Retirement Watch Weekly
Job Search Tips for the Older Worker
Many people want to stay in the work force past the traditional retirement age. Many employers want to lay off older workers, partly because they cost more than younger workers. But there still are ways for older workers to prosper in this economy. Here’s a good overview of the situation with a lot of tips […]
Should You Disinherit a Child or Family Member
Every family has one. It’s the black sheep, or the lost child, or some other version of the child that is either looked down upon by the rest of the family or even estranged. Should a parent disinherit such a child? It’s legal, but it’s an extreme action and can have unanticipated effects. Take a […]
A Case Against Commodities
A decade or so ago a couple of papers circulated in the investment world. The papers argued that commodities were a great diversification tool in a portfolio, because they tend to move inversely to stock prices yet over full cycles had very similar returns to stocks. The papers drew a few critics at the time, […]
A Case for Tax-Exempt Bonds
There was a big sell off in tax-exempt bonds during the May-June panic. They took a harder hit than many other bonds, and the recent bankruptcy of Detroit didn’t help matters. Seeing the lower values, I recommending buy some tax-exempts in the August issue of Retirement Watch. Here’s another explanation of why this is a […]
How Medicare Distorts Doctors’ Pay
Medical billing is a mystery to most of us. The Washington Post does a good job of pulling away a small part of the curtain. This story shows that a small group of doctors put together by the American Medical Association essentially determine how much doctors will be paid for different procedures. And, according to […]
The Soft Side of Retirement Planning
It seems that recently many people are becoming aware of something I’ve made clear in Retirement Watch over the years. Retirement isn’t all about the money, and as hard as it is to arrange your finances for a secure retirement, that isn’t the hard part. The hard part is what I call the soft side […]
Protecting Seniors from Wall Street
Since the Federal Reserve adopted its zero interest rate policy, post-career Americans have been searching for different ways to earn higher income on their investments. Wall Street responded with a range of new investment products. The questions are: Do the people buying these investments fully understand them, and are the investments appropriate for the buyers? […]
Enjoying Your 90s
A lot of people assume that once you live past 80 or so, both your physical and mental abilities decline and you have an inactive happy life. Recent research is showing that’s no longer the case. Improvements have been made in many areas, so that people who live past 90 have much better physical and […]
