Many pre-retirees and retirees make serious mistakes regarding their retirement income and spending for living expenses. This is very understandable, since building sources of lifetime retirement income can be complicated and beyond someone’s skill set. Preparing retirement budgets can also be time consuming and frustrating. As a result, either you…

Since January 1, 2023, there has been a cap on insulin for Medicare beneficiaries. The cap applies to those who have Part D prescription drug coverage, whether through a stand-alone plan or as part of a Medicare Advantage plan. (The cap also applies to insulin administered via a pump under…

Mortgage rates continued their upward climb this week, further hindering demand in the housing market amid elevated rates and high home prices. Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, released Thursday, showed that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage surged to 6.44% from last week’s reading of 6.32%.…

The Biden-Harris administration on Thursday announced another round of student loan handouts, removing $4.5 billion in debt for more than 60,000 borrowers who work in public service. The Department of Education said in a news release the relief came about from “significant fixes” to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)…

The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan (MPPP, M3P or MP3) will take effect January 1, 2025. It will allow those who have Part D prescription drug coverage to spread the costs out over the year, instead of paying all at once. As with anything that is brand-new, this plan can be…

The start of the Medicare Open Enrollment Period revealed major changes in the availability of plans and pricing. The biggest changes are in Medicare Advantage plans and Part D prescription drug plans. As expected, significant changes were on the way because of announcements from major insurers and policy changes from…

Introduction So, I joined a new gym and am working with a personal trainer. During any workout trainers and clients always shoot the breeze and somehow it came out that I was an estate planning attorney. So, Tom asked “Can I have a card my mom needs a simple will?”…

“Evaluating your life through the lens of your death is raw, powerful, and perhaps a bit scary,” writes author and entrepreneur, Shane Parrish, in his excellent book, Clear Thinking. But despite our hesitation to consider our inevitable demise, he thinks it’s worth exploring because, “What matters most becomes clear.” Clarity…

This year’s hurricane season brought a stark reminder that nobody is safe from the traumatic impacts of severe weather. Hurricane Helene brought devastating once-in -1000 years flooding to part of Appalachia considered relatively safe from those effects. In fact, Asheville, NC, was called a “climate haven” before the hurricane. Hurricane…

By Chris Farrell, Next Avenue Mention college and the conversation swiftly turns to student loans — with good reason. The current loan-based system to pay for postsecondary education is failing too many students, including a surprisingly large number of debtors nearing or in their retirement years. For one thing, $1.6…