Inflation

A sustained increase in the general price level—often measured by a broad index such as the consumer price index (CPI).

Healthcare Reform Provides Insurance in Name Only

After a tough couple of years for former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and in an era when the phrase affordable health insurance seems like an oxymoron, it is time to provide some credit where credit is due.

Chairman Greenspan hit the nail on the head in his recent book The Age of Turbulence.

The following are Greenspan’s comments regarding entitlement spending and the healthcare system:

The bottom line in the success of all retirement systems is the availability of real resources at retirement…The financial arrangements associated with retirement facilitate the diversion of resources that make possible the consumption of goods and services after retirement, but

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Retirees Suffer in Current Low Interest Rate Environment

Financial Times personal finance columnist Matthew Vincent discusses the challenges that retirees face in the current economic environment. The gist of the story is that these are brutal times for savers who need to generate interest income to fund current spending needs. In other words, these are brutally difficult times for many retirees.
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Breaking-Down the Annuity Expense Criticism

Coverage of annuities by the broader financial media tends to be negative, with much of the criticism focused on annuity expenses.

The criticism is typically accompanied by a blue-sky investing scenario that makes the case for annuities that much less compelling.  The theoretical retail...

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Operation Twist and the Yield Curve

There is a great op-ed in Bloomberg by Caroline Baum that discusses the implications of QE2 and other recent asset purchases made by the Fed. Operation Twist refers to the last time the Fed tried (and failed) to manipulate the yield curve (the spread between the Fed's overnight rate and long term rates that are determined by the market) in 1961.

What to Make of MetLife's Exit from the Long Term Care Market

MetLife’s recent decision to exit the U.S. long-term care market can be seen as a relatively minor decision by the largest U.S. life insurance company to pull-out of a small, slow-growth market and forgo what is a very small part of their overall business.

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