According to a recent survey by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards 86% Americans say they’re stressed about their finances. What do they do about it? Nothing...at least in a meaningful or productive sense. 27% say that having a financial plan is the best way to reduce stress 22% say the answer is having [...]
The fiduciary standard is an ongoing debate in financial services. Who is a fiduciary, what is a fiduciary obligation, is it right for everyone and what happens if it’s cost prohibitive? To understand the debate requires a bit of context. Historically financial services were delivered piecemeal. Need to get your tax return filed? Call a [...]
According to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance the average year-over-year price increase (using a healthy, 55 year old single male as the baseline) was 8.6%. The culprit is twofold: In the short-term insurers’ bond portfolios continue to earn paltry returns diminishing their ability to fund benefits. Over the long-term insurers’ poor product rollout [...]
Promotions abound for enrolling in Medicare but did you know you can opt out of Medicare? WHEN CAN I DO IT? The Medicare Advantage Disenrollment Period (“MADP”) runs from January 1st through February 14th. AM I ELIGIBLE? You must have a private Medicare plan (often referred to as Medicare Part C or a Medicare Advantage [...]
In many ways technology has lowered the cost of service delivery. For a nominal cost the friendly automated voice of the credit card company allows us to “press 1” to find out our balance. Similarly we can contact a customer service rep halfway around the world when we need to speak with someone. The question [...]
Arguably the greatest invention of the last 1,000 years is Gutenberg’s printing press enabling the rapid dissemination of information and subsequent enlightenment of the many and far away. If true then in a similar fashion arguably the worst inventions of the last 1,000 years are things like Twitter and Facebook. To paraphrase an old reporter’s [...]
Can someone selling a product be looking out for the best interests of his/her customer? One’s individual intentions are irrelevant. What’s inherent in the business model is what drives behavior. MorningstarAdvisor provides this article explaining rather clearly how consumers of financial advice must take caution in determining where they get their information and the motives/incentives [...]
Life is hectic. How many times has, “I’m just really busy” been the answer you’ve received when asking a friend how they’re doing? We handle the time crunch with shortcuts. We like our apps, AAA diamonds, three out of four star movie reviews, Yelp and the like. But there are times when shortcuts are due [...]
The “good hands” people at Allstate offer yet another reminder that cute TV commercials, slogans, mascots and ethnically ambiguous pitchmen are an effective means to distract the public from the real reason insurance is procured – and the real reason why “off the rack” companies like GEICO, Progressive, State Farm and Allstate should be avoided.
The 1970s saw the birth of long-term care insurance (“LTCI”) providing financial assistance for costs not typically covered by health insurance, Medicare or Medicaid. At the time dozens of insurers offered policies with benefits typically limited to traditional nursing home care. The maturing market for LTCI has brought both pain and pleasure. The upside has [...]