Last week was one of the worst weeks in the history of the US stock market. Thursday’s plunge was the worst one-day loss other than the crash of 1987. Friday’s recovery was stunning as well but big rallies are typical of bear markets and that is, unfortunately, where we...
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...
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...
Looking into a crystal ball and prognosticating the future is always a risky endeavor, but when it comes to Social Security and the year 2023 there are 4 things that have a high probability of happening.
Cost of Living Increase
In 2022, Social Security recipients received a 5.9% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA)....
The end of the year is a financial opportunity—an opportunity to take advantage of remaining tax breaks and keep Uncle Sam’s hand from going deeper into your pocket than it has to, and an opportunity to clean up your portfolio and make sure your financial house is in order....
If
you have an IRA then you know that at age 70 ½ the government forces you to
begin taking distributions so they can tax money that has, up to now, escaped
their clutches.
Most
people use the Uniform Lifetime
Table
to figure their Required Minimum Distribution. Find your age, get the life
expectancy factor and divide...
Money.
We want it. We need it. We work hard for it. It’s the difference between the
life we want and just getting by. It determines whether we retire comfortably
or have to move in with the kids.
There
are all kinds of ways to manage your money—from budgeting, to saving and
investing, to...
There are not many advantages to getting old—hair thins, wrinkles show up at an accelerated rate and there’s a cornucopia of new aches and pains we’re introduced to. As crazy as it sounds, for many, one benefit to getting older is having access to Medicare.
When Congress passed Obamacare in...
Since it was introduced in the early 1980’s, the employer-sponsored 401(k) plan has become one of the most common ways to save for retirement. Money comes directly out of your paycheck before taxes, the employer puts money into your account, and at retirement, you theoretically have a large pool...