Retirement Watch Weekly
Long-Term Care Insurance in Review
This article explores the brief history of private long-term care insurance in the U.S. You’ll learn how the number of insurers offering the policies has diminished, and in response fewer consumer are buying the policies. LTC carriers have traditionally been relatively small subsidiaries of large life insurers, many of them publicly traded. And shareholders are […]
Insurance Solutions to Retirement’s Long-Term Care Question
Long-term care expenses are one of the great retirement fears. For many people, the cost and uncertainty of long-term care are only one reason for the anxiety. Even more anxiety is triggered by trying to sort through the options to fund potential long-term care expenses. Comparing the choices baffles even many financially savvy people and […]
Reviewing Stock Market Valuation Measures
For a long time I’ve said that valuation measures are good only for indicating stock market returns over the next 10 years or so. By themselves they aren’t good for tactical portfolio changes. In this article, economic Ed Yardeni reviews the history of a range of stock market valuation measures. He also adjusts them for […]
Whipsawed by Economic Surprises
This year has been a case study in the dangers of adjusting one’s outlook and portfolio based on the latest economic data. Most economic data are what the statisticians call “noisy.” It is based on estimates and incomplete information. Also, short-term factors can influence a month’s data. The data often are subject to later revisions, […]
Estate Planning Lessons from Jerry Lewis’s Will
Comedian Jerry Lewis died recently at age 91. Unlike many celebrities, he apparently owned most of his assets outright and disposed of them through a will. That has a least two effects. One is that the estate must go through the time and expense of the probate process. The other effect is that the details […]
Another Reason to Have a Strong Will and Estate Plan
If you don’t have an estate plan, the government’s going to prepare one for you, and you might not like it. This article explains that when you don’t appoint a agent with a power of attorney or a successor trustee who can act for you when you start to fade, the government will appoint someone […]
Long-Term Care Costs Around the Country
Long-term care is expensive, but the cost varies by both the types of care and where it is received. You can receive care at home, in assisted living, or in a nursing home. The cost of each varies considerably. But greater differences exist around the country with prices varying greatly between expensive metropolitan areas and […]
New Reverse Mortgage Rules Limit Cash
The FHA announced new rules on reverse mortgages that change the cost structure and also limit the cash available to some homeowners. Here are the details. So, why the new rules? Well, this program has been a money-suck for the Federal Housing Authority. Almost one in five, 18 percent, of reverse-mortgage loans taken out from […]
