The announcement in early October of no Cost of Living Adjustment for Social Security carried the double whammy of hitting some 30% of Medicare Part B participants with an astronomical 52% increase in their premium. This raised the hackles of many seniors, and pushed Congress to include a fix in their recent Budget agreement.

In summary, a part of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 helped to reduce the increase from 52% to “only” 18% for 2016....

Just thought I’d pass on this spot-on list posted in the most recent Planning Perspectives from NAPFA. It may be targeted towards young professionals, but really applies to people of all ages.

1. Think long term. Where do you want your finances to be in five, 10, or 40 years? If you constantly focus on what you want right now, then your financial future is in grave danger....

“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”
― Abraham Lincoln

I thought some words of wisdom from our 16th president were in order given the following article from The Street about our inability to overcome the procrastination bug when it comes to retirement. The telling statistic – while 59% set the goal to save for retirement in 2015, less than a third of those people achieved it...

The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) recently released the results of a poll conducted among its members listing the best advice for people 5, 10 and 20 years away from retirement. Though not one of the members asked, the findings were similar themes I stress with clients, such as maximizing retirement savings, minimizing taxes when possible and planning for a longer time horizon than you’d expect....