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After graduating from UC Berkeley with a business degree (emphasis accounting and economics), spent 4 years as a USAF Titan II ICBM Launch Officer. Worked for 30 years for one company in property/casualty insurance world. Retired a long time ago at age 55. During career, did many different things including underwriting, marketing research, corporate planning, and managing a merger. Have traveled quite a bit including Australia, China, Europe and Eastern Europe, and a lot of the US. Fortunate to have two successful sons and a number of grandchildren. If you are ever in Tucson, check out the Titan II Missile Museum in Green Valley. See an actual Titan II launch complex. Get a feel for the Cold War and the kind of place where I used to spend over 250 hours each month.
Comments
Dick, try to imagine how you would pay for some really large extra expense on an ongoing basis......Suppose you or Connie, needed to enter a memory care facility. How would you cover an extra $11000 to $15000 per month? What assets would you sell? How might this affect your income taxes? How could you continue to cover what you give to charity, or your family? Even if you could cover a portion of this with LTC insurance, few people have high enough limits of coverage to cover the total.....And, most people don't have LTC.
Post: Dickies simplistic view of personal finances
Link to comment from November 5, 2026
A discussion of the shortfall in retirement account funding is a good thing. Lamenting the loss of private pensions not so much. As everyone knows there is something called the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, established by ERISA in 1974.This organization came into being, because the accounting standards board began requiring more accuracy in financial statements reporting of pension liabilities and such accuracy lead to companies closing underfunded plans rather than fixing the shortfalls. Every time the FED lowered interest rates more plans became underfunded....And, of course, the PBGC does not apply to public pensions, which if you looked at today have a problem with significant underfunding. JMHO, but nothing short of a mandatory participation program with contributions from employees and employers covering everyone will fix the problem. Generally speaking, the bottom half of households on the income scale don't make enough to fund retirement and live. Even if SS were to be fixed it isn't enough to pay for retirement for these households. Even the higher income half of households have significant numbers of people who lack fiscal discipline and cannot live within their means. Only a mandatory cover everyone will fix this.
Post: The pension conundrum and a solution
Link to comment from October 27, 2026
In terms of the definition, the use of the word relates to someone's evaluation of whether or not they can afford to buy something. The answer is binary; they either have the means or they do not. The term is strictly financial and no judgement of anything else is implied.
Post: What does ”means” mean?
Link to comment from February 12, 2026
I don't think that there are many people who think that there is not an affordability problem.
Post: Home Prices and Affordability
Link to comment from February 12, 2026
The rise of MBS is entirely the fault of the FASB which establishes GAAP rules for reporting by businesses. Prior to the Savings and Loan crisis of the early 1980's S&Ls could originate and retain on their books loans for personal home mortgages. They were allowed to retain these assets and value them at their amortized value. Then, the FASB decided that they must value them at market value reflecting changes in value due to changes in interest rates. Instantly one third of S&Ls were insolvent. And, they could no longer hold these long term loans on their books. The FNMA was then created to buy these loans from the originators allowing them to be re-marketed as MBS. England, Canada and other countries avoid this problem by not financing 30 year home loans.
Post: Home Prices and Affordability
Link to comment from February 12, 2026
I am not sure that a national view of this topic will be that helpful. Regional differences are so huge that trying to think about affordability in San Francisco and Omaha at the same time is impossible.
Post: Home Prices and Affordability
Link to comment from February 11, 2026
Means means money or financial resources. AS: I have the means to buy a Bentley or I will have the means to buy a house next year.
Post: What does ”means” mean?
Link to comment from February 11, 2026
My oldest son, who is a physician in the Midwest, often tells me about the time he has to spend trying to get FDA approved drugs paid for by employer health insurance plans. There are many health care provider websites that explain this in detail. Here is one "https://wellsmedicine.com/the-difference-between-fda-approval-and-insurance-coverage/" Weight control meds are the latest large scale example of this program. Obesity is a huge health issue. Yet many health plans do not cover the expense. There are many other situations where there are several FDA approved drugs which may be used to treat a given condition. A health plan may only cover the least expensive drug. Even though, that particular drug doesn't work for all patients. I invite you to provide some evidence that employer paid for health insurance covers "ALL" FDA approved drugs.
Post: When $2100 is not what it appears. The Medicare Part D trap
Link to comment from February 7, 2026
A single plan design that covers all FDA drugs would likely be much more expensive with many companies choosing not to participate. And, if they did, the premiums and co-pays and deductibles would be much higher for many participants who take only one or two generic drugs. You have written many posts about the unrealistic coverage expectations of health care insurance consumers. Does any commercial health plan cover "ALL" FDA drugs? I think not. A plan that covers all, including some which cost hundreds of thousands per year, would not be commercially insurable. The present Part D plan lets the government limit its financial exposure and than of the participating companies. This also limits the premiums and costs of the vast majority of participants.
Post: When $2100 is not what it appears. The Medicare Part D trap
Link to comment from February 6, 2026
One of the nice things about Part D plans, is that you are only stuck in your plan for the rest of this year. 2026 is my 15th year in Medicare, I have had 14 different Part D plans over those years. All of us who use Part D roll the dice each year looking for the best combination of coverage for our needed prescription drugs at the lowest total cost. As our health situation evolves our annual choice of plan can prove to be good or bad; but the damage if we didn't correctly predict the future is limited to one year. And, since you are wealthy, a $6000 negative surprise ain't the end of the world financially. That is what your emergency fund is designed to handle.
Post: When $2100 is not what it appears. The Medicare Part D trap
Link to comment from February 5, 2026