Mutual Funds

My brother, Dr. Dave Ghilarducci, the deputy public health officer in Santa Cruz County is both worried and understanding of people who don’t get vaccines. (On January 30, 2020 Dr. Dave was asked if America was ready for the novel coronavirus, he said “our hospitals aren’t ready for Saturday night.”) The data hits you like

To be clear, when I say, “Manchin-approved,” I refer to his insistence that programs not overspend and that be fully-funded gimmick-free, and his declaration just before Christmas that he would not vote on the Build Back Better bill in its current form, or in any version that the Biden administration was willing to agree to.

Along with a great many other agencies and private sector offices, Social Security offices shut down and sent their workers to work from home when the pandemic hit in March 2020. But their work-from-home mandate continues long after offices have opened up, driven by a union refusal to agree to return. In some cases, the

Today’s Social Security column addresses questions about why Social Security’s estimates of future retirement benefits may fluctuate, requesting that a benefit rate be recalculated and how rates might increase even after 70. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc. See more Ask

It came upon my wife and me slowly at first, and then, once we noticed it, it was almost impossible to ignore.  As just one example of what we saw, when we visited middle-to-upper end destinations in Mexico, we started to notice that bands of young women seemed to be everywhere. We would see them in

Covid-19 deaths in nursing homes have dropped dramatically but more work needs to be done, four Democratic Senators led by Senate Aging Committee Chair Bob Casey of Pennsylvania are warning. The deaths have dropped from more than 5,600 weekly from Thanksgiving 2020 to the first week of January 2021 to 425 per week for the

There are only a few days left before the end of the year to make charitable contributions for 2021. If you are like most taxpayers (an estimated nine out of 10, according to the IRS) who take the standard deduction as opposed to itemizing charitable contributions, there are important reminders. As in all cases, be

American consumer spending rose under one percent  .6% in November, but last month it was little higher, the October’s increase was 1.7%. So spending is trending up. However, the press is reflexively reporting the new data with downbeat phrases like, “spending slowed”; like it was a bad thing. In contrast to the press this morning

By Craig Miller, Next Avenue We’ve all heard someone say it: they’ve decided to keep working beyond retirement age to “keep their mind sharp.” Now, that widely held notion has some science behind it. Three researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Germany have released a study showing measurable differences in cognitive decline between

When I taught economics at the University of Notre Dame, I learned that banning abortion in effect violates a keystone of Catholic social teaching that gives a “preferential option to the poor” and vulnerable. In America, young mothers are among the most vulnerable among us. I was honored to teach at Notre Dame for 25

A while back, I wrote about the “age gap” where a person could take a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) at age 70 ½ before his or her RMD-age of 72. RMDs are required minimum distributions. Here are some additional QCD questions raised by my Forbes.com readers. QCD Details For a quick review, QCDs are a

By Leslie Hunter-Gadsden, Next Avenue The pandemic has motivated many people to reconsider their career paths. For Patricia Wynn, a single, 52-year-old in Hillsborough, N.C., it meant being open to the possibility of becoming an entrepreneur. “I spent twenty-six years at McDonald’s MCD in Atlanta, rising up the ranks to become general manager. Then in 2015,

The pandemic hit many households especially hard as they were financially ill prepared for the onslaught of job losses, health care emergencies and childcare and school closures. Many faced financial hardships, even with quick and generous government financial assistance. A lot of people still struggle as the country heads into its second, severe coronavirus winter

There’s a tug of war between our hearts and minds in making investment decisions. When emotions win—as they often do—we become our own worst enemies and underperform the broader market. According to DALBAR research, one of the single biggest variables in investment performance is investor behavior. It’s primarily responsible for the continual underperformance of the

As a financial adviser with an 86 year old mother, who I helped deal with her older sister’s affairs in 2015, I’m acutely aware of the women’s retirement crisis. I also always remember listening to Sallie Krawcheck on Morning Joe, in April of that year. Sally highlighted the fact that the face of nursing homes was

