With the COVID-19 pandemic came unprecedented levels of federal spending. As a result, the national debt has reached $26 trillion, and the Congressional Budget Office predicts that the federal deficit for 2020 will hit $3.7 trillion. The government has been borrowing money from the taxpayers for various purposes related to the economic crisis precipitated by the national … Read more
For older workers starting to think about retiring, or already in retirement, the economic turmoil the coronavirus pandemic triggered caused reactions similar to what many felt just over a decade ago at the start of the “Great Recession.” In 2008, the stock markets lost nearly 40 percent, accompanied by steep declines in real estate. The … Read more
Financial crises have a way of revealing the weaknesses, and sometimes failures, of our stewardship practices. As renowned investor Warren Buffet humorously once said, “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who has been swimming naked.” The 2008-2009 recession showed American’s overdependence on debt, especially real estate mortgages. Many were house rich and … Read more
This article is the fourth and final one in a series about long-term care (LTC). In the last article, I alluded to long-term care insurance (LTCI) as one of the ways to fund long-term care. In this article, we’ll look at LTCI in more detail—what it covers, what it costs, and whether you should buy … Read more
The potential need for an extended time in long-term care (LTC) is a crucial retirement stewardship concern because of its significant financial implications. We have looked at the types of care, how Medicare and Medicaid, and some other programs fit, and in this third article in a 4-part series, we will look at LTC costs … Read more
This article is the second in a 4-part series about long-term care. In the first, we looked at the various types of care, why and when they might be needed, and how to decide. In this article, we’ll discuss the part that Medicare and, most importantly, Medicaid play in the long-term care (LTC) planning and … Read more
We now know that older people are most susceptible to COVID-19 disease. We are also hearing about large numbers of deaths from COVID-19 in “nursing homes.” That is because the infection and mortality rate in such facilities is disproportionally high. My wife and I were discussing this, how tragic and sad that so many have died … Read more
We will learn a lot from this pandemic. But perhaps its greatest lesson—one that history teaches us over and over again—is that we can neither predict the future nor control it. At best, the only thing we can do is to anticipate adverse events and plan for them accordingly. Now that the “coronavirus recession” is … Read more
A lot has changed in the social and economic landscape in the last few weeks. The far-reaching effects of the spread of the coronavirus have spared no one—we have all been affected one way or the other. It is truly one of those times when God “makes his sun rise on the evil and on … Read more
