We’ve been hearing for years that the Social Security trust fund will run out of money in 2034, and a close reading of the Social Security Administration’s Trustee Report projections ( https://www.ssa.gov/oact/TRSUM/ ) show what this would mean. The Estimates By that time, based on estimates of the number of people earning an income […]
Buried in a recent report by Fidelity Investments was some remarkable news. Last summer, the mutual fund and retirement plan provider noted that there were more than a million people with more than $1 million in their 401(k) accounts. Then December hit, wiping out almost 20% of the value of the S&P 500 index, with […]
Have you ever enjoyed a glass of wine at dinner and wondered what the one-percenters are enjoying at their tables? Or, perhaps, the one-tenth-of-one-percenters? Sotheby’s, the auction house based in New York, London and Hong Kong, recently released its 2018 Wine Market Report, which is a summary of the auction action last year among […]
If you haven’t been really, really sick in the last few years, you may not have ever heard of the “donut hole” in Medicare Part D prescription drug plans. This is the common name in the medical field for a quirky coverage gap where, if you incurred $3,750 worth of drug costs in any […]
Many people wait too long to create advance health directives and designate a health care surrogate, and the results can be tragic. A recent article, by a physician who is also a financial planner, illustrates a not-uncommon situation that nobody wants to find themselves in. The story begins with a woman suddenly becoming acutely […]
Older Marrieds Nobody seems to have a good explanation for it, but American adults are increasingly delaying marriage. According to the most recent population survey by the U.S. Census bureau, the median age at first marriage in the U.S. is now nearing age 30—29.8 for men and 27.8 for women. That’s up from 27.1 and […]
DB Plan for All Few people have a defined benefit pension plan any more, thanks to the popularity of the 401(k). But the DB concept is simpler: a corporate annuity that pays out retirement income every year based on the amount contributed to the plan over the years. Yes, you can buy annuities on the […]
Deficit Funding Many were alarmed when, on June 5, the good people who run Medicare and Social Security released a report that said that the Medicare program will become insolvent in 2026 and Social Security will face a similar fate in 2034. The Medicare projection is three years earlier than the previous report, while the […]
