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James McGlynn CFA RICP®

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    • Jonathan I'm reading this before I head out to Europe today. Premium economy is all I go for but I do recommend the American Express Centurion Club or its equivalent. Waiting in the lounge before flights not quite like First Class but helps a lot. I plan my trips to force me NOT to play pickleball every day-lets my body recover. Its amazing how many injuries healthy people have! I try to read about 1 book a week and I get them from the library's "new book shelf".

      Post: Wishing My Life Away

      Link to comment from April 8, 2023

    • Saving in my Health Savings account is great but hard to build a large balance. Converting my IRA to a Roth IRA gradually is a lot more impactful and is harder as I have to pay tax today and "hope" the government doesn't find a way to take that tax break overtime.

      Post: What’s your favorite tax-savings strategy?

      Link to comment from March 30, 2023

    • Save for your own retirement because no one else cares as much as you do.

      Post: How would you summarize your financial philosophy in one sentence?

      Link to comment from March 30, 2023

    • Bing did remind me that March 10 2020 the World Health Organization declared a pandemic.

      Post: March of History

      Link to comment from March 26, 2023

    • People usually buy term and don't renew when their kids are on their own.Not many 50 year olds buy 20 year term policies. Agreed if they still had existing term it would have been a good "investment". Commenting on the deaths early in retirement the whole life policies would be beneficial in choosing single life pension payouts. But I agree most whole life policies are high commission products but as the policyholder ages, term policies become more expensive as eventually they payoff.

      Post: Third Time’s a Charm

      Link to comment from March 9, 2023

    • This could be a companion piece to Dennis Friedman's recent article "Staying Alive". Of course in that instance they SHOULD have bought a lot of whole life policies. (;

      Post: Third Time’s a Charm

      Link to comment from March 9, 2023

    • The hybrid LTC policies are the best compromise for this issue. Because the lump sum premium is spent before the insurance company is on the hook they are designed to be catastrophic coverage. i.e. after your lump sum is spent then the insurance company can pay indefinitely.

      Post: What I Don’t Own

      Link to comment from March 4, 2023

    • You should look at hybrid LTC quotes. Instead of parking the $560000 somewhere(?) for a much smaller amount you could buy a hybrid LTC policy and actually be insured.

      Post: What I Don’t Own

      Link to comment from March 4, 2023

    • Jim I'm the pickleball "Commissioner" where I play in Fort Worth. I agree the game is great especially for the tennis trained but the camaraderie with the various participants is equally beneficial. We have multiple 80-year olds who play and our 70-year olds competed in a tournament.

      Post: Pay to Play

      Link to comment from February 27, 2023

    • Nice way to benefit from rising home values. On the other hand I heard yesterday that someone's monthly payment increased $300/month due to their rising home value. The increased home value meant the escrow account-which pays property taxes- was underfunded.

      Post: Pay No More

      Link to comment from February 10, 2023

    Articles

    Don’t Delay

    James McGlynn   |  Apr 18, 2024

    I HAD LUNCH RECENTLY with a longtime friend—a 66-year-old retiree. I asked him how he’s generating income since he hasn’t filed for Social Security and doesn’t have a pension.
    He said that, for now, he’s just drawing down his savings. I know his wife is three years older and her lifetime earnings were much lower than his, so I asked him if she’d filed for Social Security. He proudly said that she hadn’t—because she expects to live to age 90,

    Paying Those Premiums

    James McGlynn   |  Sep 14, 2023

    I’M 64 AND PREPARING to sign up for Medicare next year. I’ve done extensive research, including earning the Retirement Income Certified Professional designation. I’ve also written articles for HumbleDollar on Medicare coverage, Medicare premiums, Medigap and health savings accounts.
    In addition, I’ve befriended Medigap salespeople, advised others on which plans to choose, and asked those on Medicare for advice on their experience with the program. I feel as if I’ve been preparing to take the Medicare filing “exam,” and I’m excited to sign up.

