is often called (and a straw bowler and often a natty vest over
In the news: “Disgraced Gov. Cuomo files for $50K pension ahead of delayed resignation.” According to the New York Post, “Disgraced Gov. Andrew Cuomo filed retirement papers with the state to receive a $50,000 annual lifetime pension — just days before his resignation takes effect over his sexual harassment scandal. “’The governor just filed his application for service retirement.
Social Security beneficiaries probably will receive the highest benefit increase in years when the 2022 COLA is announced later this year. Social Security, as you know, gives beneficiaries an annual cost of living adjustment, or COLA. The COLA is based on the 12-month change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) through September. The Social Security
Chances are at some point in your retirement saving (or spending) life you’ve been asked a question or two about your appetite for risk. For a while, back in the era of Modern Portfolio Theory, the whole concept of “risk” and the investor was the cat’s pajamas. In the old days they even had entire
The cost of a college education continues to soar with no end in sight. College tuition rises at more than twice the rate of inflation, growing by about 8% per year, on average. At this rate, the cost of a college education will double every nine years. This has many parents understandably concerned about paying
My mother used to say, “If I put $1 away every time (blank) happened, I could have retired by now.” Today, we could fill in the blank with, “the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) touches the Plan Finder and there are new problems.” Since its introduction in August 2019, I have written a
In the news last week, headlined “Social Security could get its biggest raise since the 1980s”: “Social Security recipients could be in for some good news, as financial experts say a Cost-of-Living-Adjustment, or a COLA, could increase their monthly checks next year. “Social Security entitlements haven’t gotten a decent boost in decades and the program