By Craig Miller, Next Avenue A few years ago, Lee Hilliard and his wife Linda, of Manchester, Conn., were torn over what to do with their investment portfolio. The 72-year-old retired media consultant and his wife, who’s 64, had come into some Chevron CVX shares from Linda’s inheritance in 2016 and then again after her mother
Retirement
By Constance Brossa, Next Avenue When it comes to helping people work out, Shannan Schaffer is in perpetual beast mode. The former flight attendant taught her first indoor cycle class at a YMCA in Charlotte, N.C. 31 years ago. She’s still at it. “Pedaling to nowhere is my calling,” says Schaffer, who’s in her late 50s,
It is time to change the rules: If you want to work around vulnerable older adults. You must be vaccinated. For their safety. For yours. And for the safety of your own family. Eight months after the vaccine was made widely available to health care workers, only about 60 percent of nursing home staff has
Inflation has been in the news more than usual, as we have seen spikes in the inflation rates during the COVID pandemic. Recent Consumer Price Index (CPI) data has led to an estimated 6.2% Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2022, which could be the most significant cost-of-living adjustment to Social Security benefits in decades.
With a couple of months of inflation data yet to be seen, it looks like those collecting Social Security are in store for a significant increase in 2022. The most recent Consumer Price Index (CPI) announcement for the month of June revealed a 5.4% annual rate, and the Senior Citizens League estimates the final number
Until now, the Biden Administration and congressional Democrats have focused on Medicaid’s home-based long-term care program. This week, powerful Hill Democrats turned their attention to nursing homes. And they are offering a tough bargain: More funding in exchange for significant staffing reform. They also are proposing a major federal initiative to encourage the development of
Deferred compensation plans have become an integral way to save for retirement. They typically come in two general forms. The first is a qualified deferred compensation plan that is governed by ERISA rules, which include the more familiar 401(k) and 403(b) plans. The second is less common and technically known as a non-qualified deferred compensation
Yes, COVID-19 makes the advice to work longer in old age a cruel suggestion since older workers were hardest hit in the 2020 recession. But it isn’t just COVID-19 that makes it difficult, the labor market has been forcing older workers out for years. The obsession with telling people to work longer because they don’t have
Today’s column addresses questions about taking survivor’s benefits early before retirement benefits once they’ve increased, potential negative repercussions of taking spousal benefits and how to claim retirement benefits after taking spousal benefits. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc, which markets Maximize
Despite the pandemic, many Gen Z’ers are graduating from college and setting their course for success. This is a generation of young people who know what they want out of life and have the financial literacy tools – from podcasts to online platforms – to save for retirement, maximize their savings and achieve their goals.
July was a productive month for the IRS when it came to getting payments to taxpayers. Yet frustration continues to bubble for those who are still awaiting their refunds from tax returns that have not yet been processed. Unemployment Adjustments The IRS announced on July 28 that another 1.5 million taxpayers were receiving refunds averaging
State treasurers around the nation are spearheading efforts to improve financial literacy. While they may have different experiences or motivations for their efforts to impact positive change, they all agree that more needs to be done to improve people’s financial knowledge and change consumption habits. The efforts of these elected officials, while commendable, fail to
A little over four years ago, it occurred to me that my wife Jet and I had essentially experienced what modern physics would tell us is not possible: At the very moment that my wife and I were enjoying the scenery during our relaxing, unhurried walk with our dogs, the hard water stains in our
In Marin County CA, where we have life expectancies greater than for most people in the US, even here, one stands out. She’s the county’s oldest resident, Pauline Angleman, 112 years old. She has been studied, celebrated, interviewed, honored by President and Michelle Obama and she continues to amaze doctors. One of them studying her,
By Richard Eisenberg, Next Avenue Editor We’ve all seen how Olympic gymnast extraordinaire Simone Biles has been struggling with mental health issues, causing her to drop out of events at the games and performing the work she loves. Financial therapist Joyce Marter, author of the intriguing new book “The Financial Mindset Fix,” says our mental health
The email comes as a notification that you have been charged a specified amount for an item or service you never ordered. It is not a bill requesting payment, which you would immediately delete. Rather it is a notification of a payment that allegedly you have already made through a bank deposit or credit card.
By Chris Farrell, Next Avenue Britney Spears’ newsy and disheartening conservatorship nightmare has brought to public consciousness the immense power that court-ordered guardians wield over their charges and raised alarms about the potential for abuse. And now — finally — thanks to the sad story of the 39-year-old pop star, efforts are underway to tackle the longstanding problems
By Kerry Hannon, Next Avenue Here’s the latest discouraging news for older job applicants: Hiring managers around the world have serious concerns about the abilities of people 45+ to learn new technologies and skills and to work with other generations, even though when they hire them, 87% of those employees perform as well, or better, than colleagues
Private equity funds are the greatest wealth builders ever invented on Wall Street. So why have the retail versions of the dealmakers’ funds, peddled by Merrill Lynch and other brokers, performed so poorly? by Antoine Gara and Jason Bisnoff Former Merrill Lynch broker Kurt Stein vividly remembers the day in the spring of 2011 when
The BiPartisan Policy Center (BPC) recently sent President Joseph Biden a letter that urged him to create a retirement security task force. The aim of the group would be to examine solutions to common retirement risks, such as savings shortfalls, low interest rates, and soaring costs for health care and long-term care. The letter was