    Mastering Retirement

    James McGlynn   |  Jul 4, 2023

    RETIREMENT PLANNING is complex because there are so many topics to master. In my chapter for the HumbleDollar book My Money Journey, I organized those topics into four categories: guaranteed income, medical expenses, tax-free accounts and asset allocation. In the book, I went into more depth, but here’s my 10,000-foot view of each one:

    Guaranteed income is reliable income that isn’t affected by changes in the stock and bond market,

    Living Dangerously

    James McGlynn   |  Jun 8, 2023

    FOR MOST SENIORS, purchasing Medicare Part D prescription drug insurance is the right move—even if they don’t require any expensive medicines right now. The coverage insures against the risk of someday needing prescription medication that costs thousands of dollars and might be otherwise unaffordable.

    The federal government subsidizes Part D, so it’s cheaper than purchasing stand-alone private drug insurance. Another good reason to enroll in Part D at the first opportunity: You avoid the penalty associated with a late sign-up.

    March of History

    James McGlynn   |  Mar 26, 2023

    MANY COMMENTATORS worry about the stock market in October, a month associated with the crashes of 1929 and 1987. But I now pay more attention to March—especially March 10.
    As an observer of the stock market since 1980, I stumbled upon an odd coincidence. Major financial events this century, like stock market peaks and troughs, have centered on the month of March. Here are four examples:
    March 10, 2000: The Nasdaq peaked at 5048.

    Silver Linings

    James McGlynn   |  Jan 27, 2023

    THE FEDERAL RESERVE raised the federal funds rate in 2022 from zero to more than 4% to combat high inflation. While those rate increases severely damaged the stock and bond markets, they made some financial products more attractive. In particular, there are three products that are more appealing now than they were a year ago: income annuities, long-term-care insurance and various interest-paying investments.
    Like many people, to take advantage of low loan rates, I refinanced my home mortgage before 2022’s rising interest rates.

    The Gift of the MAGI

    James McGlynn   |  Dec 17, 2022

    I’LL BE ENROLLING IN Medicare in a couple of years. I wish I knew how much my premiums will be, but that’s a mystery worthy of Sherlock Holmes. I’ve researched it thoroughly, as you shall see, and it all starts with something called IRMAA.
    IRMAA is not the name of my seventh-grade crush. Instead, it stands for income-related monthly adjustment amount. It’s the premium surcharge that people with higher incomes pay for Medicare.
    How much is the surcharge?

    Six Tips on Term Life

    James McGlynn   |  Oct 26, 2022

    I RECENTLY LISTENED to a podcast during which the speakers lamented the death of a colleague who was in his 30s. They mentioned a GoFundMe campaign to assist his family, so I assume the deceased had no life insurance. According to LIMRA, which collects data on the life insurance industry, less than 50% of millennials have individual life insurance.
    There are two major types of life insurance: term and whole life. Term insurance is intended to cover a specific period,

    Prepare for Care

    James McGlynn   |  Sep 2, 2022

    YOUR LIFE’S FINAL costly chapter may be paying for long-term care. Indeed, the odds of needing care if you’re age 65 or older are around 50%.
    Two key questions: Will you need care for an extended period and how will you pay for it? If the duration is short—which it is for many seniors—paying probably won’t be much of a problem. But if long-term care is needed for many years, financial decisions today might protect the legacy you hope to bequeath decades from now.

    Twelve Travel Tips

    James McGlynn   |  Aug 5, 2022

    I RECENTLY VISITED Eastern Europe, where I volunteered to teach English in Poland through an organization called Angloville. I received free room and board at a resort in exchange for conversing from breakfast through dinner with Polish adults who wanted to improve their English.
    In addition to meeting Poles and being immersed in Polish culture, I used my free time to explore nearby countries. Planning a vacation abroad? Based on my recent trips to Poland,

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