Retirement Watch Weekly
Variations in Medicare Spending
A few years ago the federal government started releasing detailed data about Medicare spending. Analysts quickly determined that Medicare spending averaged quite a bit around the country. Some areas have much higher average spending per Medicare beneficiary than others, and some providers bill Medicare much higher amounts. This blog post discusses a new study that […]
The Limits of Medicare Coverage
One of the biggest mistakes people make in retirement is not knowing the limits of Medicare coverage. Many people enter retirement believing that Medicare covers all or most of your medical expenses. This article goes into some detail about the out-of-pocket costs typical Medicare beneficiaries pay for cancer treatments. It’s based on a study by […]
The New Rules of Retirement
You might like my book, The New Rules of Retirement, revised edition. I can help you plan for later years, regardless of your age. It also makes a great gift for friends and loved ones. It covers all the financial issues of retirement and retirement planning. You can think of it as “The Best of […]
Happy Thanksgiving
We celebrated Thanksgiving early this year because most of the family is going to be out of town visiting other relatives. The early celebration seemed to enable more of the reflection and spirit intended for the holiday. In recognition of Thanksgiving, I modified the format of this week’s message. We had a volatile, unpredictable 2016. […]
Inside the Best Investment Fund
Few people outside the investment world have heard of Renaissance Technologies. Even fewer have heard of its premier fund, Medallion. This article provides some details, based on dozens of interviews. The firm is drawing increasing interest because money earned from it helped the Trump campaign and a number of political organizations. For outsiders, the mystery […]
How Tactical Asset Allocation Helps
This paper from Research Affiliates shows that many people time markets, without acknowledging it, and do so to their detriment. It develops several simple strategies for deciding how to tilt an investment portfolio of “smart beta” strategies and compares the results. Selecting the three smart beta strategies with the best past performance would have cost […]
Life Expectancy Declines
After decades of ever-longer life expectancies, the average life expectancy in the U.S. declined by six months in the last year, according to the Society of Actuaries. The change applies to all age groups. This new data turns out to be a disappointment. Over the past several years, the health of Americans has deteriorated—particularly that […]
Handling the Post-Election Realignment
The last few weeks are evidence that market forecasters don’t know much. They said before the election that a Clinton victory would be good for stocks and a Trump victory would be bad for stocks. Some observers were forecasting sharp drops of 10% to 15% if Trump were to win. Traders initially followed this view. […]
