Inflation
Inflation is one of the most important factors in nearly every aspect of financial planning and wealth management.
Inflation is one of the most important factors in nearly every aspect of financial planning and wealth management.
Have you ever wondered why the CPI, GDP and employment numbers run counter to your personal and business experiences? The problem lies in biased and often-manipulated government reporting.
$3 million today has the same buying power as $500,000 in 1970.
If you like stable governments, low crime rates, socializing, great food, wine, culture and the dependability of developed countries, this list is for you
Those planning to enroll in Medicare have lots of homework to do. In this article I cover the essential benefits of Medicare Advantage which is the private insurance option for Medicare recipients.
For families with complexity to their finances, hiring a tax professional actually saves them money. Wealth managers bring benefit to such families in the same way.
Retirees must plan to supplement this slowly dwindling paycheck or risk having to make hard sacrifices during what is supposed to be their golden years.
“The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.” – Vladimir Lenin.
Without any authorizing legislation, the U.S. government has quietly taken more value than Cyprus tried and failed to confiscate.
Is Medicare better than your current employer health plan? Signing up for Medicare is the right decision for many who stay on the job. With one exception, everyone who is eligible should sign up for Part A.
Securing your retirement financially is too important to leave the process up to chance and guessing.
As seniors approach age 65, they face a matrix of confusing Medicare options. Planning for health care expenses in retirement is one of the largest hurdles that new retirees face.
Even to conservative political parties, starving the beast is not the ideal solution.
Some suggest using ten times your take home salary as a rough rule of thumb when determining life insurance. Like all such rules, this rough guide is found lacking in many situations.
This kitten doesn’t rely on government. Be more like this kitten.
Even if democracy is the principal objective, encourage the rule of law.
Claims of “fair” or even “regressive” or “progressive” depend very much on what is used as the denominator.
The maximum income for a couple is not double what it is for a single person. Your spouse’s income can disqualify you from credits you could have received if you had not been legally married.
It’s not just Mister Spock who is living a long life. Japanese Jiroemon Kimura’s nearly 116 years, making him the oldest man in modern recorded history, is a reminder to have a retirement income plan that will last over the long haul.
Most Americans fail to plan adequately for retirement. As a result, they often miss out on opportunities to enjoy the second half of life.
The victors in the recent election have declared it open hunting season on the rich, which they evidently believe will solve our spending problems. Tax hikes everywhere are aimed at the most productive members of society.
It might be a good idea to listen to those who watch the cause and effect in the economy on a regular basis.
Two critical questions were raised during the first presidential debate: Are small businesses important to American’s prosperity? And if they are, which candidate will unleash that engine of economic growth and employment? Fact-checking the candidates offers a clear answer.
Measuring progress regularly on the path toward retirement is critical. Fall too far behind, and you risk not being able to save enough to catch up. There is no downside to arriving early.
Knowing how much you should save for retirement is critical. But what if you are late getting started? The longer you delay, the shorter the time that compound interest can do its magic on your savings.
Financial planning means supporting the goals of stay-at-home parents to be with their children.
The entire selling point of the immediate fixed annuity is a lower return in exchange for a guarantee. But when analyzed, the purchase price is a loss from which you can never recover.
Advisors who offer comprehensive wealth management are like financial concierges. Their only goal is to meet your needs. If you ask for fresh strawberries, they try to find them for you.
A U.S. Public Interest Research Group report in 2004 found that one in four credit reports have serious errors that could significantly lower your chances of being approved.
Laws have always regulated who may marry, the obligations related to marriage and children and whether and how a marriage can be ended. Governments have always put their own social agenda above the pluralism of personal choice.
Most infomercials that begin with such urgency are trying to get you to buy something, but in this case I want you to consider selling.
My wife and I have six of our eight grandparents who are living well into their 80s and 90s.
“How can you respond if these new taxes are enacted? One option is to do a Roth conversion so that you can pay taxes now for those retirement funds.”
Nearly everyone is an excellent candidate for a Roth conversion this year. You can always undo part or all of a Roth conversion with what’s called a recharacterization, so you can’t convert too much.
Who would have thought that someone earning $10,700 might want to purposefully push their taxable income up to $217,450 this year in order to pay $47,595 more in taxes at these lower 2012 tax rates?
Women are more afraid of becoming “bag ladies” than men, and it makes them approach investing and saving for retirement differently, assuming they have managed to tackle either of those chores.
It is better that you stop saving and use that money to do some of the things you’ve been longing to do, than it is to quit your job and retire early because you think that is the only way you can achieve your goals.
Once you buy this product, you’re stuck. All structured settlement transfers must take place through a court order…
Q: I am a 65-year-old retired widow and I have a large IRA. How should I invest if I don’t need this money?
Computing your net worth annually is like taking a sextant reading to chart your course toward financial security. Net worth gives you a snapshot of how much money would be left if you converted everything you owned into cash and paid off all your debts.
The “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (PPACA), is misleadingly named. It has neither protected patients nor made healthcare more affordable.
In the midst of this turmoil, especially after this past summer’s sharp drop, many investors wonder if they should put all of their investments into something safe and avoid the markets altogether.
Parents with disabled children must have an estate plan to provide without disqualifying them from receiving public assistance.
How can there be more sellers than buyers? Who are those “extra” sellers selling to?
If the GAO were giving you investment advice they would suggest that you not participate in your 401(k) and convert at least half of your retirement savings into an annuity laden with fees and expenses.
We simply can’t spend our way into prosperity.
Calling this a “Tea Party downgrade” might be true in one sense. There weren’t enough members of the Tea Party to overcome the stubbornness of those refusing to make real spending cuts.
On August 9, 2011, David John Marotta appeared on 1070 WINA’s Schilling Show to discuss the weak government debt deal, the U.S. Credit downgrade, and the subsequent drop in the Stock Market.
Our country’s debt and deficit is difficult to understand in the abstract. Translating it to the numbers on each taxpayer’s credit card can help us see how our country’s spendthrift ways have debilitated economic productivity.
The Obama administration has been claiming that failure to raise the debt ceiling would be the end of the world. We are all tired of failed apocalyptic predictions. Perhaps all that will end is politics as usual.