Deputy Gov. Dan Hynes, 2019, in a Chicago Tonight appearance (as discussed in a prior article): “We need to look at the funding schedule that was put in place 25 years ago, that at the time thought we would be spending about $4 billion on pensions and now it’s asking us to put $9 billion

Congress reacted to the massive economic turmoil brought on by the pandemic with a series of large-scale interventions. Those helped boost wealth for all households. Lower-income and middle-income households dipped into their savings sooner than higher-income ones to pay their bills. The difference in financial emergencies and needs contributed to a renewed increase in wealth

The economy faces another winter of massive uncertainty. The pandemic rages on around the globe and a new coronavirus variant raises the specter of the health crisis getting much worse. Countering that uncertainty will require more business investments, among other things, that will strengthen the momentum of faster growth that carried the economy through the

One of the biggest benefits of self-directed IRAs (SDIRAs) is the ability to diversify your portfolio by investing in alternative assets. These include real estate, precious metals, private equity and more. One alternative asset class that is becoming more popular is private debt. STRATA’s 2021 investor survey report unveiled 13% of investors leveraged private debt

In late November, The Atlantic published an article titled, ominously, “The End of Trust.” The story sounds the alarm about an unexpected consequence of the pandemic, and, specifically, the shift towards working remotely that was its consequence for white-collar workers: a drop in trust among workers towards their remote colleagues, due to the lack of

You might be surprised how many of our elders lean on the younger generations for money and time because their own retirement savings are so low. In a new report, New School researchers Jessica Forden and Siavash Radpour dug deep into the data to understand how family member bear the costs elder care and support.

Who is Facebook international man of mystery Robert Parkle and why is he advising Ohio Public Employees Retirement System stakeholders not to follow through with an expert forensic investigation of their state pension? Why did Kasandra Ward from Aurora, Colorado create a fraudulent OPERS Forensic Investigation GoFundMe page apparently to divert funds from the real project?

Trusts are highly effective wealth management vehicles that can facilitate the transfer of wealth between generations and help individuals, families and business owners meet a range of estate and tax planning goals. One of the most fundamental and essential decisions for individuals and families looking to establish a trust is choosing the state where the trust

It’s already been done. Or at least, depending on your point of view. Here’s the scoop: The Earned Income Tax Credit is a federal benefit paid to low-income workers, with benefits varying by family size. Unlike SNAP/food stamps and similar benefits, it is intended as a work incentive by paying benefits only to the working

Today’s Social Security column addresses questions about how suspending a benefit taken at 62 while working more might have on benefit rates, filing for spousal benefits after taking retirement benefits and whether to take benefits early when children are part of the equation. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the

November and December are the months when most people gather with family. You may have traditions that go back to your childhood, involving where you gather, what you cook, how you treat one another, etc. And, hopefully, you look forward to these family holiday get-togethers.  Holiday gatherings in 2021 may be especially meaningful to you

In 2014, Rep. John Larson introduced for the first time a bill called the Social Security 2100 Act, which consisted of seven provisions intended to boost Social Security’s benefits and revenues, with revenue increases intended to be sufficient to remedy forecasted shortfalls and fund the benefit increases, and with confirmation of such by the Social

Investors have been very focused on capital gains and what to do about them through 2021. You might minimize taxes and maximize after-tax income by cashing in gains using a charitable-giving strategy. Strong appreciation in the stock market the last two years have many people sitting on substantial investment gains. Some are looking to take

By Chris Farrell, Next Avenue An email I received from Caryn Lindsay of St. Paul, Minn., grabbed my attention because her story, sadly, is all too common these days. Lindsay, who’s 58 and single, was worried that she’ll need to dig further into her retirement funds and remain on Medicaid when her unemployment benefits run out.

The Economist recently insisted that the “employment of older workers is vital if prosperity is to be maintained.” But as much as pundits insist work in old age is vital, meaningful, and fulfilling, the truth is that many of the jobs older people find themselves in sap their vitality and are hardly rewarding.  In 2020,