Medicare Advantage Plans (Medicare Part C)
Medicare Part C is not a separate benefit. Part C is the part of Medicare law that allows private health insurance companies to provide Medicare benefits. These Medicare private health plans, such as HMOs and PPOs, contract with the federal government and are known as Medicare Advantage Plans. If you want, you can choose to […]
U.S. Personal Savings Rate
The U.S. personal saving rate stood at 3.4 percent at the end of 2022, down from the 7.5 rate at the end of 2021.The personal saving rate is the federal government’s estimate of what percent of their incomes U.S. households are saving. But market watchers and economists are mixed on what can be learned from […]
Should I Buy or Lease an Auto?
Leasing is one method of acquiring a new auto. Although lease payments may seem attractive at times, it may not always be the best financial decision when compared with purchasing the vehicle. Use the following calculator to help analyze the decision of whether to buy or lease.
The Sequence of Returns
WHAT EXACTLY IS THE “SEQUENCE OF RETURNS”? The phrase describes the yearly variation in an investment portfolio’s rate of return. But what kind of impact do these deviations from the average return have on a portfolio’s final value? Let’s take a closer look at a few different investment scenarios. The first few scenarios focus on how […]
How Insurance Deductibles Work
An insurance deductible is the amount you, the insured, pay before any claim is paid by your insurance carrier. Depending upon the type of insurance, a policy may set the amount of deductible, or offer you the ability to select a deductible amount. Deductibles serve a dual purpose: they save the insurance company money (including […]
Retirement Realities
Predicting exactly what your retirement will be like is about as possible as a meteorologist predicting the weather correctly every single time. In fact, few retirees find their financial futures playing out precisely as they assumed. But, understanding some of the more common assumptions about retirement may help you get closer to your goal than […]
Tax Deductions You Won’t Believe
While Americans are entitled to take every legitimate deduction to manage their taxes, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) places limits on your creativity. Here are some examples of deductions from the IRS that were permitted and some that were, well, too creative.¹ CREATIVE DEDUCTIONS THAT PASSED MUSTER Usually a child’s school-related costs are not deductible. […]
