Gary's Shrink

Comments:

• Anyone who depends on an un-COLAed pension or annuity has taken it on the chin, I'm "fortunate" in having neither. Deciding to wait till 70 to take SS has proven to be a wise choice for me as was keeping a reasonably healthy allocation to stocks. On the other hand, many are not as fortunate and the "wealth divide" and economic precariousness for so many has only been made worse over the last four years which has translated into an even more rancid political situation. So, while I may be better off economically than four years ago, I certainly don't feel better about the general state of things than I did four years ago.

  Post: Quinn ponders – Are you better off than you were four years ago?

  Link to comment from September 18, 2024

• But individual accounts is exactly what Bush was proposing.

  Post: Is paying income taxes on your Social Security benefit fair?  

  Link to comment from August 4, 2024

• Good article explaining pros/cons. I try to keep it pretty simple for myself, a total bond etf, short-term TIPS etf and a rolling five year CD ladder.

  Post: Question of Interest

  Link to comment from August 4, 2024

• "Yet we loved every minute of our fast-paced life. The best part: I was completely unaware of life’s ticking clock." This is common in our modern society, regardless of whether or not it's "loved". We rush through life and suddenly realize it's nearing the end and now the need to further "optimize" our remaining time. Perhaps a life lived at a bit of a slower pace, as is still done in some other societies around the globe, would avoid some of the angst. Just a thought.

  Post: The Retiree’s Dilemma

  Link to comment from April 22, 2024

• Trazodone is one of the safer sleep aids, typically non-habit forming with typically minimal side effects. Really sort of amazing considering it wasn't developed with the intention of being a sleep aid. The fact that you took it for so long at a low dose( I'm guessing 50mg at bedtime?) is a good example of its effectiveness. If you don't mind my asking, what did you do to no longer require it's services, CBT-I or ?

  Post: Maintain the Brain

  Link to comment from January 3, 2024

• Seem to recall reading somewhere something to the effect that past performance is no guarantee of future results. I've always considered that a prudent point of view and will continue to invest accordingly. Believing that stocks are guaranteed to always return from a downturn in time to satisfy one's particular needs is wishful thinking, an illusion if you will. We'll just have to agree to disagree on that point.

  Post: Harmful Illusion

  Link to comment from January 3, 2024

• "Get enough sleep. But don’t rely on prescription medicine. A study found that sleep drugs increase the risk of dementia." As is often typical, it's a bit more complicated than that. Here a recent study of studies on the use of taking Trazodone off-label as a sleep hypnotic concluded, in part, the following: "Nevertheless, 12 of 16 clinical studies demonstrated a neutral or even a beneficial effect on cognition. This indicates that trazodone has no long-term detrimental effect on cognitive function, thus suggesting that despite being FDA-approved only for the treatment of depression [3], trazodone can be safely used in the treatment of comorbid conditions of patients with dementia, such as insomnia, agitation, and other behavioural symptoms." source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8182348/ So yes, getting enough good sleep is essential to maintaining health but if you must take a sleep aid, as many do, then know that it isn't necessarily a ticket to dementia.

  Post: Maintain the Brain

  Link to comment from January 2, 2024

• "...but since bear markets always recover, that decline should be temporary." Tell that to the Japanese investor who has seen 30+ years and still no return to the 1989 highs. Temporary can be a very long time, longer than one's ability to weather it, especially if in retirement. Most people are going to feel(and in reality be) less wealthy in a market downturn regardless of any hopes for a future recovery arriving in a timeframe that meets their own personal needs.

  Post: Harmful Illusion

  Link to comment from January 2, 2024

• Marjorie, If you're "fortunate" enough for the extraction to be on one of the end-of-the-line molars you may be able to get away with doing nothing as was recommened by my oral surgeon. The hole left fills in with gum and the jawbone area should fill in as well. It's been just over 10 years since my own extraction and no issues.

  Post: What Medicare Misses

  Link to comment from August 21, 2023

• Just a quick comment re the frequency of routine dental x-rays. It's been a forever bromide that annual x-rays are necessary, but that just isn't so for those who aren't prone to cavities(I stopped getting them shortly after reaching adulthood. The ADA's current recommendation is for 18-24 months between films unless there are mitigating circumstances. Make your dentist justify those x-rays if he/she pushes back.

  Post: What Medicare Misses

  Link to comment from August 21, 2023