The Warning

If you are a typical investor (or financial advisor for that matter), it is possible that the S&P 500 index could do a great deal of damage to your retirement plans.  To be clear, the problem with the S&P 500 index is not that it has performed poorly or that I’m predicting that it will perform poorly in the future.  The problem is that way too many investors and financial advisors give the S&P 500 stock index way too much power over their financial lives.

Many people consider moving when retiring.

 If you live Chicago or its suburbs, it may be a good idea to stay put.

What happened?’

In September of 2017, Equifax announced a data breach that exposed the personal information of 147 million people. The company has agreed to a global settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and 50 U.S. states and territories.

Biotech is experiencing a period of breakthrough advancements.  Immunotherapies, gene-editing, stem cell therapies, and targeted cancer treatments are among many technologies providing amazing new avenues to cure previously debilitating and fatal diseases.  The ability to share advancements through the internet has fueled the progress.  People are living longer thanks to these therapies.

Biotech’s advancements are wreaking havoc on peoples’ retirement plans and the effect has been greatly underestimated.  People approaching retirement have watched their parents and grandparents retire from work at 65 and then live a few years before passing.  But average life expectancy has increase from 68 years in 1950 to 79 years in 2013.  It is more and more common to know someone who is 100+ years old.  Strokes, if treated quickly, are no longer the death sentence they once were. 

Oh no!  How do we pay the bills?  Where are the passwords?  Who do we need to contact?  What are the policy numbers?

A sudden illness causes loved ones to scramble.  It can be as simple as how do I know if the mortgage is being paid to where is the policy information for a long term care need.