Good to Know

Good to Know How does a retail investor play in the cryptocurrency market? Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to be an accredited investor to participate, you can simply invest in a publicly traded Bitcoin ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund).  Such an ETF does not hold Bitcoin but rather tracks the price of Bitcoin.  It may…

Good to Know The traditional approaches and challenges to managing long-term care costs are: Self-insurance — the risk of depleting savings (e.g., retirement portfolios), Buy insurance — sharply increasing premiums plus increasingly tight underwriting requirements, and Medicaid — poverty generally required to qualify. It’s been said that nature abhors a vacuum and it appears that…

Good to Know There’s seldom been a better time to consider a career as a financial advisor, financial planner, or both.  While the scope of this article prevents the author from discussing every reason why, here are the top 5. 1) Client Trust and Respect Expand Client Trust and Respect — According to Forbes, CFP®…

Good to Know “She cannot eat her cake and have her cake.” Jonathan Swift, Polite Conversation 1738 What does this quote from almost 3 centuries ago have to do with Medicaid eligibility? Conventional wisdom tells us that no one can qualify for nursing home care under Medicaid insurance and simultaneously have assets or income in…

Good to Know Just two of every ten workers are very confident about having a financially comfortable retirement, according to the EBRI® 34th Annual Retirement Confidence Survey.  What is driving this lack of confidence?  Factors include inflation fears, Social Security concerns, and a recession threat. Inflation—More than 8 of every 10 workers believe that just paying…

Good to Know Are you looking for new ways to stay in contact with your closely held business owner clients and showcase your financial planning prowess?  A recent Supreme Court decision in Connelly v. United States gives savvy financial advisors and planners an opportunity to do just that.  But before getting to the court decision, we’ll…

Good to Know This article is the first in a series of Social Security retirement topics for women, including guides for: Married Women, Divorcees, and Single Women. We begin with retirement benefits for married women. Spousal Retirement Benefits We don’t have to like certain demographic facts to help our clients plan around them. Here’s a…

Good to Know How Much Government Debt Is Too Much?  In this, our final article in the series, we’ll review what experts and economists believe is an economically sustainable level of government debt. Government Debt to GDP Ratio A nation’s government debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio puts government debt into context. Implicit in…

Good to Know This blog article is the second in a three-part series, including: Federal agency perspectives, Private sector perspectives, and Summary comparison. How does our national debt impact the private sector in the United States?  Unsurprisingly, economic experts do not unanimously agree that our rising national debt to gross domestic product ratio is cause…

Good to Know This blog article is the first in a three-part series, including: Federal agency perspectives, Private sector perspectives, and Summary comparison. “The growing [national] debt could create additional challenges for federal fiscal management, which could in turn cause challenges for American households and individuals, too. These potential challenges include: Risks to economic growth…