Retirement

When I was a little girl, I loved reading fairy tales and watching film adaptations. The best part was that no matter what happened in the story, no matter how many villains made an appearance, you knew that the heroes and heroines were guaranteed to have a happy ending. And when villains appeared in books

It has been almost three years since our community and health care leaders told us to “shelter in place” from a pandemic, about which our medical professionals still knew very little. Staying home wasn’t a law anywhere in the U.S. but the vast majority of us obeyed the directive and hunkered down, waiting for better

All state pensions in Ohio have dramatically underperformed for decades due to rampant political corruption and gambling on Wall Street’s riskiest investments. State politicians have profited from Wall Street campaign contributions as active government workers and retirees have seen their benefits slashed. The staggering cost of this mismanagement amounts to $46,000 per Ohio taxpayer. That’s

The Three Phases of Care After my back surgery I began the long path to being whole. I began physical therapy immediately upon leaving the hospital and now am continuing to go regularly. My Physical Therapist, Corey Huff, the brains behind this article, and a therapist at Saylor Physical Therapy in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida,

Zane is a brilliant man, a former well respected, famous psychology professor who taught at a prestigious university. And he has advancing signs of early dementia. He still has a lot of awareness of what is going on but he is no longer able to safely care for himself or his money. He has lived

The labor market in general remains remarkably strong with all of the jobs lost during the pandemic long recovered. But, public employment is not doing so well. Parts of state and local government employment are still well below their levels before the pandemic. Governments have a difficult time attracting the talent that they need for

Pizza is one of the most popular foods in the world. It’s delicious. It’s nutritious. It even has its own day (February 9th is National Pizza Day). It also presents an apt metaphor for building a business. Sure, you can learn a lot of entrepreneurial lessons by working in a pizza stand at one of

If you’re concerned about the world you’re leaving your kids and grandkids, then you might want to broaden your concept of a “retirement investment” beyond conventional investments. You can develop some creative sustainable investment strategies by focusing more attention on the “E,” or expenses, portion of the common-sense formula for retirement security: I > E,

Some believe that if you have the right paper in place when you near your end, medical providers treating you will respect your wishes. It’s not always true. In hospitals, the doctors are busy measuring, testing, examining the data and using their tools. Amidst that, they can overlook the patient’s wishes near end of life.

The Secure Act 2.0 has been signed into law and brings with it several provisions aimed at increasing retirement savings and providing more Americans with a secure stream of retirement income. Of the upcoming changes, which take effect in a staggered way in the years to come, there are a few that will be most

You’ve worked hard your entire career. With your nose to the grindstone, you’ve let your retirement assets grow on autopilot. Suddenly, you find yourself sitting on a pile of money. What do you do next? What is a fiduciary advisor? While the Department of Labor has a complete booklet outlining fiduciary responsibilities, the essential elements

I have been a strong advocate of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) from its inception, but a recent measure that targets multi-lender web sites (MLs) are more likely to damage than protect mortgage borrowers. There are two approaches toward protecting mortgage shoppers dealing with multi-lender web sites. One approach, the one deployed by CFPB,

As part of your retirement planning, you may have invested in a deferred annuity. And, hopefully, over the years you’ve enjoyed tax deferred growth in the contract. The annuity may be a fixed annuity, where the insurer credits interest based on its own investment experience, or a variable annuity, where you choose the subaccounts (i.e.,

It may be my profession, but I am not prone to being very optimistic or highly positive on economic data releases. My colleagues have alternatively called me the “skunk at the party” or “Dr. Doom”. Yet, the latest jobs report left me speechless – in a positive way. One collaborator even remarked that “even Christian

If you’d like to align your retirement investments with your values regarding environmental and social goals, then an important question to ask yourself is whether focusing on sustainable investments will create a drag or a boost on your investment returns. The short answer is, “It depends on a few things.” Specifically, it’s critical to compare

NFL champion quarterback Tom Brady retired last week. Some might just say it’s déjà vu all over again. Perhaps, but it shows that Brady may be the greatest of all time in football and more financially secure by several orders of magnitude, yet he’s a lot like the rest of us. Retirement is simply not

Should be required reading: The article in the Palm Beach Post by the renowned columnist Frank Cerabino on how proposed social security fixes would impoverish over 1 million Floridians (not to mention millions of other Americans). This article should be required not just for retirees but especially for all decision makers. As Cerabino makes clear,

Introduction Grantor trusts are groovy. They have so many potential benefits that they are the cornerstone of many, maybe even most estate plans. Grantor trusts let you transaction business with your trust without triggering gain for income tax purposes. Rev. Rul. 85-13. So, you can sell your family business or rental real estate to the

The short answer is NO! This issue has been around for many years and seems to have resurfaced recently as we get closer to 2034. The definition of bankruptcy is the inability to pay outstanding debts or obligations. The key word here is inability. The Social Security program, as designed, has become antiquated and is

Many retirees nowadays are concerned about the world they’re leaving for their kids and grandkids, with a particular focus on the potential impact of climate change. And financial institutions are paying attention: The New York Times reports that according to Morningstar, there were 588 sustainable mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S. in