Budgeting

Not long ago, my brother-in-law told his doctor that one of his medicines didn’t seem to be working as well as it had in the past. The doctor prescribed something new. The old medication cost about $20. The new prescription was $232. My brother-in-law had to pay the entire...

Here we are again in the final quarter of the year when thoughts turn to Thanksgiving and Christmas and… reviewing your financial house. Oh, that’s not on your list? Well, let’s put it there because financial issues cannot be on automatic pilot. Things change and you need to keep...

As expected, the Social Security Administration has announced that the 2023 Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) will be the largest COLA in 42 years, brought on by rampant inflation not seen in more than four decades.   Social Security benefits increase automatically if the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W) which measures price...

If you want to stay warm this winter you have two options—pay a lot more for fuel or wear a lot more clothes. It’s not because winter is supposed to be especially cold or harsh. It’s because of record-high inflation that just won’t go away.   According to the Bureau of...

Inflation is painful. We’re reminded of it every time we go to the grocery store and the gas pump and when the utility bill comes. There’s a whole generation or two that’s never been through anything like this. And because it affects us on a personal level, it’s easy...

Does this sound familiar?   “Hi, I’m (Joe Namath, Jimmie Walker, George Foreman, William Shatner—pick your favorite celebrity.) Check your eligibility for a zero premium Medicare Advantage plan that includes rides to medical appointments, home-delivered meals, and money added back to your social security check every single month, plus extra benefits...

Well, here’s a shocker—the cost of healthcare is getting more expensive all the time—much more. And with the highest inflation rate in forty years draining people’s purchasing power, more Americans are finding it harder to pay their medical bills too. It wasn’t much easier in 2021. The Kaiser Family...

Student loan debt has become one of the largest classes of consumer debt in the country. In fact, it affects as many as 43 million Americans. According to a report from Forbes, student loan debt reached almost $1.5 trillion in early 2019, with the average borrower from the class of...

I can, I will, I can’t, I won’t. Those are all responses we’ve heard in the past two years about deciding to retire. The response you give or the response you get is directly related to the U.S. economy.   Before COVID, American workers age 55 and above were retiring at...

When it comes to Medicare, what option is best for you—Original Medicare or Medicare Advantage (MA)? Many people are drawn to Medicare Advantage plans, sometimes knowns as all-in-one plans, because they often combine healthcare with vision, dental, hearing, and drug coverage, something Original Medicare doesn’t do. But the Office of...