Last week’s column concluded that, while long-term care insurance is unaffordable for most Americans, everyone needs a long-term health care plan. Knowing how long you may live is one of the first variables to consider in putting together such a plan. A number of...
If you want to stop a conversation cold, just ask a group of friends, “Do you ever worry that you might outlive your retirement income?” The response is likely to be nervous laughter. It doesn’t occur to most people to seriously consider this possibility. The greatest...
Consider your Christmas shopping list. What was the most expensive single item on it? That special gift for your partner? The latest electronic gizmo for your teenager? Your family’s holiday travel? Certainly, with inflation hitting a 40-year high, all these items...
This time of year, we are surrounded by opportunities to give. Both our email inboxes and our snail mailboxes are jammed with solicitations for donations to charities, food banks, religious organizations, arts organizations, and more. We can give locally, nationally,...
Last week I described three common dynamics in couples where one partner is much wealthier than the other. Those are the “Funder and Beneficiary” where the wealthy partner pays for everything, the “Proportional Spenders” who contribute based on their income, and the...
“The Bear is coming! The Bear is coming!” Indeed it is. Should you be worried? No, if you have heeded my advice and diversified your portfolio and set aside a cash reserve. You can actually stop reading now. For everyone else, the answer is “probably...