Retirement

There’s a significant perception/reality gap among most pre-retirees and retirees today. That’s one of the key takeaways from a new study published by the Stanford Center on Longevity (SCL), titled Disconnected: Reality vs. Perception in Retirement Planning. The study shows that most of today’s pre-retirees and retirees lack sufficient savings to fully retire at age

It’s been the craze for several years now as the generational change in demographics highlights new marketing trends, but it has come under fire lately from several different directions. What is “ESG” investing, really? The problem is no one knows. Or maybe everyone knows. And they all believe (very strongly, by the way) it’s something

Critics of Medicaid’s long-term services and supports (LTSS) program often complain that it is so poorly designed that lavishes benefits on wealthy retirees and wastes billions of dollars in taxpayer money. Some people do abuse the system. And they should be stopped. But the real problem with Medicaid LTSS is that in many states its

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released on Sept. 27, the 2023 Medicare costs. The standard monthly premium for Part B, medical insurance, will drop $5.20, from $170.10 to $164.90. A drop in the premium is very unusual. Last time this happened was in 2012 when the premium decreased $15.50 a month, primarily

Legendary investor Warren Buffett says “cryptocurrencies basically have no value and don’t produce anything.” Yet, according to a recent study, 94% of America’s state and local government pensions—often regarded as the dumbest institutional investors in the world by Wall Street—are gambling on cryptocurrencies. If you are a participant in a state or local government-sponsored pension

Hurricane Ian reminds us that the question of how to best prepare for the risks of where we live in retirement is even more important than planning for how much retirement will cost. Planning and living in retirement requires anticipating and managing risk. Markets rise and fall requiring us to adjust investment strategies, spending habits

Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Concerns about the financial health of Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse over the weekend have led to fresh market fears of another meltdown similar to Lehman Brothers’ collapse in 2008. Rumors abound that Credit Suisse’s capital position is at great risk, with shares plunging to new

Those who consider themselves self-employed can have many working definitions of what that means for their careers. For some, it could simply serve as a tool to bridge either a new job or retirement, while for others, it’s a way of life that becomes both an identity and a career. In either scenario, self-employment also

By Rosie Wolf Williams, Next Avenue My mother told me many times over the years that she had a will, and I believed her. When she passed away, we discovered that her will was 40 years old — and completely useless. To start, she had never signed the copy we found, and the man named

By Jennifer Nelson, Next Avenue Mya Payton, 58, of Southeastern Pennsylvania, is divorced with four children, the last of whom is in college now. “Over the course of the time my kids were in college — 2014 to now — their dad has been willing to pay for 50% of their college tuition and some

Devastating hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, and fires, across many parts of the U.S. leave people vulnerable. Aging parents, often far away from family, are especially at risk. When disaster strikes, scammers see opportunity. The waters after Ian haven’t even receded, and ripoff artists are already scheming how to take advantage of people. They move fast. They

By Liz Seegert, Next Avenue When Patricia Anderson got Covid-19 at the very start of the pandemic, she was lucky in a sense. She never went to the hospital, despite her body temperature dropping to 93 degrees. In March 2020, many patients were told not to seek emergency care unless they had a fever of

Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin You may be buying the wrong kind of inflation bond. Here are two ways to get the good stuff. Inflation bond: the ultimate protection against the rising cost of living. If you know what you’re doing, you get a real yield of 1.9% on these U.S.

A partnership has claimed the $1.34 billion Mega Millions lottery prize jackpot of July 29, 2022, the Illinois Lottery announced Wednesday, September 21. The winners opted to remain anonymous (Illinois is a state that permits lottery-winner anonymity for those who win prizes of $250,000 or more) and chose to take the lump-sum pre-tax payment of

We tend to think of “migration” in terms of people who come into this country seeking a better life, but migration occurs within our country as well. It’s called “domestic migration.” From a new census bureau report we can learn a great deal about the move patterns of older adults. I the idea of older

North Americans and Europeans are bracing for a cold winter as energy prices continue to soar. Europe faces a cost-of-living crisis as Russia cuts off most of its gas supplies in protest to sanctions imposed on it by the West. Gas supplies that do reach Europe are not guaranteed. As of Sept. 26, potential acts

2022 has not been kind to investors. Virtually every segment of the market has fallen in value. Even investment grade bonds, which is historically a haven for conservative investors, has plummeted by over 12% as of this writing. It’s easy to get caught up in your emotions during a tough market and weak economy. However,

For those with aging loved ones, it may be difficult to distinguish a few signs of “normal” aging from things that should raise some red flags. No one teaches you in school how to spot trouble signs with aging loved ones. And it’s our human nature to avoid unpleasant things, isn’t it? Watching our aging

Is retiring with a mortgage a good idea? Most individuals will jump through hoops to live mortgage-free, regardless of whether it makes the most sense financially. Sure, all else equal, it’s always better to reduce your expenses. But in most cases, all isn’t equal: paying off a mortgage early or forgoing one entirely typically comes

State laws mandate that pension fiduciaries have a duty of loyalty to manage retirement plan assets for the exclusive benefit of beneficiaries, i.e., state workers and retirees. Yet all-too-often public pension assets are steered into secretive, risky, poor-performing investments based upon “dark money” contributions by Wall Street to politicians sitting on oversight boards and unions—private