Bob's Journal
Found 587 Articles.
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Bob’s Journal for 7/4
What You Should Learn from Warren Buffett’s Latest Estate Plan Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway and billionaire, recently told us about updates to his estate plan. Buffett has been open about the plans for his wealth for many decades. But those plans changed a lot over time. Initially, he was going […]
Bob’s Journal
Key Medicare Amounts for 2025 Are Set The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the 2025 inflation-adjusted amounts for Medicare Parts A, B and D. The base monthly premium for Part B will be $185.00, an increase of $10.30 (5.9%) from $174.70 in 2024. The premium is adjusted each year so that, based […]
Bob’s Journal for 1/30
Some Initial Thoughts on the DeepSeek AI Shock It’s probably fitting that significant doubts were raised about the recent boom in artificial intelligence (AI) stocks so close to the 25th anniversary of the technology stock bubble bursting in March 2000. Many people have drawn comparisons between recent activity in AI stocks and the tech stock […]
Bob’s Journal 2/20
The Magnificent Seven Fall Behind Investors who bet the market leaders of the last couple of years would continue their dominance have been disappointed so far in 2025. The stocks of the seven large growth companies, known generally as the Magnificent Seven, have appreciated for the year. But investors would have done better with many […]
Bob’s Journal 2/27
Too Many Retailers, or a Fading Economy? The number of retailers closing stores or going out of business continues to climb. Craft and fabric retailer Joann announced this week that it would conduct going-out-of-business sales at all its stores after it receives court permission. Joann joins a long list of retailers that announced over the […]
Bob’s Journal for 3/20
Gene Hackman Mystery: Who Will Inherit His Estate? The deaths of renowned actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa present some interesting estate planning questions and lessons that apply to many people. They were found in their New Mexico home on Feb. 26. This analysis is based on the media reports I’ve seen to […]
Bob’s Journal for 3/13
Social Security Is Back in the Headlines The Social Security program recently received a lot of attention, and none of it was positive. Last week, the Social Security Administration (SSA) reversed a policy that was initiated last year on the recovery of overpayments to beneficiaries. SSA always tries to recover overpayments, regardless of who was […]
Bob’s Journal for 3/6
Income Taxes and Social Security Retirement Benefits First, I want to thank the many subscribers who joined our subscriber-only teleforum last week. I enjoy these interactions with my readers and the opportunity to learn what’s on your minds. The federal income taxation of Social Security retirement benefits was of interest to many of you who […]
