Retirement Watch Weekly
Why People Don’t Switch Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans
A few months back I reported on a survey that found many Medicare beneficiaries are paying about double the premiums they should be for their coverage under Part D Prescription Drug plans. Here’s a report on a recent survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation seeking to find reasons why people don’t switch Part D plans […]
Losing Investment Models
Ever since the financial crisis, and especially in the aftermath dominated by the Fed’s quantitative easing, I’ve noticed that old investment models generally don’t work. There are many mutual funds and investment firms that built models that worked very well for a long time. Some had models to pick stocks or bonds, Others had models […]
June 2014
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Prevailing in the Long-Term Care Crisis
The good news about long-term care is that the cost is rising at a slower rate. Yet, LTC still is ex-pensive and its cost is rising at a faster rate than general inflation. The latest annual Cost of Care Survey from Genworth, the leading LTC insurer, at www.genworth.com, found that when LTC is needed the […]
Estimating Retirement Medical Expenses
The ability to handle lifetime medical expenses is the key to a sustainable retirement, according to new studies such as one by the Employee Benefits Research Institute. Yet, medical expenses also are the wild card in retirement finance, because they are the hardest expenses to estimate. To handle the issue successfully, don’t fudge the numbers, […]
Estate Planning for Digital Assets
We moved rapidly from a paper to a digital business and financial world. Digital as-sets and transactions probably are a bigger part of your life than you realize, even when you think you don’t use much technology. The digital world needs to be in your estate plan, otherwise the cost and time involved in settling […]
Remaining in Your Home for Life
Remaining in their current homes for as long as possible is a priority of most adults over 65. About 80% don’t want to move, according to AARP. There are obstacles to remaining in the same home as the years go on. Fortunately, aging in place is possible for more people than only a few years […]
Naming Trusts as IRA Beneficiaries
Trusts find their way into more and more estate plans, because they provide valuable benefits. Many people want to use trusts with their IRAs. I receive an increasing number of inquiries from readers asking how they can name a trust as beneficiary of their IRAs instead of individual heirs. That’s where they can get into […]
