October 2009 - Posts
Marketwatch, October 30th, 2009The rule of thumb is that you'll need to replace 70%
of your pre-retirement income on average once you retire, but evidence
continues to mount that this assumption by many professionals and
retirement savers is way off
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Retirement Income Journal, October 29th, 2009The
“mystery shopper” is one of the oldest and most effective research
tools. You can learn a lot simply by having someone pose as a naïve
consumer and catch a seller off-guard.
Journalists use this trick.
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The Wall Street Journal, October 28th, 2009The federal government needs to further step up efforts to fight
Medicare and Medicaid fraud to generate more savings to help pay for a
health-care overhaul, lawmakers said Wednesday.
"The scale of health
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Sacremento Bee, October 28th, 2009
Our three new "Ask the Experts" writers have been busily answering financial questions this month from online readers.Here's a sample of their advice on personal finance, wills/estates and investing.To
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Los Angeles Times, October 27th, 2009Senior citizens should be on their guard against possible fraud when
open enrollment for two popular healthcare programs begins Nov. 15.
California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner warns that some
sales agents
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San Jose Mercury News, October 27th, 2009San Jose scam alert: The city has issued an alert for an "elder financial abuse scam."Because
of limited income, senior citizens are more vulnerable to scams that
offer them quick rewards, and overseas crooks
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The Wall Street Journal, October 25th, 2009A measure that allows older adults to skip required withdrawals in
2009 from tax-deferred retirement accounts hasn't always worked as
smoothly as Congress intended.
Now, a new tax ruling can help people clear
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The New York Times, October 24th, 2009Arthur Ullian is president of the National Council on Spinal Cord
Injury and co-author of two studies in the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences on the economics of health care. In a forthcoming
analysis,
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CBS News, October 25th, 2009Of all the problems facing the United States right now, none are more important than health care. President
Obama says rising costs are driving huge federal budget deficits that
imperil our future, and that there is enough
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Reuters, October 23rd, 2009More Americans plan to delay retirement following steep drops in the
value of their savings accounts, data from several new surveys show.
A study to be released on Thursday by Canadian insurer Sun Life
Financial Inc
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US News & World Report, October 23rd, 2009The official 2010 Medicare premiums and deductibles for Part A
(hospital services) and Part B (doctor and non-hospital expenses) have
been released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
(CMS).
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San Francisco Examiner, October 22nd, 2009
A HUD reverse mortgage
can provide seniors with a sufficient cash flow during their retirement
years that can enable them to live more comfortably than they often
could otherwise. Options in a new reverse
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San Francisco Examiner, October 21st, 2009
A government-issued reverse mortgage, or Home Equity Conversion
Mortgage (HECM), is a great way to provide a more solid financial
future for yourself. Sometimes, though, even better deals can be made
possible
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The Wall Street Journal, October 21st, 2009A year ago, Pedro Garcia and his terminally ill wife, Julia, were
about to be evicted from their home of nearly 40 years after their
mortgage lender foreclosed on the loan.
Today, Mr. Garcia is living in
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The New York Times, October 19th, 2009Many people view retirement as a time to stop working. But new
research shows that people who take on full- or part-time jobs after
retirement have better health.
The finding is based on data collected from 12,189
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The New York Times, October 19th, 2009The basic Medicare premium will shoot up next year by 15 percent, to $110.50 a month, federal officials said Monday.The increase means that monthly premiums would top $100 for the
first time, a stark indication
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Main Street, October 15th, 2009Supporters of annuity plans, who often bill them as "personal
pensions," are touting their recession era durability and pushing for
federal tax breaks they say will advance their adoption.
The economic downturn seems
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The New York Times, October 14th, 2009MICHAEL SURRETT’S investment portfolio hasn’t fully recovered from the market crash, but that didn’t stop him from retiring three weeks ago.“We are no different than anyone else in this economy,” said Mr.
Surrett,
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The New York Times, October 14th, 2009MANY retirees are in a cash crunch — with a lower income stream from their investment portfolios, personal expenses that are higher than expected, or both. While
most assets can be used to generate liquidity,
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The Wall Street Journal, October 14th, 2009As companies begin unveiling their workplace benefits for next year,
many employees are learning they will have to dig even deeper into
their pockets for health coverage.
Such price increases have become
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Housing Wire, October 14th, 2009California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed seven mortgage
finance-related bills into state law Monday. The new laws aim to crack
down on fraud, set requirements for loan documents and set restrictions
on mortgage
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Market Watch, October 8th, 2009Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus promises
that the huge health-care reform bill his committee will vote on next
week will protect Medicare benefits for seniors. But not everyone
agrees, and a fight is brewing
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Chicago Tribune, October 8th, 2009A national consumer advocacy organization added its voice Tuesday to a
growing chorus of concerns about the rapidly growing popularity of
reverse mortgages, comparing the loan product's potential pitfalls to
subprime
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Baltimore Sun, October 1st, 2009All of the health care reform plans propose serious cuts in the Medicare program. Seniors' concerns about those cuts jeopardize passage of any plan.
The Medicare prescription drug benefit is expected to cost $395 billion
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The Wall Street Journal, October 1st, 2009More than 660,000 seniors next year will lose the private Medicare
plans they now have because some insurers are dropping coverage in
response to tougher federal requirements.
Most of those beneficiaries are
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Chicago Daily Herald, October 2nd, 2009Declining home values have put a serious squeeze on one
of the mortgage market's most popular and fastest-growing financing
concepts: the Federal Housing Administration's reverse mortgage program
for seniors 62
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