If the recent stock market volatility has you spooked, you’re not alone. The COVID-19 outbreak that has spread throughout the world, including the United States, has damaged global supply chains, completely depressed international travel and is likely to have a significant effect on many a company’s revenues and profits. But as the stock market goes through serious gyrations, bouncing wildly …

President Trump (in late September) issued three executive orders that would affect Medicare outpatient drug prices, protect people with pre-existing conditions from health insurance pricing discrimination and end surprise billing. The main, and most substantive, order would fix prices that Medicare pays for outpatient and pharmacy-sold pharmaceuticals to the lowest prices offered in comparable developed countries. The Trump administration had …

Medicare’s Annual Enrollment Period begins Oct. 15. and runs through Dec. 7. This is the time to reassess your Medicare plans.  If you are a current Medicare recipient, in September you will receive your Annual Notice of Change from your Advantage plan or pharmaceutical plan company. This notice will highlight all of your plan’s changes for 2021. The open enrollment …

Americans have billions of dollars invested in deferred annuities. While these contracts offer countless advantages, including a guaranteed stream of income after retirement, most people simply aren’t aware of the many benefits deferred fixed annuities have to offer. Deferred annuities are designed for long-term savings. They can provide monthly or annual payments whenever the policyholder wants to start drawing from …

One of the biggest mistakes people make in planning their health and life coverage is assuming they’ll never need long-term care services, or that if they do need these services, they will pay for them with their savings. Many people shy away from long-term care insurance because they worry about premium hikes or the fact that if they don’t use …

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth could become a permanent and cost-saving fixture in Medicare after positive feedback by patients who used virtual visits to avoid meeting face to face. The use of telehealth was enabled by new regulations that granted waivers for using telemedicine during the pandemic to both Medicare and Medicare Advantage enrollees. The waivers, issued by the …

While many people assume that annuities are a new type of financial product, their history can actually be traced as far back as ancient Rome. During that era, there were agreements between sellers and buyers that were called “annua.” These agreements documented a promise between the buyer and the seller that a set of payments would be made across a …

More than nine out of ten current retirees rely at least in part on Social Security benefits to fund their retirement income. The maximum monthly Social Security benefit that an individual can receive per month in 2020 is $3,790 for someone who files at age 70. For someone at full retirement age the maximum amount is $3,011, and for someone aged 62 the maximum amount is $2,265. The average monthly Social Security payment for retirees was …

While a number of COVID-19-related services are offered with no out-of-pocket spending for Medicare and Medicare Advantage participants, a new study predicts up to 6 million seniors would have to pay out of pocket on their own for health care services if they catch the virus. This is because that many seniors didn’t purchase Medicare Advantage or another Medicare Supplement …

Where can investors find safety without taking on too much market risk? Here are some important ideas: Annuities Annuities have a contractual guarantee. The insurance company issuing the contract takes on some or all of the market risk.  If the stock market or bond market crashes, the annuity company is still obligated to fulfill its promises to the annuity holder. …