IRS--Here To Help

We have all heard the old saying--"Hi I'm from the IRS and I'm here to help."  To me this represents a situation to which the response usually goes something like--"Yeah right."  Well this morning that exact scenario played out with the Social Security Administration for a widow filing for benefits.  

This family have been clients for many years and fortunately for the widow we had already run her Social Security projections.  This dedicated software program is designed to help decide which option to choose and is especially helpful in unusual situations.

Virtual vs. Reality

Recently I moved my dad and his stuff from Texas to Oklahoma. We needed to rent a truck and car hauler and chose to use uhaul.com. It was easy; seemed to have all the pieces to the puzzle, including helpers to load in Texas and unload in Oklahoma. We were set… in the virtual world that is.

 It continued to be good as we checked in at the U-Haul office. We left to eat lunch and came back to pick up the truck and trailer. Oops! That’s when reality started taking over. The truck didn’t work with the trailer and they did not have another truck available. There was a truck in another town about 15 miles away but they did not have a trailer.

SWEET Potatoes may be the death of our healthcare system

Recently my dad has been in the hospital dealing with pneumonia and other issues related to not handling anesthesia very well.  However, after he was making an impressive comeback, he woke up with pain in his abdomen.  The doctors jumped in to action and ran a cat scan and x-rays 

Lucy's Last Wishes

LUCY IS FINE AND DOING WELL for a 17+ year old dog.  However, recently she was suffering from a persistent cough and after a few trips to the vet I had a moment.  Here is how it went--

The Wealth of a Nation

Adam Smith is often referred to as the father of modern capitalist economics. He was known to have said--"the decisions of individual owners to use their capital for their own gain, and of purchasers to buy for their own interests, would somehow be guided by an "invisible hand" to produce the greatest overall prosperity of society."
That was back in the day when money represented HUMAN productivity.  Needless to say our world financial systems have diverged from such a practical  measure.  Below is a clip from a piece that struck me as interesting, challenging and on some level bothersome.

Why Mandatory Social Security Makes Sense

NO--that is not a picture of the neighborhood in which I live.  However, a few years back I was blessed (read tormented) to serve as president of a neighborhood with 1600 or so homes that did not have a mandatory homeowner's association (HOA).  This neighborhood is very nice but only about half of the homeowners choose to pay the voluntary dues ($300/yr) that pay for common area  maintenance, security patrol and regular events.

Pain in the Back

The perfect follow-up to the last blog post on disability.  In the most recent Economist magazine this insert--sourced from the Lancet--shows the results from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation study on the burden of disability on countries.  The legend is as follows:

What's Your Motivation?

In January ATT--the original Ma Bell--lowered their expected return on pension fund assets to 4.3% from a previous 5%.  They also increased life expectancy for retirees to accommodate current longevity trends.  RESULT--over $8 Billion dollar charge to their financial statements for the increased cost in funding the pension plan.  (BTW--Auntie is 105 and has been on an ATT pension since she was 55.)  

Below is a clip from the most recent valuation of the Oklahoma Teachers Retirement System Pension Plan (OTRS):

BB King Plan

About 10 years ago I had the privilege of getting to see BB King from the 4th row center of the Oklahoma City Civic Center.  WOW--you can pick up a lot from being that close.  Here are a few of my vivid memories on this day celebrating the life of a legend who passed yesterday at age 89.

Interest--ing Global Bond Yields

• In the first transactions of this kind, BoJ purchased Japanese government bonds (JGBs) from banks at a negative interest rate.

• Earlier Thursday, the yield on Germany's two-year bond actually went negative, touching -0.004%. In other words, investors are effectively paying the German government to hold their money.

• The yield on the 5 year TIP (US treasury inflation protected security) on 10-22-14 was -.04%.

• At its September 30th meeting, the Reserve Bank of India left the repo rate on hold at 8 percent, waiting for more evidence that inflation rate is slowing. 

Three of the top 5 economies in world have recently had bonds with negative yields.  This is more like the days of old when people were charged DEMURRAGE fees for storing their excess crops--which would equate to savings and investments today.  It was also at this time when some of the most fantastic European buildings were built and which continue to create value to the local communities hundreds of years later.

I wonder what these long term projects would look like in today's quarter-to-quarter markets?

 

Risk Management Takedown

When I was growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma championship wrestling was quite a source of entertainment.  Gorgeous George, pictured at right, was one of my favorites along with characters like Haystack Calhoun of course;-)  What does this have to do with Risk Management you ask?  Well some things never change like wrestling AND insurance companies ability to turn a risk management issue into a product to sell to the public.

Corporate Profits Don't Equal Jobs

I just saw this graph from a regular publication I receive and thought it was very interesting and might explain why so many people aren't as excited about the stock market and economy as the financial cable tv guys seem to be.