Good to Know

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…

Good to Know Social Security consists of two major benefit programs—disability and retirement/survivorship.  We’ll address these programs in just a moment, but first, the author will contrast the crucial difference between Social Security “solvency” and “bankruptcy.” Solvency is the ability to pay 100% of benefits. Bankruptcy is the inability to make any significant benefit payments.…

Good to Know If the term “Department of Labor Fiduciary Rule” sounds familiar, there’s a reason. The DOL’s previous Fiduciary Rule (2016) was a failed regulatory effort that was struck down by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2018. The Court held that the DOL exceeded its authority. One perspective of the Court’s ruling…

Good to Know We’ll address annuity protections in just a moment, but first let’s put a select few other financial protections into context. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) extends the full guarantee of the United States of America behind CDs and traditional banking products purchased from a Federally chartered U.S. bank—up to $250,000 per…